Apple CEO Tim Cook as Steve Jobs' Replacement

Rock solid but not visionary

Tim Cook comes across as a level-headed, bright, and rock-solid guy. And that's great. Companies need people like that.

But he doesn't seem very visionary to me. Now, the CEO doesn't have to be a visionary if he listens to and heeds the visionaries. But we don't know who is going to fill that role at Apple. And that's the worrisome part.
 
theosib said:
Tim Cook comes across as a level-headed, bright, and rock-solid guy. And that's great. Companies need people like that.

But he doesn't seem very visionary to me. Now, the CEO doesn't have to be a visionary if he listens to and heeds the visionaries. But we don't know who is going to fill that role at Apple. And that's the worrisome part.
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That's the feeling I get (based on nothing, I will admit) but having had a look round at some YouTube videos of the guy he goes not come over as someone busting with new, fresh, exciting and innovative ideas.
He just comes over as a clam and quite, safe bloke to keep the supertanker Apple on a straight and level course.

Fine, but is that all we want?

Personally, I think Apple have been making the current products for some time now and it would be nice to see them try a few fresh ideas, perhaps something else on the desktop between an iMac and a PowerMac for instance?

There is a gap for the "computing people" in their line up I think anyway.

We have the iMac for the non computing mass market who are not interested in computers, just carry out some tasks quick and easy and the PowerMac for the high end business perhaps doing renderings for corporation type work or industrial design.

Where is the computer in the middle?
 
You can never 'sugarcoat' cancer.

Ever.

I've seen its effects personally and I know how long for it to take one's life. Once it is terminal around stage 3 or stage 4, the cancer is unstoppable.

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Piggie said:
That's the feeling I get (based on nothing, I will admit) but having had a look round at some YouTube videos of the guy he goes not come over as someone busting with new, fresh, exciting and innovative ideas.
He just comes over as a clam and quite, safe bloke to keep the supertanker Apple on a straight and level course.

Fine, but is that all we want?

Personally, I think Apple have been making the current products for some time now and it would be nice to see them try a few fresh ideas, perhaps something else on the desktop between an iMac and a PowerMac for instance?

There is a gap for the "computing people" in their line up I think anyway.

We have the iMac for the non computing mass market who are not interested in computers, just carry out some tasks quick and easy and the PowerMac for the high end business perhaps doing renderings for corporation type work or industrial design.

Where is the computer in the middle?
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Cook is their "safe" and logical choice to stabilize the company based on his corporate experience as an executive for a while because they don't have a 'visionary' CEO in their line up. Ive is NOT CEO material because he is an industrial and graphic designer, preferring to work in the background, as I'm sure most creative professionals are. I've studied Illustration and Graphic Design, so I can understand that behavior.

In other words, Apple is quietly panicking using Cook to stabilize the ship while they're on a search for a new 'visionary' and that may not happen for a long time.
 
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It won't be as bad as when Steve Balmer took over after Gates. Jobs probably talked to Cook about the mistakes he saw with Microsoft and to not repeat them.
 
nwcs said:
I'm almost expecting to see a promotion for Johnny Ive in the next few months. I bet he's been personally groomed by Jobs to take over some of that visionary role. Maybe that's what has kept him at Apple when it was rumored that he was leaving last year. That Jobs maybe promised him a career path beyond where he's at right now.
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I thi k people need to give up this hope for a single replacement for steve in any capacity. Ive is brilliant at industrial design, but I've seen no evidence that he is similarly blessed with any particular software or hardware functionality genius. That's what other members (Schiller, et al) are there for.

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Ironduke said:
It should have been Ive:mad:
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You clearly don't have a clue as to what it takes to run a huge corporation.
Cook was a brilliant choice. There are ways in which he's better than Steve. I'm more confident in Apple then I've ever been.
 
Lets give him a chance

Firstly, to all those saying millions for a accountant. He is not getting that in wages. Its STOCK, and has terms tied to that.

Also, if i ran a company and my "Accountant" helped us become the most wealthy company in the world, i would be pretty happy. I mean without profit, apple would have no money to spend on fancy R&D and Investment in display providers etc.

Secondly, Lets give Tim a chance, Steve obviously picked him. The board trust steve. Also, STEVE HAS NOT LEFT! He is still on the board. Despite not having the CEO title, he will still be involved in major choices. Because the board trust him.

There are some fantastic people at Apple, at all levels i am sure. It takes everyone to make a product that kicks ass. Steve had strong visions for the future it is true, but surely after 10 years this direction and insight will rub off. Lets not forget Apple has one of the most weird and colorful cultures of any company. Working there even at the lowest level, is going to make you think different and try to excite people.

So lets stop the egging of Tim all ready, and give him some time. If he screws up, then release the eggs.

As for Ive, he won't be CEO material, his passion is design, not documents and decisions. Schiller and Scott etc, all have there key roles in sectors they are really good at.

Its true, steve will be missed. His vision and foreseeing the future. But it could be much worse.... Balmer... look what he is doing to Microsoft. that guy is a complete mentalist. Tim is chill and cool. And won't go chasing after a doomed Nokia or pay billions for Skype.... Now thats a **** up. (Boom in your face Balmer!)
 
The obsession with Jobs is incredibly misplaced. Pathetic, at its best.

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Piggie said:
That's the feeling I get (based on nothing, I will admit) but having had a look round at some YouTube videos of the guy he goes not come over as someone busting with new, fresh, exciting and innovative ideas.
He just comes over as a clam and quite, safe bloke to keep the supertanker Apple on a straight and level course.

Fine, but is that all we want?

Personally, I think Apple have been making the current products for some time now and it would be nice to see them try a few fresh ideas, perhaps something else on the desktop between an iMac and a PowerMac for instance?

There is a gap for the "computing people" in their line up I think anyway.

We have the iMac for the non computing mass market who are not interested in computers, just carry out some tasks quick and easy and the PowerMac for the high end business perhaps doing renderings for corporation type work or industrial design.

Where is the computer in the middle?
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Lol the most you want out of Apple now that Jobs isn't at the helm is a mid level desktop?

Its good thing YOU weren't selected as CEO.
 
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GQB said:
I thi k people need to give up this hope for a single replacement for steve in any capacity. Ive is brilliant at industrial design, but I've seen no evidence that he is similarly blessed with any particular software or hardware functionality genius. That's what other members (Schiller, et al) are there for.

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You clearly don't have a clue as to what it takes to run a huge corporation.
Cook was a brilliant choice. There are ways in which he's better than Steve. I'm more confident in Apple then I've ever been.
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be quiet fun boy

it should have been Ive:mad:
 
Cook was a COO, and his focus will be on the bottom line. Not customer focus, not innovation, not quality, not performance...

I know "Ive" wouldnt be the best CEO from the operational and financial standpoint...but the CEO of Apple has to be an enthusiastic visionary who loves its products and its customers. From what ive read, thats not Cook.
 
Jobsian said:
I wish Tim all the best but part of me just can't imagine Apple will be the same without Jobs' unique vision.
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Of course not, but that doesn't mean Apple will fail now either, does it? Apple is many people working together that din't change. I guess we have to just wait and see.
 
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pickleops said:
Wirelessly posted (Mozilla/5.0 (iPhone; U; CPU iPhone OS 4_3_5 like Mac OS X; en-us) AppleWebKit/533.17.9 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/5.0.2 Mobile/8L1 Safari/6533.18.5)

"... just as Jobs had Cook around to make up for his (weaknesses)."

This is an unsupported non-sequitur. The article establishes no evidence nor argues that Jobs had defficient operational skills, yet throws in this claim in the final clause. I object to this off-hand remark, and recoil at its self-evidential nature. To this reader's mind, it is an error of editorial quality and fact.
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Do you think people actually talk like that?

They don't.
 
pmz said:
The obsession with Jobs is incredibly misplaced. Pathetic, at its best.

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Lol the most you want out of Apple now that Jobs isn't at the helm is a mid level desktop?

Its good thing YOU weren't selected as CEO.
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If I was the CEO, I'd do nothing for a while, keep thing the same, then start looking at the market, and the gaps in the market we were not filling.

I'l want to listen to developers and users and see if I got a consistent feedback there there was something they would like that we were not going, and see what we could do about it.

I would not want to fill the room up with Apple worshippers who would tell me that everything we do is the best and nothing we do is wrong.
 
Jobs is not dead...yet

What I find interesting surrounding the discussion around Cook and Jobs is the implicit conclusion that Steve will no longer be involved much at Apple. The writings SOUND like he either died or has taken a jet plane to a deserted island never to be heard from again.

Now it MAY be that he is moments away from being six feet under, but maybe not. If not...you can bet every new product will have his fingerprints on it.
 
Piggie said:
There is a gap for the "computing people" in their line up I think anyway.

We have the iMac for the non computing mass market who are not interested in computers, just carry out some tasks quick and easy and the PowerMac for the high end business perhaps doing renderings for corporation type work or industrial design.

Where is the computer in the middle?
Click to expand...
The iMac is the computer in the middle. The Mac mini is the low end, the Mac Pro is the high end.

Over two-thirds of Apple's computer sales are notebooks anyhow.

Based on their quarterly profit numbers, it looks like Apple has their marketing mix correct.
 
filmantopia said:
You paint a bleak picture of Apple's future.
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How's that? Please expand on your comment, or was it just empty drive-by snark?

Here is how I see it:

System 7 was leaps and bounds more innovative than the competing iteration of Windows 3.

The Newton was an entirely new concept -- too new, really, but it did take vision to realize. And of course it was the Newton team that left Apple to found Palm, which got it right the 2nd go around.

The Apple Quick Take was one of the first consumer digital cameras on the market. At the time it was a technological marvel, and lauded as such by the tech world

QuickTime - Started the entire concept of computer multimedia

The PowerBook - Quickly became the standard all laptops should be like, though few could.

I could go on, but the point is Apple w/o Jobs conceived of great tech way before its time. How is that painting a bleak picture that Apple can't innovate w/o Jobs? Apple's failures in the 90s were not due to not being innovative. Apple has always been innovative, it just hasn't always known how to market itself.

Tim Cook being a true protege of Steve Jobs, I'm willing to give him the benefit of the doubt he has better marketing skills than Scully, Spindler, or Amelio, none of which new much about the tech industry.
 
Cook doesn't seem like a 'visionary', the way Jobs was...or for that matter, at all. (hope I'm wrong, though)

In the short term we won't see any difference since Jobs has had a hand in everything currently....but say a year from now or even 2 years from now it'll be telling.

Cross your fingers.
 
mj1108 said:
Cook doesn't seem like a 'visionary', the way Jobs was...or for that matter, at all. (hope I'm wrong, though)
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It's unfair to put anyone on the same level as Jobs but it's also unfair and shallow to be so quick to judge him when you apparently are not even that familiar with him or his contributions during his entire tenure at Apple, not just the past few days as CEO. Clearly he was picked by Jobs for a reason. Or do you think, maybe, Jobs didn't know what he was doing when he recommended him to the BOD?
 
The first time Steve departed.... Apple was left in the hands of sugar-water king John Sculley. And we all know what happened.

This time around... we've got Tim Cook at the helm, along with Forstall, Schiller and the rest of the all-star team.

Cook has been with Apple for 13 years... I think he has enough Apple DNA inside him.
 
Some of the comments in this thread are ridiculous.

If you don't think Steve has been grooming Tim for the past 13 years then you haven't been paying attention. Tim has been Steve's right hand man for a long time now and Tim probably knows Steve better than anyone.

While it's okay to wonder what life will be like without Steve I think we underestimate how well Tim will do. If Steve says Apple's best years lie ahead then I believe him.

Everything will be fine.
 
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