Apple COO Tim Cook as Possible Steve Jobs Replacement?

[MacRumors]

http://www.macrumors.com/images/macrumorsthreadlogo.gif (http://www.macrumors.com/2008/11/10/apple-coo-tim-cook-as-possible-steve-jobs-replacement/)

Fortune provides a detailed profile (http://money.cnn.com/2008/11/09/technology/cook_apple.fortune/index.htm?postversion=2008111008) of Apple's COO Tim Cook and asks an ongoing question: Could this be Steve Jobs' eventual successor? Speculation about who might replace Steve Jobs has remained a hot topic ever since his scare with pancreatic cancer four years ago. Cook is certainly high on the list as he was chosen by Jobs to take over day to day operations at Apple while Jobs was out for surgery in 2004. Steve Jobs has since made a made a full recovery (http://www.macrumors.com/2006/08/15/steve-jobs-in-good-health/) with recent reports (http://www.macrumors.com/2008/07/26/steve-jobs-discusses-health-with-reporter/) indicating that there has been no recurrence.

Fortune describes Cook as a workaholic who has been essentially running Apple for years. Meanwhile, Cook's demeanor is described as demanding and unemotional. He is credited for helping Apple become the "cash-generating machine" that it is today: There are two basic ways to get great profit margins: Charge high prices or reduce costs. Apple does both. The marketing and design drive consumers wild with desire and make them willing to pay a premium; Cook's operational savvy keeps costs under control.Cook is one of the highest paid executives at Apple and is said to be involved in more aspects of Apple's operation than any other executive.

Critics of the possibility, however, point out that Cook does not share Jobs' vision:"They need a brilliant product guy, and Tim is not that guy. He is an ops guy - at a company where ops is outsourced." But others suggests that Cook might simply need to surround himself with those to complement his weaknesses "just as Steve has Tim around to make up for his".

Article Link: Apple COO Tim Cook as Possible Steve Jobs Replacement? (http://www.macrumors.com/2008/11/10/apple-coo-tim-cook-as-possible-steve-jobs-replacement/)

[amusiccale]

It seems as if a tension between a 'cash-generating machine' and 'vision' has been a long-term Apple problem/strategy. Let's hope whoever follows Jobs can keep people around to maintain both.

[montypython]

Sure Tim Cook would be a great leader of Apple, but to call him a Steve Jobs replacement is impossible. Apple will continue to move forward after Steve as stepped down, but we all know that things will never be the same.

As a shareholder I am glad to see that Apple is moving on and looking down the road to replace the one thing that has made Apple, Apple for the last two decades. However, as a 'mac addict' I dread the day when Steve steps down.

Basicly this move is good for business but will deffinetly hurt Apple's popular image.

Long live Apple and Steve Jobs.
:apple:

[840quadra]

Could be good for Apple, however he lacks the charismatic draw that Jobs, and even Schiller provide during his keynote addresses. If he does take over Apple eventually, I doubt that people will swarm to see presentations / addresses like they do now.

http://forums.macrumors.com/image.php?u=47064&dateline=1165207334&type=profile

[MasterNile]

Is it possible that Tim Cook is the reason that long time Mac users are considering Apple to be declining in catering to their oldest customer base?

[DaBrain]

Oh Great a Bean counter in charge! If this happens the only motto will be profit, profit, profit!

Nothing against a company making a decent profit. Good for them. BUT, if that's their only concern and not making products that satisfy consumer demand, then this will not bode well over the course of time.

You know, things like no matte display, removal of fire wire, no update for the mini in a longgggg time, cheap displays like in the mac book (viewing angle), etc..... etc....

Time will tell. :confused::apple:

[mudaudio]

I thought it was interesting to see Ive take centre stage at the beginning of the Macbook video. I know video was about design and that's probably why, but then again maybe they are gradually putting Ive into the limelight.

Ive was very passionate and definitely has the "vision". Him and Tim Cook might be a good duo.

[DipDog3]

Wirelessly posted (Mozilla/5.0 (iPhone; U; CPU iPhone OS 2_1 like Mac OS X; en-us) AppleWebKit/525.18.1 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/3.1.1 Mobile/5F136 Safari/525.20)

Apple needs someone with a vision more than an Ops guy!

[Small White Car]

Oh Great a Bean counter in charge! If this happens the only motto will be profit, profit, profit!

- - -

You know, things like no matte display, removal of fire wire, no update for the mini in a longgggg time, cheap displays like in the mac book (viewing angle), etc..... etc....


So a "bean counter" would be a bad CEO...and as examples you list a bunch of things that have occured while Jobs is in charge.

So your point is that things have already gone to heck? Well, if that's the case then why are we worried about who the next guy will be?

[swingerofbirch]

I don't like that anyone loves number guys as they're viewed as the kill-joys, and probably aren't the best person to be the face of a company that is very popular because of its image.

[stuarthatto]

Someone has to count the beans.

Without a steady hand on the finances, there will be no innovation, no vision and, shock... no Apple.

In the current climate the last thing you want to do is be profligate. Apple like all companies will be belt-tightening right now, and who better to tighten everyones belts than an accountant.

Stu

[SpinThis!]

The CEO doesn't necessarily need to be the "face" of the company—just because Jobs was doesn't mean his "successor" will be front and center all the time. Cook is definitely the likeliest choice here. He's already stepped in for Jobs before.

As for keynotes, he'll probably let others do the presentations. Schiller is definitely a candidate for hosting keynotes and will probably have other people at Apple take a crack at them.

There's definitely other talented people at Apple who can fill Jobs' roles but the creative side will definitely be missed. Ive is certainly not a spokesperson for company, nor do I think he wants to be but his creative genius will still be at Apple and in its future products.

Will Apple be the same? Of course not. But will it be worse? With the right leadership, it'll probably just be "different." Again, the face of Apple doesn't necessarily need to be its head-honcho and without Jobs, Apple might flirt with a few new directions that Jobs never considered or would immediately turn down.

[technocoy]

no biggie... steve is a prodigy... you just replace him with all three.... schiller, Ives, and Cook. Nothing gets done until all three agree... thats the only way to go..

[DUCKofD3ATH]

Steve Jobs is unique.

When he's gone Apple will be just like all the other computer makers out there, run by MBAs looking to shave corners on quality to save a penny. Don't forget that even Jobs was forced out of Apple before they realized what a huge mistake they'd made and brought him back to save the day. Without Jobs it'll be John Sculley and "that vision thing", version 2.0.

You can't just drop someone like Ive in to replace Jobs unless he actually has all of Jobs' power, which I don't see happening. Jobs earned his position, Ive doesn't seem to have the ambitious drive needed to run a huge company like Apple.

Good design doesn't come easily, else Dell and others wouldn't have so much trouble achieving it. It's costly and requires someone with ruthless self-confidence, who's tapped into the zeitgeist so he can override the penny pinchers when they balk at spending on design, and realistic enough to realize when they're correct to balk.

This is Apple's Golden Age, so enjoy it. When Jobs is gone, we'll all be talking 'bout the good olde days.

[kas23]

I won't be that concerned at all when Jobs has to step down. Sure, he's the driving force of many great products. But, he is also the driving force behind many decisions that leave us scratching our heads.

Apple is by far a better run corporation than Microsoft, they update their products at a faster frequency and their products generally are of great quality. But, there are just some poor decisions (from my point-of-view) that leave me wondering if Microsoft would have done the same. In all, I would like to see more of a democratic approach at Apple where they are connecting to their customers again.

[IJ Reilly]

Excellent article -- the best "inside Apple" report I've seen in years. Long but absolutely worth reading in full.

One thing is clear: if Cook does become CEO some day, he won't take Steve's place as company spokesman.

The scenario of Jobs transitioning to board chair while Cook or someone else takes over as CEO sounds the most probable. That's what Microsoft did.

[137489]

Interesting...

Yes we need someone who will keep Apple in the profit (too many tech companies have gone down hill or closed). However, we do need someoene with vision to create the products we drool for - so that we buy and they can get their high-profits and charge us outrageous prices....

I mean look at MS (maybe wrong board to metion MS on :p), but seriously - Gates started his withdrawal and turning the business over to Ballmer a few years before Gates departure and looked what happened....

Vista fell behind and then was rushed out.

MS Office - rumblings about new GUI and functionality on both the WIN/Mac sides

VPC - its free, but the 2007 has issues and does not always allow proper connections to other machines when connecing from the VPC. Thus my company still is running 2004.

MS-SQL server - couple of service packs/KB's for 2005 within the last 2-month's messed up reporting services, MS is still yet to address all issues. 2008 was released with parts missing for people who use reporting services.

Any Server operating system over 2003 does not have support for Visual Studio 6 (ok, we say this coming - but MS just did a final put to bed this year, so many companies still have VS6 apps that have not been converted to .NET yet). why do you think sites are still installing Win 2003 server and Win Xp?

================

Although one thing good about an ops guy - ops people are NOT what they used to be (ie running backups and doing reboots). Ops people are just one rung below system/network administrators in terms of salary - but usually preforms the same functions; so they have to be network, application, hardware, etc savvy - as the ops person is the first one who is called when it all goes down, they are the ones who look at the new technology first, and they are the ones to make it all work with a system engineer looking over his/her shoulder.

So - this may mean that while little to no knew/visionary products comes out; what does come out may have less issues and integrate more with mainstream business as long as the consumer. He may be the one to get quality control back on track (not that I ever experienced problems with apple products - but some people have).

So maybe he will be the guy who says - "ya know it is stupid that I do not have a dock for my laptop, yet my competitors do"; "Dang, I need a tablet - I am stick of carrying around a lap top and a pen/piece of paper to the meeting"

Some of the best ideas for the companies I worked for came out of ops, due to listening to the griping of people every day. they are the ones with pet projects that usually goes to the engineers and apps programmers who say, look - this solves our needs and can we just implement this type of solution?

Time will tell ;)

[Saladinos]

But others suggests that Cook might simply need to surround himself with those to complement his weaknesses "just as Steve has Tim around to make up for his".

I take that as meaning he's the anti-Jobs. He has the qualities Steve doesn't, but Steve has the qualities he doesn't. If he'll need to find somebody with the qualities he doesn't have, he'll basically be finding another Steve.

If that's the case, why don't they just put that guy in charge?

[doctoree]

I he really is "unemotional" than he is unsuitable. We need someone as emotional as Steve Jobs. Let's hope the qustion of Steves succesor stays irrelevant for some as long as possible.

"design drive consumers wild with desire" I might be odd but what's driving me wild is Apples os

[Crtaylor]

I know that there are just points in life where a person has to retire, and I wish Steve Jobs could stay at Apple. All companies have to do this at one time or another, and I am glad Steve did was not one of these CEOs that got paid to fail.

However, I honestly think that there are better candidates than Cook to run the company. Why not bring back Steve Wozniak? I may not know what his stance on Apple is right now or what he wants to do, but I do know Apple would not exist without him or Jobs.

[Luap]

Ahh, MacRumors spawns yet another potential multipage thread, based on speculative bollocks.

[enumerated]

Honestly, Steve Jobs importance is very overrated. He is a good presenter but that is about it. Woz did the Apple, Raskin did the Mac, Fadell did the iPod, Susan Kare did the original os icons and the metaphor of the desktop, Ive does the ID.

There are so many brilliant people at Apple and to say the company NEEDS Jobs is insulting.

Jobs....presents.

[nick9191]

I would be absolutely ecstatic with Apple if:
the White Macbook disappeared, a $1099 alu book replaced it.
Apple realise their mistake an add back some form of Firewire to it
They update the Mini with the 2ghz Core 2 in the Macbook, and add the 9400M, and keep Firewire.
They don't rush Snow Leopard like they did Leopard and Mobile Me.
They increase their screen quality on the Macbook.
They don't go down-market.

In fact basically make it so I don't need to spend £1399 to get a decent notebook.

Tim Cook sounds like a make it cheap and sell it high kinda guy, and I hope this is not true.

[lazyrighteye]

Both Steve Jobs & Tim Cook have 2-syllable names.

No, really...

[Blue Velvet]

Honestly, Steve Jobs importance is very overrated.

I think you underrate some of the most important functions of any leadership role: motivation, direction, coordination and vision.

Nuts and bolts are usually delegated.

[dubhe]

Both Steve Jobs & Tim Cook have 2-syllable names.

No, really...

Just like Bill Gates, does that mean he could be taking over?

[enumerated]

I think you underrate some of the most important functions of any leadership role: motivation, direction, coordination and vision.

Nuts and bolts are usually delegated.

Each of my examples were examples of vision. Motivation? The guy is an ass, read ANY Apple book.

I think he's a great public figure, good in interviews, on TV, he's a marketing tool.

[gifford]

I won't be that concerned at all when Jobs has to step down. Sure, he's the driving force of many great products. But, he is also the driving force behind many decisions that leave us scratching our heads.

Apple is by far a better run corporation than Microsoft, they update their products at a faster frequency and their products generally are of great quality. But, there are just some poor decisions (from my point-of-view) that leave me wondering if Microsoft would have done the same. In all, I would like to see more of a democratic approach at Apple where they are connecting to their customers again.

With due respect, many are left scratching their heads because most people do not have the capacity to understand visionary decisions. I see it time and time again on here, people blaming apple for an apparent bad decision that in reality is calculated, visionary and forward thinking beyond the comprehension of the majority .

[Blue Velvet]

The guy is an ass, read ANY Apple book.

Yet, people want to work for him. He attracts talent. Likeability is not necessarily a prerequisite for getting things done. I doubt anyone else would have turned the company around to the degree that he has; some people forget what Apple was like at its lowest point.

[stuarthatto]

This really is a silly thread - sillier than usual...

Someone tried to equate COO (an Ops guy) with being just below network/server guys.

The COO is responsible for ALL the business operations of a company and has nothing to do with keeping the networking running for petes sake.

The CEO is to all intents a figurehead role.

You look at some of these replies and its as if Steve Jobs is your personal friend and you feel affronted that someone could actually be ready to replace him.

Does anyone here understand the concept that Apple is a business??? Will Microsoft go under and stop innovating (yes they do) because Gates is retiring?? Come on grow up people.

[enumerated]

Agreed, Uncle Gil was a disaster as was Scully. You bring up a good point,he attracts talent but it's because he's the ONLY public figure at Apple. Marketing Marketing Marketing.

Steve Jobs is to Apple what Mickey Mouse is to Disney.

[shigzeo]

could they not just direct some of the excess of profits to clone steve and rear him from small with a bit more customer sense and a little less vision to get a perfect apple leader?

[IJ Reilly]

Does anyone here understand the concept that Apple is a business??? Will Microsoft go under and stop innovating (yes they do) because Gates is retiring?? Come on grow up people.

I was with you up to this point. Setting aside the debatable question of whether Microsoft was ever innovative, there's no question that under Gates they were as hard-driving and successful as any corporation in history. Can the same be said with Ballmer in charge?

Leadership matters.

[gifford]

Does anyone here understand the concept that Apple is a business??? Will Microsoft go under and stop innovating (yes they do) because Gates is retiring?? Come on grow up people.

Yeah cos Ballmer is doing such a great job.

[137489]

I would be absolutely ecstatic with Apple if:
the White Macbook disappeared, a $1099 alu book replaced it.
.

Not so fast - yet..... Although it is rev A :rolleyes:. I was in Best Buy picking up a new camera and saw that one had an Apple section, so you know I just had to stop and look at the new macbooks. There was a college girl and her parents we trying to talk her into buying a mac laptop. She never used one in her life and was very windows savvy. so of course, me being an I/T person and always wanting to help someone I stopped and talked to them for 10 min. to my embarrassment, I had to demo on the white one (the store was crowded and there were no best bey assoc around - not they they really know technology anyway, because of their geek squad, most roll their eyes when I mention Apple)....

Anyway, the new macbook that was on display (and yes I know how display computers are beat on).

1. Track pad has the unresponseness at times.
2. Expose would not work with the 4 finger swipe, nor the button on the key board.
2. Two-finger click would not work.
4. I did not have any apps open and going into system preferences beachballed.

I am not sure what to make of the new display. Looked crisp and sharp, did not notice the mirroring glossy effect as some glossy screens have. But the fingerprint smudges were annoying.

I told her best value for her money would be to go to macmall.com and pick up an older white with higher CPU, Memory and hard drive. as fas a switching - it only takes a day or two to get used to some things; but it is very easy. I also gave her the apple switer 101 and the macosxhints website to go to.

Hopefully Cook can work on quality more and stop these rev A issues. Based on what saw at best buy, I may wait a year before getting a newer MBP.

[zelmo]

It is impossible to replace Steve seamlessly. Jobs vision and uncompromising pursuit of perfection are what make good Apple products 'insanely great.'
To those of you who call him a tyrant or say he is too difficult to work for: If your boss doesn't make demands of you and set high expectations, then his approval means nothing to you. How hard are you going to work to improve something beyond merely good enough?
I'm less worried about Apple's immediate post-Jobs direction, as everyone is in place with the same goal today and that won't fall apart overnight. What it will be like 5 or 10 years on is another thing.

[pismodude2]

iBreath + iBeat + iBlood = Steve Jobs will live forever...

[137489]

This really is a silly thread - sillier than usual...

Someone tried to equate COO (an Ops guy) with being just below network/server guys.

The COO is responsible for ALL the business operations of a company and has nothing to do with keeping the networking running for petes sake.

The CEO is to all intents a figurehead role.

You look at some of these replies and its as if Steve Jobs is your personal friend and you feel affronted that someone could actually be ready to replace him.

Does anyone here understand the concept that Apple is a business??? Will Microsoft go under and stop innovating (yes they do) because Gates is retiring?? Come on grow up people.

With all do respect. I have worked with a few CEO's who were totally disconnected from what went on inside of the company and made sme blunderish decisions and remarks. We spent more time pulling him out of the fire. I also worked for a few CIO's who did not know the first thing about computers (they were more CFO's and had their MBA's in that). Another mistake. then there is the COO, CIO, and CEO who each to not see eye to eye on what is best for the company so much needed decisions were stalled and visionary and scalability went out the window. Thus why one company I worked at was still using 1970's mainframes, office 97, and had to upgrade to the obsolute Macomedia MX 2004 studio before they could work with adobe on upgrading and implementing what they needed from the latest Cold Fusion.

All 3 people need to agree, have vision, and be concerned with the nuts and bolts. Otherwise you will just be going round and round. Been there, done that, worked for 2 years on a system that failed while the other 2/3 were writing a system to eventual replace that one. the new system? 3 1/2 years into the project and at a 75% completion and being the be all/end all the company needed was scrapped due to a new CIO coming in and saying - we are not an I/T company and we are cutting the I/T budget. the company's new data center is sitting empty, and they are still using 1970's technology and 1980's equipement they buy used for clinical trials.

[gifford]

Business environments and modern society in general are crap breeding grounds for producing visionary humans.

IMO there are two main problems:

1) Survival of the Fittest. Many CEO's rise to the top by screwing over the next jerk, their minds are tuned in a way that has sod all to do with the product they are selling, and similarities to primitive cave men (Ballmer). They almost all lack vision.

2) Specialized Education. society demands education with ever narrowing specialization. The problem is that some of the mankind's greatest minds are rendered incapable of grasping the big picture. Our brightest end up trapped viewing the world from a 1d perspective.

There are a few more contributing factors but that will do for the current discussion.

Cutting a long story short, very few by the time we become adults are capable of true vision due to the nature of society itself.

To be blunt, most businesses employ hundreds of 1d humans ruled by a few cave men.

[puffnstuff]

I always thought it was going to be Ive that will take over and still do.

[Firefly2002]

He just sounds creepy.

[macfearless]

no! could you imagine a keynote with this wad?

[twoodcc]

i don't know. i don't think Tim Cook can really replace Steve Jobs. but anything is possible

[MartiNZ]

I think whatever happens Steve is going to find it hard to train them to keep them going quite the same way; like we might see more -customisability- and maybe less whole hog transitions à la the current no button trackpad, no MB firewire and glassy displays all around.

However, while I don't like what that says for the hardware, I think it could benefit OS X :).

[rpaloalto]

Honestly, Steve Jobs importance is very overrated. He is a good presenter but that is about it. Woz did the Apple, Raskin did the Mac, Fadell did the iPod, Susan Kare did the original os icons and the metaphor of the desktop, Ive does the ID.

There are so many brilliant people at Apple and to say the company NEEDS Jobs is insulting.

Jobs....presents.

Sure these people were behind and or in charge, of these products. Or contributions. Even some of their ideas. All of this ultimately and at some point filters through Steve Jobs. Nothing is done or is released unless it passes Steve's OK
Thats how it was in the beginning and thats how it is now.

To say Steve's roll is overrated. Is a big and gross understatement. Steve has a uncanny ability to know when a product is just right. He works very closely with all the products, from start to finish. Many of which are his ideas. Or ideas that were conceived out of collaboration. With himself and some of the above, said names.

Marketing you don't think he plays a important and needed roll in this.
He is a huge part of Apples marketability. He knows what Apple can and cant do. He is the reason that the media, and public. Get so jacked up over any thing that Apple does.

He also has the uncanny ability to get it right.
If you haven't noticed. Many times, even before a new product is officially released. You will have countless business, and marketing experts. Bashing Apples products or idea's. Saying it's a bad decision, or a mistake. A few examples would be the g4 imac, the iTunes music store, The iPhone. all of which has gone on to do far better than anyone had expected.

When he steps down or is no longer with Apple. Apple will have a huge void to fill. Will it still be a innovator, sure. Will it continue to grow and branch out with new ideas and products, of course. It just wont due it. With the same caliber and regularity as it does with Steve Jobs at the helm.

[Saladinos]

Yet, people want to work for him. He attracts talent. Likeability is not necessarily a prerequisite for getting things done. I doubt anyone else would have turned the company around to the degree that he has; some people forget what Apple was like at its lowest point.

If you watch House, it's like that. Whilst there are books about how he's not very friendly (hard to say, since I doubt many/any here have met him for any length of time), professionally he's one of the best.

Steve Jobs has vision, and can really pick successes. He didn't just do it twice with Apple, he did it with Pixar and NeXT. There's a great story about how the guys who created the Segway worked strings to get a meeting with him. They didn't want him to invest or anything, they just wanted his blessing that it was a good product and a potential hit. He really hit them hard with a laundry list of complaints. Those guys had some pretty serious investors, so a lot of successful people thought it would take off. Jobs was right; it was a monumental flop.

He did the same with Pixar. He bought some small graphics company from George Lucas, and ended up selling it to Disney, becoming the largest single shareholder at Disney in the process. He did it with NeXT, creating a machine that was well ahead of its time, eventually selling it to Apple, again, for a lot of money. The NeXT system was so ahead of its time that it's still at work even today as the core of MacOS.

And, of course, he started Apple. Apple was on the road to success until Sculley came along. It's possible Microsoft would never have reached the success that they have if Jobs had been left in charge. Since coming back to Apple, he singled out digital music as a market for Apple, and they almost instantly dominated it and have continued to do so. They started the iTunes store, which was the most liberal legal digital music store of its day, and recently took the #1 music retailer spot. He singled out mobile phones as a market, and identified the direction the iPhone should go in. In two years, they've become the #2 smartphone manufacturer, and became the hottest selling phone this quarter. He also identified Retail as an area for Apple to move in to, where they are the fastest growing retail chain of any kind, worldwide. The Stores have been a massive success, introducing new people to the Mac and keeping customer service expectations high.

The guy has vision. Nobody can deny that. Steve Jobs is the Warren Buffet of the technology industry.

[morespce54]

...
Time will tell. :confused::apple:

Or in that case, Tim will tell... ;)

[Saladinos]

Business environments and modern society in general are crap breeding grounds for producing visionary humans.

IMO there are two main problems:

1) Survival of the Fittest. Many CEO's rise to the top by screwing over the next jerk, their minds are tuned in a way that has sod all to do with the product they are selling, and similarities to primitive cave men (Ballmer). They almost all lack vision.

2) Specialized Education. society demands education with ever narrowing specialization. The problem is that some of the mankind's greatest minds are rendered incapable of grasping the big picture. Our brightest end up trapped viewing the world from a 1d perspective.

There are a few more contributing factors but that will do for the current discussion.

Cutting a long story short, very few by the time we become adults are capable of true vision due to the nature of society itself.

To be blunt, most businesses employ hundreds of 1d humans ruled by a few cave men.

Whilst you're right about those being problems, I don't think that's the overwhelming problem. The problem is that companies are being run by marketing people, not engineers.

Ballmer is a marketing guy. He's not interested in what makes the best product, he's interested in putting bullet points on posters.

Apple is run by engineers. Everything is product-focused, and has to make sense. Engineers are logical, sensible people after all (I'm biased, I'm an engineer). Even the marketing is logical and sensible.

Nowhere is this clearer than with the next generation of operating systems. Microsoft is focusing on cramming as many features in to their slides as they can, whereas Apple is concentrating on doing a good job and making a good product. Even Bill Gates was led to think like a marketing guy, now famously saying that better products aren't a reason to buy. People want new; new features, new interfaces, new whatever. That's a marketing way of thinking.

Apple products always make sense. That's why they made the iPhone a touchscreen (not because it looks cool). On a small device, space is at a premium. You need input devices that you can get rid of to create more space. All the iPhone applications are designed to use space wisely. On WinMo phones, the touchscreen feels like a novelty - on an iPhone, it's essential.

There are loads of examples of how Apple products are designed first and foremost with common sense and logic that I won't go in to. Just look at any Jobs keynote, and listen to how he explains the new feature. It's always from a logical standpoint. It's always about why it's the best option. Every aspect is carefully scrutinised to make sure it's sensible. Microsoft don't do that. They'll tell you that you've got this new taskbar with arranges everything differently, but they don't tell you why that's better, or why it's the logical thing to do. They'll just hope the glitz captures you, and that you just go with it because it's new.

[Peruna]

If and when Steve leaves, it would be a huge mistake to move Cook from COO to a fully impowered CEO. He is a business man, a numbers guy and has performed brilliantly. But that is why Apple is profitable, not why it is brilliant. For brilliance, you need vision and that will not come from a bottom line guy like Cook.

I would suggest Jonathon Ive with Phil Shiller (sp?) as a close second. Ive has both the creative vision and the necessary charisma to carry Apple in a post Jobs era. Phil has vision, but lacks charisma.

[BigD58]

It will be a sad sad day when Steve leaves....hes my hero....:(

[gifford]

Whilst you're right about those being problems, I don't think that's the overwhelming problem. The problem is that companies are being run by marketing people, not engineers.

Ballmer is a marketing guy. He's not interested in what makes the best product, he's interested in putting bullet points on posters.


I believe the problem lies at both extremes, as engineers without visionary leadership are too mechanical and (without being rude, and ever so generalizing) lack soul.
I have witnessed rooms of exceptionally intelligent people trying to design a product which is cool...
..the moment you 'try' to make a product which is 'cool' your doomed.
'cool' is a byproduct of exceptional design, and not the starting block :)

[MacsRgr8]

The day Steve steps down..... take a look @ AAPL :eek:

[whooleytoo]

Can I vote against Tim Cook? If only because he came to the plant and promised us all our jobs were safe, nothing to worry about.. a few weeks later hundreds of us were out. :)

(Ok, no hard feelings, I rejoined Apple a year later; but it didn't exactly warm the cockles of the heart when I read he'd just made millions from the sale of Apple share options).

[stuarthatto]

Can I vote against Tim Cook? If only because he came to the plant and promised us all our jobs were safe, nothing to worry about.. a few weeks later hundreds of us were out. :)

(Ok, no hard feelings, I rejoined Apple a year later; but it didn't exactly warm the cockles of the heart when I read he'd just made millions from the sale of Apple share options).

What is he supposed to do? Tell you all and let you talk to the press, let you all down tools and hurt production before the new plant was ramped up?

Its business, you earn more than someone in China, which means Apple, the company you love, make less money per unit manufacturing in Ireland because the costs are higher. When the figures are announced to Wall St they look at costs and margins - the share price would go down without sound and prudent fiscal management.

NOBODY, not even Apple, owes anybody a living, they are in business to make money, NOT employ people.

Its a harsh and sad reality of being employed

[queshy]

Tim Cook was so boring during the last keynote. He has no charisma. Still, his keynote performance reflect little his ability to run Apple. Nobody can parallel Steve Jobs, and so anyone who replaces him will probably be inferior in some way.

[HackBook]

I have to say that I'm sure Tim Cook has the makings of a great future CEO, however, as many have noted, he's not the best at keynotes. I noticed this at the new MacBook keynote - he just seemed a bit bland and lacked that spark that Steve, Jony Ive & Phil Schiller have.

I think Schiller, Ive and Forstall would probably get the job.

[BornAgainMac]

What about Steve's kids? They have the same DNA. I wonder how they are as leaders? They probably have the force flowing in them like their father.

[gifford]

What about Steve's kids? They have the same DNA. I wonder how they are as leaders? They probably have the force flowing in them like their father.

ha, good idea.

[jbernie]

So a "bean counter" would be a bad CEO...and as examples you list a bunch of things that have occured while Jobs is in charge.

So your point is that things have already gone to heck? Well, if that's the case then why are we worried about who the next guy will be?

Hard to say, we don't see what happens in the board room, maybe Jobs wanted the firewire to remain but the bean counters won him over. Maybe the changes were going to be more extremem but jobs was able to convince them to tone them done.

[schneb]

The very idea is Cook-COO.

[bengal85]

Sure Tim Cook would be a great leader of Apple, but to call him a Steve Jobs replacement is impossible. Apple will continue to move forward after Steve as stepped down, but we all know that things will never be the same.

As a shareholder I am glad to see that Apple is moving on and looking down the road to replace the one thing that has made Apple, Apple for the last two decades. However, as a 'mac addict' I dread the day when Steve steps down.

Basicly this move is good for business but will deffinetly hurt Apple's popular image.

Long live Apple and Steve Jobs.
:apple:



He has it right I mean Steve jobs took a chance and tried to compete with windows and I don't think there is any one else that can build a company like Jobs did.

It would suck if he died though

[mdriftmeyer]

He is not a visionary, period.

He has no experience with product design and does not understand the marriage between hardware and software.

Scott Forstall [who I worked with at NeXT and Apple] and personally find a bit of an ass happens to be a far wiser choice--he knows the software and hardware and being an Architect of Openstep and OS X with the ability to give public speeches well can swing it.

[whooleytoo]

What is he supposed to do? Tell you all and let you talk to the press, let you all down tools and hurt production before the new plant was ramped up?

Its business, you earn more than someone in China, which means Apple, the company you love, make less money per unit manufacturing in Ireland because the costs are higher. When the figures are announced to Wall St they look at costs and margins - the share price would go down without sound and prudent fiscal management.

NOBODY, not even Apple, owes anybody a living, they are in business to make money, NOT employ people.

Its a harsh and sad reality of being employed

I just don't like being lied to, that's all. Quality rant on your part though! ;)

(FWIW, I do think a single-minded obsessive pursuit of lower costs/higher margins/bottom line to the exclusion of all else is counter-productive, as less tangible -but no less important - benefits can easily be ignored. Quality of work, fluency in English, morale of employees who are retained, etc.)

[kas23]

With due respect, many are left scratching their heads because most people do not have the capacity to understand visionary decisions. I see it time and time again on here, people blaming apple for an apparent bad decision that in reality is calculated, visionary and forward thinking beyond the comprehension of the majority .

Oh, please.... Stop generalizing people. I'm not one of the ones who said the iPod (or any other Apple product) would be a failure. I'm talking about no MMS. I don't see the foward visionary thinking here. Can you? Or, are you still one of the people who can't see how this is fantastic news?

You act like Jobs is some kind of god or something. He just runs a computer company - one that still remains a little less than 10% of the marketshare. And he really hasn't done much technological innovation either. He takes an exisitng technology, re-packages it, calls it iSomething, and then all fanbois flock to it thinking it is something new to this universe. For the iPhone, he even took features away and then repackaged it and then convinced everyone it was innovative. And for this very reason, he is a marketing genius.

[napabar]

Honestly, Steve Jobs importance is very overrated. He is a good presenter but that is about it. Woz did the Apple, Raskin did the Mac, Fadell did the iPod, Susan Kare did the original os icons and the metaphor of the desktop, Ive does the ID.

There are so many brilliant people at Apple and to say the company NEEDS Jobs is insulting.

Jobs....presents.

Raskin invented the Mac? HA! Clearly you've been drinking HIS Kool-Aid. Raskin was designing a $500 appliance computer when Jobs took over the project. Jobs turned the Mac in a mini-Lisa, and succeeded where the Lisa failed. Raskin quit soon after Jobs took over. Almost none of Raskin's ideas where in the final product, save the name. The mouse, GUI, etc where all incorporated at Job's insistence. You should try doing some research before spouting off anti-Jobs diarrhea out of your mouth.

[geese]

It would suck if he died though

What do you mean 'if he dies'!:p

[Will_reed]

If someone where to ever replace Steve it would probably be someone extremely unexpected like a Brad Peebler or something.

[ageha]

Who said Steve is stepping down any time soon?

[mdriftmeyer]

Who said Steve is stepping down any time soon?

I suppose they're speculating so since the visionless Bill Gates [great at raping over businesses when it was truly legal] stepped down then that means Steve must be doing the same soon.

It's a load of crap, but then again these journalists have never worked for Steven P. Jobs.

[137489]

What!????? Hahahahahahahaha

ok, maybe i just worked at companies that mis-used job title and had stringent job descriptions/duties. There were a couple of people I would hardly consider "ops guys".

[hihater]

Oh, please.... Stop generalizing people. I'm not one of the ones who said the iPod (or any other Apple product) would be a failure. I'm talking about no MMS. I don't see the foward visionary thinking here. Can you? Or, are you still one of the lowly people who can't see how this is fantastic news?

Jeez, you act like Jobs is some kind of god or something. He just runs a computer company - one that still remains a little less than 10% of the marketshare. And he really hasn't done much technological innovation either. He takes an exisitng technology, re-packages it, calls it iSomething, and then all fanbois flock to it thinking it is something new to this universe. For the iPhone, he even took features away and then repackaged it and then convinced everyone it was innovative. And for this very reason, he is a marketing genius.Hey since Steve Jobs has it so easy, why don't you go start your own company, repackage things and sell it genius. :rolleyes:

[the vj]

Jobs is Jobs and it doesn't matter who takes his place Apple won't be the same.

Jobs is a creator and he has his own vision, is just like thinking what song U2 will be creating? and trying to create something like it, U2 is U2.

Apple will change, it will not be the same any more.

If the leader of the corporation becomes some one not interested in creativity and does not has the vision to choose and sonsolidate those creative minds... those minds will fade and Apple will end up more like M$.

[Imhotep397]

Johnny Ive would be the best candidate. Apple is such a "Charisma" oriented company that they can't risk losing Ive, Hell turning him loose is what saved Apple from the post Jobs days and largely creatives are the people that buy Apple's expensive toys the most. Ive is more Apple than Jobs is, because he could actually do a tech demo of Shake, or some Apple spawned 3D app and then just as easily speak to the average consumer about the cool new features of the next iPhone.

[Blue Velvet]

Johnny Ive would be the best candidate.

It's often been said that he doesn't want to do it. He's supposed to quite shy and a very private person. That could be political positioning (unlikely) or it could be that he's happy leading the design team.

[mathcolo]

Seems like a good idea; although the mention of how T. Cook doesn't have the same vision as Steve Jobs makes me think he won't be very successful with Apple's products.

They need someone with the same vision... and who really is that anyways? There's J. Ive and others working with the design team. They seem more likely than an operations executive.

[mdriftmeyer]

Johnny Ive would be the best candidate. Apple is such a "Charisma" oriented company that they can't risk losing Ive, Hell turning him loose is what saved Apple from the post Jobs days and largely creatives are the people that buy Apple's expensive toys the most. Ive is more Apple than Jobs is, because he could actually do a tech demo of Shake, or some Apple spawned 3D app and then just as easily speak to the average consumer about the cool new features of the next iPhone.

Save it. The face of the company is the person who sees the entire picture. Ivy's oversight of a variety of Design engineers [M.E., EE, ChemE,etc] gives him far more credit than a industrial design degree holder should ever have.

[ibosie]

Steve Jobs is unique.

When he's gone Apple will be just like all the other computer makers out there, run by MBAs looking to shave corners on quality to save a penny.

Isn't this what Jobs has been doing more recently? I think the golden days have already passed and you're probably right, number crunching is now the priority goal.

[CaryMacGuy]

The one common denominator in Apple's success has been Steve Jobs. Steve left in 1985 and then the company started in a downward spiral. In 1997 (when Apple was near death), Steve returned and all of a sudden, the company has been profitable.
I think when Steve steps down, things are definitely going to change. It is hard to say how they will change. I imagine that Apple products will begin to look a little different (then again you have Johnny Ive). Who knows if Apple will be successful. Lets just hope that things stay the same for the foreseeable future.

[schneb]

Jobs is Jobs and it doesn't matter who takes his place Apple won't be the same.
Disneyland, EPCOT, and Disney productions sans-Walt is a good example. :(

[hiimamac]

It seems as if a tension between a 'cash-generating machine' and 'vision' has been a long-term Apple problem/strategy. Let's hope whoever follows Jobs can keep people around to maintain both.

No lets hope that apple pulls the wool off their eyes and releases what the people want.

Jobs needs to step down - to paranoid, to worried about the PRO using cheaper machines, so what Jobs, you will sell MORE not less, computers.

And Ive's should be the "main" man.
Time for JOBS to step down and let the real marketing people run the ship.

[hiimamac]

Disneyland, EPCOT, and Disney productions sans-Walt is a good example. :(

Wrong, Ive's is the face of Apple not Jobs - Jobs job is to be paranoid and not allow PRO users to have a cheap solution, Apple TV with NO DVR, iPods with no delete and DRM and one way street with music.


Ive's is the face - lets just hope he can remove these barriors.

[the vj]

Wrong, Ive's is the face of Apple not Jobs - Jobs job is to be paranoid and not allow PRO users to have a cheap solution, Apple TV with NO DVR, iPods with no delete and DRM and one way street with music.


Ive's is the face - lets just hope he can remove these barriors.

But those are peanutes, ases under the sleve to have against competitors. What about the iMac, the iPod, the 12" Powerbook, the Pismo, the OSX itself, Logic, Final Cut Pro, iTunes Store... iPhone.

You need a creative mind behind all that. One thing is to have the product and features, another thing is to make it something.

I work with the Philips 3D WOWvx displays, the screens are great but everything depends on the content as well where I market them. Now, I have huge investors and if I am not here the business disapear. You need some one behind everything.

[stuarthatto]

I just don't like being lied to, that's all. Quality rant on your part though! ;)

Thanks a lot on the rant bit ;)

None of us like being lied to, and it took an example of executive subterfuge to make me understand the world of business, and more importantly, never to fall in love with a company or indeed its technology.

Anybody remember Bob Palmer and his ousting of Ken Olson and subsequent sale of Digital to Compaq?? He told us all much the same things.....

[IJ Reilly]

The one common denominator in Apple's success has been Steve Jobs. Steve left in 1985 and then the company started in a downward spiral. In 1997 (when Apple was near death), Steve returned and all of a sudden, the company has been profitable.

Not quite. Not even close, really. When Steve left Apple in 1985 the company was a mess, organizationally and financially. The Mac looked like a failure. That's why he recruited John Scully -- to right the ship. Under Scully, Apple had its most profitable years to that time. The downward spiral didn't start until the mid-1990s, under Spindler and Amelio. The return to profitability didn't happen all of sudden when Steve returned -- it took several years.

[Firefly2002]

It will be a sad sad day when Steve leaves....hes my hero....:(

I hope not. He's not a very good person.

[ekdor]

Ok for the short term. But this guy doesn't look any younger. He has a good chance of starting to get sick as many do when they get old. They should be spending time and effort to find a new young Steve Jobs. Train him/her up as long as they can while they have the real man on hand. He/she should be seen by Steve Jobs side till the end...

[Quillz]

Sure Tim Cook would be a great leader of Apple, but to call him a Steve Jobs replacement is impossible. Apple will continue to move forward after Steve as stepped down, but we all know that things will never be the same.

As a shareholder I am glad to see that Apple is moving on and looking down the road to replace the one thing that has made Apple, Apple for the last two decades. However, as a 'mac addict' I dread the day when Steve steps down.

Basicly this move is good for business but will deffinetly hurt Apple's popular image.

Long live Apple and Steve Jobs.
:apple:
But it hasn't quite been two decades. Steve Jobs returned to Apple in 1997, and the hardware since then has been what revitalized Apple. Steve's original run with Apple in the 80s was actually not particularly profitable, and the Apple of the late 80s/early 90s was a nightmare.

[Quillz]

Not quite. Not even close, really. When Steve left Apple in 1985 the company was a mess, organizationally and financially. The Mac looked like a failure. That's why he recruited John Scully -- to right the ship. Under Scully, Apple had its most profitable years to that time. The downward spiral didn't start until the mid-1990s, under Spindler and Amelio. The return to profitability didn't happen all of sudden when Steve returned -- it took several years.
And let's not forget that 1997 was also the year Microsoft made a $150 million investment in Apple. I'm quite sure that helped to save Apple.

[IJ Reilly]

And let's not forget that 1997 was also the year Microsoft made a $150 million investment in Apple. I'm quite sure that helped to save Apple.

It didn't. The investment was a token, and in exchange for the settlement of a lawsuit. Apple had over a billion dollars cash on hand at the time. Microsoft's announcing that they were committing to at least five more years of Office for the Mac probably had a greater impact. But the biggest impact was the new products. Nothing beats having products to sell that people actually want to buy.

[tzhu07]

Tim Cook looks a lot like Dyson.

http://images.apple.com/pr/images/ref_05cook.jpg
http://www.cocatalyst.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2008/06/full_957604james_dyson_cut_out_news.jpg

They're like brothers.

[tomstrickfaden]

Honestly, Steve Jobs importance is very overrated. He is a good presenter but that is about it. Woz did the Apple, Raskin did the Mac, Fadell did the iPod, Susan Kare did the original os icons and the metaphor of the desktop, Ive does the ID.

There are so many brilliant people at Apple and to say the company NEEDS Jobs is insulting.

Jobs....presents.

You are correct that there are many very brilliant people working for Apple. However to diminish the value of Steve Jobs is simply naive. The reason Apple exists then and now and the reason Apple is admired world-wide is fully the result of Steve Jobs doing his job better than anyone, twice.

[rolandf]

Isn't this what Jobs has been doing more recently? I think the golden days have already passed and you're probably right, number crunching is now the priority goal.

Sadly, I have to agree.

A general strategy I would put forward is to have every product something like a measure of how fair it is. This can be achieved by having a company to declare, which goals have been maximised internally, effectively.

E.g. to build a product as cheap as possible and to sell it deliberately as high as possible, allied with very selective advertisement, close to deceiving a potential buyer, would carry a very low fairness rating.

Also, making a strategic decision like, our customers like our design, and there is no similar choice from another competitor, so lets determine that point of the customers utility function, such that he is still willing to buy our product instead of something different, even if does not match with our previous history and aims, and we know that very well, would be rated as highly unfair.

Apple has steadily been moving into the unfairness direction with respect, towards its customers.

So, it is not only about energy efficiency but also about fairness, which can be removed by getting rid of information deficits.

[xlii]

I don't think STEVE JOBS (all caps shouting intentional.. steve made me do it that way) would allow a rising star in Apple to shine brighter than himself. If one did arise he or she would be forced out of the nest and probably go on to become the CEO of another company.

[hihater]

No lets hope that apple pulls the wool off their eyes and releases what the people want.

Jobs needs to step down - to paranoid, to worried about the PRO using cheaper machines, so what Jobs, you will sell MORE not less, computers.

And Ive's should be the "main" man.
Time for JOBS to step down and let the real marketing people run the ship.Release what people want, who are you, you think because you want something, you speak for everyone else, if people were to listen to people like you, they would be out of business. :rolleyes:

[hihater]

I hope not. He's not a very good person.And you're a better person?

[queshy]

He is not a visionary, period.

He has no experience with product design and does not understand the marriage between hardware and software.

Scott Forstall [who I worked with at NeXT and Apple] and personally find a bit of an ass happens to be a far wiser choice--he knows the software and hardware and being an Architect of Openstep and OS X with the ability to give public speeches well can swing it.
You did not work with Scott. Pics or it didn't happen!

[hping]

steve jobs is undoubtedly a visionary, in no great mystical sense, but a visionary nevertheless

[akadmon]

Best of luck to both Tim and Steve! It's about time that Steve stepped down, for the good of the company and his own. Yes, AAPL will take a serious hit in the short term, but 10 years from now we will all be fretting about Tim Cook's emminent departure from Apple's helm, mark my word. Tim will do just fine.

[Bosunsfate]

I think the whole executive team at Apple is top rate.

What are the thoughts on someone from the outside coming in?

I'm not asking if this is a crazy question. But rather are there any likely candidates?

[Quillz]

I think the whole executive team at Apple is top rate.

What are the thoughts on someone from the outside coming in?

I'm not asking if this is a crazy question. But rather are there any likely candidates?
Depends on who they interview and who'd be up for the job. I'm sure there's plenty of adequate outsiders who could take the job. And really, it's just a job. You don't have to be superhuman to be Apple's CEO.

[MattInOz]

You are correct that there are many very brilliant people working for Apple. However to diminish the value of Steve Jobs is simply naive. The reason Apple exists then and now and the reason Apple is admired world-wide is fully the result of Steve Jobs doing his job better than anyone, twice.

Yes but his job the second time around was to put the company in a position that it didn't need someone like him. Like most other companies of the Tech boom who also relied on that figurehead character.

So to think Apple will be any less of company also diminishes his work.
Sure It won't be the same, but it won't be radically different either.

[Bosunsfate]

Depends on who they interview and who'd be up for the job. I'm sure there's plenty of adequate outsiders who could take the job. And really, it's just a job. You don't have to be superhuman to be Apple's CEO.

I totally agree. Its about the fit within the organization and how that person might set the future tone and direction.

We've seen what happens at Apple when that CEO fails.

Of the current list of Bay Area CEO's I can't think of someone who would fit. That includes Jerry Yang since I hear he is looking for a job. :p

[kdarling]

Sorry, haven't the time to read entire thread... don't know if this has been posted:

Fortune article about Tim Cook and how he's been running things for years (http://money.cnn.com/2008/11/09/technology/cook_apple.fortune/index.htm?postversion=2008111010)

[Gunga Din]

http://www.cnbc.com/id/15840232?video=999584790&play=1

http://www.cnbc.com/id/15840232?video=999577976&play=1

[ILOVEMAC0085]

but there must be someone who will be as good as Steve Jobs.
The only problem is this person gonna be found?!!
I do believe there is someone out there who could replace Steve but what would be the right strategy to follow....

[MikeTheC]

Dunno if it's been posted here yet, but...

Wikipedia: Timothy D. Cook (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Timothy_D._Cook)

Read his bio. It's no wonder he's still a bachelor. Whether that portends good or ill for Apple, I don't know.