Skip to main content

No sunshine for that rascally Tim Cook in the Sunshine State

The Sunshine State may be a gloomy place for Apple CEO Tim Cook — at least if one Florida sheriff gets his way.

In a rather bizarre yet nonetheless passionate non sequitur during a press conference (supposedly about the recent arrest of three brothers accused of killing a drug dealer), Polk County Sheriff Grady Judd turned his attention to the tech leader, whose ongoing battle with the FBI over iPhone encryption has captured national attention.

Recommended Videos

Judd is known as an “often-outspoken” individual, according to local reports, and was prompted to make his feelings known regarding the privacy debate because of the role an iPhone played in the recent arrests. The sheriff noted that the three Johnson brothers took photos of their victim’s body with a smartphone and then showed off the content, “bragging about the murder.”

While his suspects willingly turned over their phones and passcodes, Judd was clearly incensed by what might have happened had the Johnsons refused. When reporters asked about his opinions with regard to Apple’s continued refusal to decrypt an iPhone linked to one of the San Bernardino terrorists, Judd had some harsh words to share.

“You cannot create a business model to go, ‘We’re not paying attention to the federal judge or the state judge. You see, we’re above the law,'” he said. “The CEO of Apple needs to know he’s not above the law, and neither is anybody else in the United States.”

He continued, “I can tell you, the first time we do have trouble getting into a cellphone, we’re going to seek a court order from Apple. And when they deny us, I’m going to go lock the CEO of Apple up.”

“I’ll lock the rascal up,” Judd stressed.

So there you have it, Mr. Cook. Beware of any trouble you may get into in Florida — if Sheriff Judd is around, he won’t hesitate to throw you in the slammer.

Lulu Chang
Fascinated by the effects of technology on human interaction, Lulu believes that if her parents can use your new app…
What is WhatsApp? How to use the app, tips, tricks, and more
WhatsApp logo on a phone.

There’s been no shortage of instant messaging apps over the past decade, as the rise of advanced smartphone platforms has created the need for more sophisticated ways to communicate than traditional SMS text messages allowed for.

In fact, the Apple App Store and Google Play Store are both littered with apps that promised to be the next big thing in mobile communications. Yet, many of those fell by the wayside as they failed to achieve the critical mass of users needed to make them useful. After all, apps designed for communicating with others don’t do you much good unless enough folks are using them. Luckily, WhatsApp made our list of the best iPhone Apps and our infamous list of the best Android apps out there.

Read more
Services shine in Apple’s record March quarter

Apple has reported its best financial figures for the March quarter, raking in a colossal $97.3 billion for the three-month period ending March 26. That marks an increase of 9% over the same period a year earlier.

Net quarterly profit came in at $25 billion, up from $23.6 billion on the year-ago quarter.

Read more
Apple employees to return to offices later than expected
Apple CEO Tim Cook in front of an Apple logo

Apple is going to begin bringing all of its employees back to it offices in April via a hybrid in-office/remote work schedule. When the company initially announced that it wanted to introduce the hybrid work environment, it projected that its employees would once again be back at their desks on February 1, 2022. As February came and went without an update from the company in that regard, it seemed questionable if Apple employees would ever be getting back to their work lives as they were once known.

Tim Cook, Apple CEO, confirmed that the offices would indeed be reopening in April in a companywide email shared with The Verge. Starting on April 11, the company will begin phasing in its hybrid schedule where employees will come into the offices starting with just one day a week and ramping up from there. Cook expects all staff to be coming in three days a week by May 23 while allowing those who want to come in more frequently options to do so.

Read more