Apple CEO Tim Cook Visits Florida Apple Store and Meets WWDC Scholar

[MacRumors]

Apple CEO Tim Cook today visited the Mall at Millenia Apple Store in Orlando, Florida, where he met up with 16-year-old Liam Rosenfeld, one of the WWDC scholars who will be attending Apple's Worldwide Developers Conference this June.

Cook was in Florida for an event that saw SAP and Apple announce an expanded partnership focused on new enterprise apps taking advantage of technologies like machine learning and AR. Cook apparently visited the Apple Store after the conference. According to the Orlando Sentinel, Cook had a short chat with Rosenfeld, who called the meeting "an amazing surprise."

Tim Cook at the Millenia Apple Store, via Matthew Panzarino​

Rosenfeld runs a coding club at his high school, and he's created an app that converts images into ASCII, plus he has two additional apps in the works. Cook said that the teenager had impressed him.

"He has a quality that I think is on a short list of characteristics that drive success, and that is curiosity," said Cook, after talking with Liam about the creation of the coding club.

Cook went on to say that WWDC scholarships provide Apple with a way to contribute to the growing need for a tech workforce.

"You need public, private, non-governmental organizations working together because this is not a trivial transformation that needs to happen here," he said. "We have an obligation. We are fortunate to have had some success."

Apple offered 350 scholarships to students and STEM organization members for WWDC 2019. Each scholarship includes a free WWDC ticket, free accommodations in San Jose, California, near the McEnery Convention Center, and a free one-year membership to Apple's developer program.

Thrilled to meet the talented @liamrosenfeld in Orlando today. He's got a bright future ahead. See you at #WWDC19, Liam! https://t.co/aOOSJbtFjC - Tim Cook (@tim_cook) May 7, 2019

WWDC is set to kick off on June 3 with a keynote where Apple is expected to unveil the next-generation versions of iOS, macOS, watchOS, and tvOS.

Article Link: Apple CEO Tim Cook Visits Florida Apple Store and Meets WWDC Scholar

 

[Justin Cymbal]

I’ve been to that Apple Store! It’s a really nice mall..

Cool to see Cook pop in to Apple Stores around America!

Jobs used to stop in the Palo Alto store quite a bit when he was CEO

 

[44267547]

How cool is that. Meeting with the CEO of Apple and attending WWDC in a few weeks in June. Seems like a talented developer.
[doublepost=1557273696][/doublepost]

Cool to see Cook pop in to Apple Stores around America!

Yup. Cook does this actually regularly (And around the world), and has been in my area many times. That’s how it should be, the CEO should be meeting at a local level with his employees and customer base, it shows the CEO is not someone that can’t be approachable, that’s what I like about Tim Cook, as he appears very genuine.

 

[mikethemartian]

I went by that store last summer because I wanted to see what an iMac Pro looked like up close because the authorized dealers in the smaller town I live in don’t carry it. The store was pretty packed the Friday evening I went probably partly because it is close to the tourist area of Orlando.

 

[Sill]

lul at that picture of Tim Cook pointing and "teaching" the kid. Cook knows nothing about Apple's products and wants to replace computers with iPads.

That was pretty good. But then...

 

[scholar123]

lul at that picture of Tim Cook pointing and "teaching" the kid. Cook knows nothing about Apple's products and wants to replace computers with iPads.

Hey, I'm the kid the article is talking about. At no point did I feel like I was being taught, we just had an interesting conversation about my project and the coding program I started at my school.

 

[DeepIn2U]

Hey, I'm the kid the article is talking about. At no point did I feel like I was being taught, we just had an interesting conversation about my project and the coding program I started at my school.

If you're really this kid, first off congratulations! Glad to see the negativity hasn't consumed you. Keep pushing on and keep being inspired. hopefully we'll see great contributions and maybe ... just maybe you'll be a welcomed consultant for Apple if not a key programmer in a few years!!

 

[btrach144]

Hey, I'm the kid the article is talking about. At no point did I feel like I was being taught, we just had an interesting conversation about my project and the coding program I started at my school.

Welcome to MR. Don't stick around unless you want to become grumpy like the rest of us

Congrats on the scholarship and for your impressive work that caught the attention of the CEO of Apple. You've accomplished more in high school than many 40 year olds. Enjoy WWDC!

 

[Kabeyun]

Hey, I'm the kid the article is talking about. At no point did I feel like I was being taught, we just had an interesting conversation about my project and the coding program I started at my school.

Congratulations. Ignore the fools and do your thing!

 

[ThunderSkunk]

Hey, I'm the kid the article is talking about. At no point did I feel like I was being taught, we just had an interesting conversation about my project and the coding program I started at my school.

Hey, sounds like you’ve taken on some great projects. Congrats on gaining some recognition for your ambition & good work this early in your career. Remembering back on these moments can be a source of encouragement sometimes later on.

...I read the pic as Cook asking you about your project and you explaining it to him, which seems more likely. But, leave it to internet people to see what they want to see and freak out.