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A company-wide email from CEO Tim Cook celebrates Apple's 45th anniversary - while also looking ahead to the future.
The email sent by MacGeneration published recognizes the challenges of 2020 and 2021 while offering a glimpse of a better future. It states:
I know that the past year has tested each of us in ways we never imagined. It has required us all to adapt, it has added complexity to our work, and it has demanded extra determination and commitment in areas of our lives that go far beyond our work. But I also know that what we have all achieved during this time should make us enormously proud.
Tim Cook: “From the M1 chip to 5G iPhones and more”
Looking back on 45 years of Apple, the memo reaffirms Apple's mission to "create transformative products that redefine what technology can do and, in doing so, make people's lives better." Cook urges the company's employees to rededicate themselves to this mission "to keep it alive for a long time to come—rather than fondly remembering it as something of the past." The message also takes stock of recent developments.
While some things have changed at Apple over these many years, the important things haven't. From the M1 chip to 5G iPhones, from iPads that are changing the face of education and productivity to a watch that can look after your health, to the best software and services that bring it all to life, we've never stopped setting the pace that others try to keep up with.
The email is consistently optimistic about the company’s future:
What I can tell you with absolute certainty is that there has never been a moment with as much potential as this one, and we have never had such a talented and dedicated team.
Cook adds a note of caution:
This should not let us rest. Great potential requires great people to fulfill it.
Apple: From a garage project to a $2 trillion corporation
Cook concludes the message with a tribute to the co-founder and CEO who lived through Apple's two most critical periods.
Shortly after I joined Apple, Steve said, "It's been an amazing journey so far, and we've only just begun." That's still true. Remember, none of us will live to see the end of the story, but it's up to all of us to make sure it's a story worth telling.
Apple was founded on April 1, 1976 by Steve Jobs, Steve Wozniak and Ronald Wayne. What began as an ambitious project in Jobs' parents' garage reached a market capitalization of a whopping $2 trillion by the end of 2020. Below you can read the full email verbatim. (Image: Apple)
On April 1, 1976, a company was founded in Cupertino to create transformative products that would redefine what technology can do and improve people's lives in the process. Forty-five years later, we mark the occasion by rededicating that mission - and keeping it alive for a long time to come - rather than fondly remembering it as a thing of the past.
While some things have changed at Apple over these many years, the important things have not. From the M1 chip to 5G iPhones, from iPads that are transforming education and productivity to a watch that can look after your health to the very best software and services that bring it all to life, we have never stopped setting the pace that others try to keep up with. What I can tell you with confidence is that there has never been a moment of such great potential as this one, never have we had a team as talented and dedicated. But that should not stop us. Great potential requires great people to fulfill it.
I know the past year has tested each of us in ways we never imagined. It has required all of us to adapt, it has added complexity to our work, and it has demanded extra determination and commitment in areas of our lives that extend far beyond our jobs. But I also know that what we have all accomplished during this time should make us enormously proud. Through a once-in-a-lifetime challenge, the things we make, and the way we make them, have unlocked profound and lasting new sources of value for the people who love and count on them. And we know that there are brighter days ahead on many fronts.
In an email like this, on a much earlier anniversary, shortly after I joined Apple, Steve said, "It's been an amazing journey so far, and yet we've only just begun." That's still true. Remember, none of us will live to see the end of the story, but it's up to all of us to make sure it's a story worth telling.
– Tim
