Why Does Apple's Tim Cook Want To Kill Cash?

Photo courtesy of 9to5mac.com 

In previous posts, I've written about CEOs who seek to usher in a new society, rather than merely design and sell products, such as Travis Kalanick and his mandate to rid the world of cars, or Elon Musk's plans to send humans into space. 

In a recent interview, we have another CEO who wants to create a new society: Tim Cook, who, according to Fortune, claims that Apple's next goal is "killing paper money once and for all." How? With ApplePay of course. Those who use this service store their credit cards, debit cards, and gift cards with Apple and thus can pay with a mere swipe of their phone. Cash is thus obsolete--at least for such users. Incidentally, Google and Samsung have their own competitive services. 

As Fortune notes, Cook's claim is a specious one, for while Apple has been able to sign on a number of banks, including those in Japan, the service is far from expansive: there are many countries who rely on cash, and the majority of people don't use Apple products. 

So why is Cook making such a claim as "killing cash?" Could be ego. Might be just a brash statement to get publicity and sell more Apple products. Maybe he's trying to show the world he's no longer in Steve Job's shadow, but is emerging as a tech giant in his own right. Jobs killed the record industry as we know it, so why shouldn't Cook try to kill cash?

What we should ask about Cook's claim to kill cash is why he wants to do it in the first place--why he's not just trying to sell another product, but striving to disrupt a fundamental way economies function. For example, cash is untraceable, whereas using ApplePay at a till isn't. And isn't it acceptable for people to carry around and pay with cash? What is wrong with that? Why does cash need to be killed? There seem to be implications for Cook's desire to kill cash that blur the lines between selling products and disrupting society.

Designing and manufacturing products is a good thing. When they're good, they make our lives easier. But when companies deliberately seek to shift the social order, to change social functions and operations, to disrupt human freedoms, then we should perceive them with suspicion. 

Cash isn't a bad thing. In fact, when economies are precarious, there are many instances of people forming their own currencies--cash is just a means of trading one service for another. While "killing cash" might seem cool and innovative, we need to ask ourselves what agenda such an act could be serving. 

And such questions should be directed toward any CEO who blurs the lines between designing a new product and ushering in some kind of new society. 

In whose interest is cash being killed, or are cars being taken off the road, or people's ability to drive cars impaired, or humans becoming multi-planetary species? 

In the age of disruptive CEOs, these are questions we need to ask ourselves and one another.