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Here's a short list of contenders who could get the company thinking different again. Photo: Fovea Centralis/Flickr CC
The pop star has been Apple-happy ever since he swapped his BlackBerry for a
solid gold iPhone. His smash Academy Award-nominated
Happy also showed he has global reach - check out the YouTube versions from
Iran to
Britain. Photo courtesy Back Lot Music, under license to Columbia Records.
Apple should consider stealing
AOL’s digital prophet. If nothing else, it would be a sartorial/coiffurial break from the casual monotony Cupertino execs unfailingly sport during keynotes. Photo:
David Shing/Instagram
We had a brainwave after seeing the soccer star featured in the latest
Beats by Dre ad. The Brazilian forward who plays in Barcelona has already acted as ambassador for his home country's pop music; why not for Apple? Photo courtesy Beats Electronics
“It's not the consumers' job to know what they want,” Steve Jobs once famously said. An entire generation of teens didn’t know they gave an OMG about American history until John Green came along with his fast-moving, pithy
Crash Course videos. Green could further stack the deck on Apple’s education efforts, ensuring the company stays relevant for generations to come. Photo courtesy Crash Course
Her standup routines frequently put technology under the microscope. Whether it’s an
emergency stylist for selfies or
sexting Amy Schumer's got a real feel for how Apple changes our lives. Also, she’s all about sex. Apple should grow up and stop pretending to be Disney. Photo courtesy Comedy Central
Because he is a futurist without having to call himself one, the author of
The Better Angels of Our Nature and
The Stuff of Thought would be an excellent counterweight to Google’s guru Ray Kurzweil. Photo:
Rebecca Goldstein/Wikipedia CC
Another smart Brit could be just the ticket for Apple. Think of what Apple could do with John Oliver’s wit, which fuels things like his hilarious campaign for
net neutrality. Photo courtesy HBO
For staff morale, we nominate the wisecracking star of
Groundhog Day and
Ghostbusters. Plus, Bill Murray's seeming ability to pop up everywhere — from a
couple’s engagement photo to The New Yorker — could only be good publicity for Apple. Photo courtesy Columbia Pictures
Hey, at least iOS will keep those Wall Street transcripts safe and sound. Photo: U.S. Department of State
Apple is looking to hire a thought leader. While the actual job listing — blah blah blah “execution of critical sale reporting projects” blah blah blah — sounds about as exciting as a new ink cartridge, the idea of a thought leader role at a company like Apple is worth pondering.
Ever since the death of co-founder Steve Jobs, there’s been much speculation and hand-wringing over who could assume his role as Apple’s foremost visionary. Although no one can ever fill his New Balances, we’ve rounded up a short list of leaders who might kick the Cupertino company in a new direction.
Who do you think should drive Apple’s big ideas? Check out our picks in the gallery above, then nominate yours in the comments below.
