Technology
Apple’s Biggest Surprise at WWDC: Diversity
Susan Prescott, Apple vice president of Product Management and Marketing, speaks about its News app at the Apple Worldwide Developers Conference in San Francisco, Monday, June 8, 2015. (AP Photo/Jeff Chiu)
Jessica Guyunn, USA TODAY
SAN FRANCISCO (USA Today) — Apple, famous for parading white male executives across the stage at its annual Worldwide Developers Conference, changed things up on Monday, succumbing to growing pressure not just to talk about diversity but to actually show some.
At WWDC, two female Apple executives joined Apple Chief Executive Tim Cook and other mostly white male executives on stage in presenting the company’s products to software developers.
Jennifer Bailey announced developments with Apple Pay and Susan Prescott unveiled the company’s News mobile app.
Apple also featured a surprise performance by The Weeknd, a Canadian singer and songwriter of Ethiopian descent as well as a cameo from rapper Drake.
But the increased diversity did not appease some critics who noted that Apple did not have any minority executives on stage apart from longtime Apple executive Eddy Cue who is Cuban American.
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