[NewsPoster]

Apple CEO Tim Cook has topped a "Power List" of influential Americans by Out Magazine, a lifestyle publication aimed at the gay and lesbian demographic segment. This is the third year Cook has received the honor, but has never acknowledged his sexual orientation publicly -- leaving the magazine to make a presumption based on his unmarried status and other indicators. While not a factor in running Apple, Cook has been known to be unusually circumspect about his private life -- apart from his devotion to Auburn football.

The list ranks prominent gay people who have strong influence in American culture, and Cook is joined on the top 10 list by (in order) Ellen Degeneres, writer-director Ryan Murphy (best known for Glee), news analyst Rachel Maddow, news host Anderson Cooper, statistics guru Nate Silver, venture capitalist Peter Thiel, Fox news anchor Shepard Smith, Senator Tammy Baldwin and musician Frank Ocean.

Under his leadership, Apple's stock rose to its highest-ever level, though it has also fallen significantly from that perch. The company was also briefly ranked as the most valuable company in the world, taking the crown away from ExxonMobil for the first time in years (the oil giant has since -- barely -- reclaimed the title). Though Apple is still working on products and updates former CEO Steve Jobs set in motion, Cook has made a number of successful changes at Apple during his two-and-a-half years at the helm.

The company's iPhone and iPad products continue to sell strongly as brands (and in the case of the iPad, completely dominate the fast-growing field of tablets), and the latest iMac models have received rave reviews from publications, pundits and customers alike (though they were severely constrained until last month). The company has successfully battled Google and its subsidiary Motorola as well as rival Samsung on a number of legal fronts, winning important victories and sustaining mostly minor (and few) losses on the broad overall issues of standards-essential patents and protecting its own IP from copycats.

Apple has taken a leading role in reforming the industry-wide problem of worker exploitation and abuse in China, making very transparent and successful efforts to curb instances of underage hiring and forced overtime. It has taken a similar stand on environmental responsibility, though its position as industry leader means that it receives much more attention to its progress and occasional missteps than other companies that deal with the same issues.

Though software has been seen to be less frequently updated under Cook's reign thus far, this year's WWDC is expected to preview the next major version of OS X and iOS, both of which will be receiving design overhauls under the guidance of industrial design chief Sir Jonathan Ive. In addition, the company is seen its iPad mini take off and dominate the formerly Android-centric 7- to 8-inch tablet space, and is rumored to be working on a new television device, a possible smartwatch, and the expected new models of iPhone and iPad for release later this year.

[Mr. Strat]

Well ain't that thpethial.

[Spheric Harlot]

Originally Posted by Mr. Strat 

Well ain't that thpethial.

Yes, we know you have a problem with your sexual insecurity.

I suggest you just avoid threads that relate to homosexuality in the future, seeing as they obviously cause you distress.

[thinkman]

Hopefully someday, sexual orientation will not be a target for bigots. By the way things seem to be going, that day could be sooner than expected. One can only hope!

[cgc]

Originally Posted by Spheric Harlot 

Yes, we know you have a problem with your sexual insecurity.

I suggest you just avoid threads that relate to homosexuality in the future, seeing as they obviously cause you distress.

Maybe not classifying people as one thing or another would help alleviate some of the bigotry.

[Jeronimo2000]

Bigots are notoriously immune to any kind of insight, and often incapable of change.

[Flying Meat]

It's entirely his business, and none of "ours". Why bother speculating publicly about something one shouldn't be concerned about. If it has an impact on his job performance, maybe, but otherwise give him the award, and credit, and move the heck on.

[Brad Bradley]

I just wish Apple would also take the lead in MacPro user friendliness and either tell pro users Apple is out of the market or give some kind of a timeline for support if they are still in. All I've heard at NAB are complaints about Apple. Doesn't look good for the Apple desktop market. But... if you like your mobile I guess you can like Apple. It's just that the content "makers" won't be doing it with Apple products.

[Spheric Harlot]

Originally Posted by Brad Bradley 

All I've heard at NAB are complaints about Apple. Doesn't look good for the Apple desktop market. But... if you like your mobile I guess you can like Apple. It's just that the content "makers" won't be doing it with Apple products.

If that's any comfort, it doesn't look good for anybody on the desktop market.

But yes, Apple's silence at NAB is strange.

[Spheric Harlot]

Originally Posted by cgc 

Maybe not classifying people as one thing or another would help alleviate some of the bigotry.

Male or female?

Left or right?

I mean, I fundamentally agree with what you write; we shouldn't be making a lot of the distinctions we make.

But Mr. Strat has a history of showing up in comments only to take the chance to let everyone watch him call people "perverse". That's a pretty strong statement about his own insecurities.

But Out! Magazine has a very specific agenda: To be a platform for people who might have been oppressed, or denied, or confused, or guilted into feeling "perverse" by people like Mr. Strat and his ilk to identify with and find confirmation in their normality.

That is why they focus on gay life and publish articles like the above.

[Gorm]

Originally Posted by Flying Meat 

It's entirely his business, and none of "ours". Why bother speculating publicly about something one shouldn't be concerned about. If it has an impact on his job performance, maybe, but otherwise give him the award, and credit, and move the heck on.

Why? Because it's everybody's business--especially the millions of young gays who are told by family and religion that they are an abomination. Mr. Cook is a successful leader, and someone they can look up to.

Never be ashamed of who you love.

[Michelle Steiner]

Am I the only one whose noticed that the referenced article is a year old?

[cgc]

Originally Posted by Spheric Harlot 

...
I mean, I fundamentally agree with what you write; we shouldn't be making a lot of the distinctions we make.
...

Usually you and I disagree on everything

Labels create walls so I'd not want to label things unless it was absolutely necessary.

Saw a recent study where people were told a comment came from one political party. Almost without wavering, people who affiliated with that party agreed with the idea. Conversely, when they said the comments came from the other political party, people of the opposite party disagreed with the statement. Same holds true for politicians, they tend to go with their political party regardless of their personal beliefs. Kind of a herd mentality.

Now go to your work Christmas party or whatever and see how people split up...mostly by work areas. Look at reality shows, you'll see old v. young, white v. black, men v. women, but in reality those small categories probably have less in common because they belong to the category than with people throughout categories. Point is, labeling people is generally counterproductive and create barriers to progress.

[Flying Meat]

I disagree, Gorm. If Tim decides he wants to be public about his sexuality, then folks can go, "Ooooo! Another stellar example of a successful [sexual identity] person!"

Until then, it's no one's business but his.

[Charles Martin]

Originally Posted by Michelle Steiner 

Am I the only one whose noticed that the referenced article is a year old?

Actually, it's not -- but the link pointed to the wrong list, and some of the people mentioned as filling out the last also came from last year. I've corrected the article to point to the correct list (2013) and swapped out the old top 10 for the current one (not much changed from last year, which is probably why it wasn't noticed). Thanks for pointing that out!