Tim Cook Will "Think About" Giving Free Apple Watches To Company Employees
Asked if employees will get free Apple Watches (like when full time employees got original iPhones from Steve Jobs in 2007), Cook reportedly said “you’ve given me something to think about, I agree with your point, I think it’s great, and I think everyone should use our products. It’s a good point for me to think about, I’ve got some more plane rides to think about it on.”
I actually worked at Apple during the launch of the original iPhone and personally witnessed the above. While Cook sounds oddly non-committal this time around, it would make good sense for Apple to gift the cheapest versions of Apple Watch to all their employees. Why should they do such a thing? Because, when they did it with iPhone, they knew that their product was so revolutionary and paradigm-shifting that getting their people to understand it — and, more importantly, to show it off outside the office — was priceless. With the Apple Watch launch, Apple should once again lean on its employees to spread the word about the benefits of the wearable and all the new possibilities it presents to the world of mobile communication. Commercials and ads will help, but nothing beats seeing a new product being used in the real world.