Apple's Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC) keynote on Monday was memorable for a slew of product news, but perhaps the company's biggest move was the inclusion of female presenters.
Jennifer Bailey, Apple vice president of worldwide online stores, announced new Apple Pay features. Meanwhile, Apple VP Susan Prescott introduced Apple News, the reading app resembling a slicker version of the digital magazine app Flipboard.
People in the audience and watching the live stream certainly noticed the significance of having women in the lineup, which is traditionally dominated by male executives.
Wish I were there in person to see Apple have not only one, but TWO (& possibly more) women present on stage. Really means so much. #WWDC— Ayaka Nonaka (@ayanonagon) June 8, 2015
Awesome to see so many women on stage at the #WWDC keynote— Daniel Ryan (@dryan) June 8, 2015
Really impressed that great women leaders at Apple are making up a big part of today's keynote. #wwdc— Chris Maddern (@chrismaddern) June 8, 2015
Hey, it’s pretty great to see women presenting in the keynote at #WWDC.— John Walton (@thatjohn) June 8, 2015
The ratio of women to men in my immediate line vicinity is about 1:10. #WWDC— Ruben Martinez Jr. (@rubencodes) June 8, 2015
Including women in the keynote was a concerted (and welcome) effort on Apple's part.
The tech industry came under fire last year for gender inequity. Apple's first diversity report, released last year, showed 70% of the company is male, for example.
Cook told Mashable in an exclusive interview on Sunday that the argument women don't want to work in tech a "cop-out."
"I think it's our fault -- 'our' meaning the whole tech community," Cook elaborated. "I think in general we haven't done enough to reach out and show young women that it's cool to do it and how much fun it can be."
Female role models, he added, are key to achieving gender equality.
"I think mostly people look up and see, 'You know, I'm like that person and I see what they can do,'" Cook said. He acknowledged that Apple and the tech industry at large haven't done a good job with providing more diverse role models.
To improve on that, Cook said Apple is now making outreach efforts to junior high, high school and college women. He also said the company is spending a lot more time with historically black colleges.
When asked on Sunday about the lack of gender diversity in past WWDC keynotes, he said, "I totally agree with you. You'll see a change tomorrow."
And you know what? We did.
Additional reporting by Christina Warren.