????去年，蘋果公司（Apple）CEO蒂姆?庫克出席D10科技大會時，我忽然想到，他所從事的可能是美國商界難度最高的一份工作：至少在科技界肯定是難度最高的工作，因為他時刻處在史蒂夫?喬布斯的陰影之下。到了今年的D11科技大會，很明顯可以看出，庫克足以勝任這份工作；但他應該說點有新意的事，談談怎么能將蘋果穩步帶入后喬布斯時代。

????蘋果上一次公共活動是2012年9月推出iPhone 5，如今已經過去很長時間。從那之后，科技界最具舞臺魅力的公司卻一直非常低調，只是偶爾回應一下令人討厭的稅務問題，或者向網絡電視觀眾滿懷詩意地描述蘋果的魔力。這樣的話題可不能保證未來六、七年蘋果的活動和公開露面還能繼續吸引公眾的眼球。

????雖然庫克盡了最大努力闡釋自己對蘋果公司表現的看法，但上周二晚上在洛杉磯近郊的特拉尼亞度假村，庫克所講的只是一些老掉牙的話題：

????? 庫克不擔心安卓（Android）的市場份額。但是，對于顯示iOS用戶的設備使用率高于安卓用戶的統計數據，他倒是念念不忘。

????? 庫克對蘋果稅務問題的調查并不擔心。因為蘋果駕馭荒謬的美國稅務制度的方式和其他任何跨國公司并無二致。

????? 庫克不擔心電視體驗。他說：“我們許多人都認為，電視體驗可以做得更好。”但不論你相信與否，他根本沒有談到好的電視體驗應該是什么樣的。

????? 庫克不擔心谷歌眼鏡。“我想說的是，目前市場上的‘可穿戴計算設備’大多數都只能做一件事情，并沒有出現令我驚艷的產品。如果一個年輕人原本就不戴眼鏡，不扎腰帶或者不戴腕表，目前的可穿戴設備沒有任何理由能說服他去佩戴。”蘋果是否也在開發可穿戴計算設備？或許吧……“現在，展開研究的時機已經成熟。”

????? 庫克不擔心生產低成本iPhone。蘋果曾生產過一批不同類型的iPod，但“那些產品都是針對不同人群。而說到手機，問題就來了：現在是不是已經有足夠多的客戶來支撐我們生產低成本手機？”

????情況就是這樣。連續兩年出席科技界最令人矚目的高管大會，但對于蘋果，庫克總是拿不出相對較新的或者激動人心的話題。很明顯，這些身居高位的CEO們不可能在D11這樣的活動上提前宣布一款消費類電子產品。但在日新月異的科技行業，蘋果的拳頭產品已經算是老前輩了：到今年夏天，iPhone就滿六歲了，而iPad也已經三歲了。iPhone之前的六年，個人數字助理仍然代表著移動計算的先進技術。

????我們都知道這些產品的故事。它們仍保持強勁增長，出貨量大得驚人，它們依然是手機軟件開發商的最愛，依然（在很大程度上）在設立其他移動設備必須遵守的標準。

????庫克代表蘋果公司上臺時，談到了成熟的產品和成熟的業務。蘋果一直對自己的“非主流”引以為豪，而且他們的做法也一直與主流不搭。因此，這樣一家公司討論起成熟的產品與業務就會顯得非常怪異。科技行業一直在不斷尋找下一個奇跡，而蘋果一直都被看作是最有可能誕生奇跡的地方。

????Last year when Apple CEO Tim Cook took the stage at D10, it occurred to me that he had probably the hardest job in American business: certainly the hardest job in technology, following in Steve Jobs’ shadow. This year at D11, it’s clear Cook is up to the job; but he needs something new to talk about to move Apple firmly into the post-Jobs era.

????It’s been ages since the last Apple public event in September 2012 to introduce the iPhone 5. Since then, one of the premier sources of showmanship in the tech industry has kept a very low profile, surfacing only to deflect pesky questions about taxes and wax poetic about the magic of Apple for a network television audience. Those aren’t exactly the kinds of topics that have made Apple events and appearances must-see theater for going on six or seven years.

????And despite Cook’s best efforts to explain his thinking about how Apple works, he covered well-trodden ground Tuesday evening at the exclusive Terranea Resort just outside Los Angeles:

????? Cook isn’t worried about Android’s market share. He’s more fixated on stats that show iOS users actually seem to use their devices way more than Android users.

????? Cook isn’t worried about the scrutiny over Apple’s taxes. The U.S. tax system is ridiculous, and Apple navigates it the same way any multinational corporation does.

????? Cook isn’t worried about TV. “Many of us agree there are things about the TV experience that could be better,” he said, but believe it or not, he didn’t have a TV to talk about.

????? Cook isn’t worried about Google Glass. “I would say that the (wearable computers) that are doing more than one thing, that there’s nothing … great out there that I’ve seen. There’s nothing that’s going to convince a kid that’s never worn glasses or a band or a watch to wear one.” Is Apple making a wearable computer? Maybe … “It’s ripe for exploration.”

????? Cook isn’t worried about making a lower-cost iPhone. Apple once made a bunch of different kinds of iPods, but “those products all serve a different person. And so on the phone, that is the question: are we now at a point to serve enough people that we need to do that?”

????You get the picture. For two straight years at the highest profile executive conference in the tech industry, Cook has been unable to talk about anything relatively new or exciting for Apple. Obviously no CEO worth a damn is going to preannounce a consumer electronics product at a show like D11. But Apple’s crown jewels are old news in a tech industry that moves at light speed: the iPhone will be six years old this summer, and the iPad just turned three. Six years before the iPhone was introduced, the personal digital assistant represented the vanguard of mobile computing.

????We know the story of those products. They’re still growing strongly despite shipping in immense volumes, they’re still the favorite of mobile software developers, and they still (for the most part) set the standard by which all other mobile devices are measured.

????Cook is talking about mature products and mature businesses when he takes the stage on behalf of Apple. That’s a weird place for a companythat has always prided itself on being outside the mainstream to be, and it shows. Ours is an industry that is always searching for that next big thing, and for many years, Apple has been a reliable source for that item.