This is a great read. Veteran journalist Steven Levy got the chance to interview Ford’s Executive Chairman Bill Ford (former CEO and namesake Henry Ford’s great-grandson). Like everything Steven Levy writes, this is well written, thoughtful, and entertaining.
The most highlighted element from the post is this quote:
“To me, Silicon Valley is an interesting culture, but in its own way it’s every bit as insular as the Detroit culture has been accused of being. There’s a feeling that if something doesn’t originate in the Valley, it’s not worthwhile.”
I see Apple and Ford as two great institutions moving towards each other. It’ll be interesting to see if Apple makes cars and if Ford moves into digital devices.
He’s saying all the right things; he’s no Ed Colligan. But he has a huge, entrenched culture to overcome, one which still limits places where non-drivers can live and work, for one thing.
Says the guy who shipped Ford Sync to millions of customers and then abandoned it.
Replace all instances of “Silicon Valley” with “21st century” and “Detroit” with “20th century” to see how much this guy does not get it.