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Tim Cook != Steve Jobs

lostngone

lostngone

macrumors 65816
Original poster
Aug 11, 2003
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Let me start off by saying I am a huge fan of Steve Jobs and I mean no disrespect to the memory of Steve Jobs or to Tim Cook.


My question is, Steve Jobs was a great man and now that he is gone is Tim Cook going to try and run Apple like Steve Jobs did? Should he even try?
I am very broken up about Steve Jobs being gone, but he is and I am afraid that if Tim Cook tries to run Apple like Steve Jobs he might actually hurt Apple in the long run. I don't think up to this point Tim Cook has tried to do that but Steve hasn't really been gone until now.

Do you think Tim Cook will try and mimic Steve Jobs style of management or do his own thing?
 
Cook is a BEAST

Don't forget he ran the show when Jobs had to take leave a couple of times and things went smoothly.

What's going to be hard to replace is Job's knack for knowing what is a winner and his unflinching attention to detail.
 
jav6454 said:
In many ways, Cook already does. Many articles report that Cook is like Jobs in running Apple, except Cook lacks the showmanship Jobs had.
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And it's not like it would be hard to hire a good showman. The thing is, people will buy anything Apple make at this point anyway. Even if Cook stays mediocre at presenting a device, people would still be willing to punch a baby just for a chance at owning it.
 
boss.king said:
And it's not like it would be hard to hire a good showman. The thing is, people will buy anything Apple make at this point anyway. Even if Cook stays mediocre at presenting a device, people would still be willing to punch a baby just for a chance at owning it.
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True, but given that Apple uses their executives to show it off, I find it hard to see someone else do it.
 
Tim Cook is as responsible for Apple's success as Jobs. Apple is in good hands.
 
Tim Cook is a product of Steve Jobs.

They worked along beside each other for over a decade. Steve was Tim's mentor. Tim also has pretty much been the CEO of Apple since 2009, though Steve was still around to keep him right.

Steve's also laid out a roadmap for Apple (products and direction to go in for the next few years).

I guess we can only truly assess Tim Cook as CEO once Steve's roadmap has run out.
 
Watch Scott Forstall again when he's presenting things in keynotes. He's more like Steve than any of the others.

He has Steve showmanship and Woz' technical abilities.
 
Yvan256 said:
He has Steve showmanship and Woz' technical abilities.
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Yeah, Scott is very enthusiastic on stage, and does good demonstrations.

If he could talk a bit smoother, then he'd be even better. His voice is quite sharp at times, especially when he goes "next!".
 
Yvan256 said:
Watch Scott Forstall again when he's presenting things in keynotes. He's more like Steve than any of the others.

He has Steve showmanship and Woz' technical abilities.
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Let's also not forget the man who actually designs these products, some say Ives is the genius!
 
Let's be honest, only a very small minority of tech geeks ever see a keynote anyway

People want products that perform, not people

I have yet to buy an Apple product based on an exciting keynote presentation/presenter

I buy products that are designed with an eye for detail, are made with quality, work well and give me value

Even those looking for the "cool" factor aren't influenced by a keynote

They can have Ballmer present for all I care, as long as they deliver the goods with their products
 
MacDawg said:
I have yet to buy an Apple product based on an exciting keynote presentation/presenter
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The keynote shows off a new product, and is particularly useful for software. Final Cut Pro X for example - the videos didn't appear on Apple's website for ages, so all we had was the keynote demonstration.
 
rdowns said:
Tim Cook is as responsible for Apple's success as Jobs. Apple is in good hands.
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I beg to differ. Jobs is responsible for Apple's comeback. The last couple years, yes, Cook was right there doing much of the heavy lifting... but as responsible for the company's success as Steve? Hardly.

:)
 
Don't base Tim Cook's (or anyone else's) presentation style on last week's keynote. It's obvious if you re-watch the video that they were all pretty cut-up and downbeat about Steve. It was a somber atmosphere, and I'd expect future keynotes to be a lot better.

I agree that Scott Forestall looks like a great presenter.


Melrose said:
I beg to differ. Jobs is responsible for Apple's comeback. The last couple years, yes, Cook was right there doing much of the heavy lifting... but as responsible for the company's success as Steve? Hardly.
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I agree with rdowns. Steve was the big picture guy, but Apple's profitability has been due to meticulous focus on industrial process, supplier negotiations, inventory management etc. Tim is the process and manufacturing guy that was behind all this.
 
Melrose said:
I beg to differ. Jobs is responsible for Apple's comeback. The last couple years, yes, Cook was right there doing much of the heavy lifting... but as responsible for the company's success as Steve? Hardly.

:)
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Steve was their visionary, there's no doubt about that and I don't minimize his amazing accomplishments in any way. Cook, as Firestarter said, is the one responsible for their financial success. He built their world class supply chain which not only give us Apple products but cause countless headaches for their competitors to compete.

Prior to Cook, Apple was the worst company in the world in forecasting demand and managing inventory. Hell, those were the major reasons Apple almost went bankrupt.

A hell of a lot of credit also needs to go to Apple's senior management. Any of them could have a CEO job tomorrow if they wanted one.
 
rdowns said:
Steve was their visionary, there's no doubt about that and I don't minimize his amazing accomplishments in any way. Cook, as Firestarter said, is the one responsible for their financial success. He built their world class supply chain which not only give us Apple products but cause countless headaches for their competitors to compete.

Prior to Cook, Apple was the worst company in the world in forecasting demand and managing inventory. Hell, those were the major reasons Apple almost went bankrupt.

A hell of a lot of credit also needs to go to Apple's senior management. Any of them could have a CEO job tomorrow if they wanted one.
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I'm not discrediting any member of the Apple board, I'm simply stating the obvious. The drive and direction of Apple is due primarily to Jobs, period. Tim Cook has done fantastically well, but there's a difference between being on the board and being the CEO who brings the company back from the brink. To say Steve was a figurehead is a smidge naïve.

And yes, I agree the last keynote wasn't like it could have been. In earlier days on stage, Cook was much more lively. He's still stuffy, but this last event - with good reason - didn't have any of them at their best performance.
 
Tim Cook is the BEST choice for CEO of Apple. He has been running Apple for little less than half a year and things are fine. Tim Cook is a hard worker and and has the attention to detail like Jobs. Only thing is we dont know Cooks vision. To be Honest, I am more worried about Apples future after Cook.
 
Melrose said:
I'm not discrediting any member of the Apple board, I'm simply stating the obvious. The drive and direction of Apple is due primarily to Jobs, period. Tim Cook has done fantastically well, but there's a difference between being on the board and being the CEO who brings the company back from the brink. To say Steve was a figurehead is a smidge naïve.
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I suspect our positions are not very distant.

Steve's leadership and vision were incredible, and part of his skill was to surround himself with very able people. Could he have turned his vision into profit without a man like Tim Cook? Probably not... in the same way that Ive has been integral to his design vision.

I have confidence that Tim Cook can continue to lead and grow a strong company, but as Apple 'fans' that's probably not really what interests us. What interests us is whether Apple will still be able to produce 'magic'.

The biggest challenges Cook will face are the entropic forces of fear and bureaucracy that quickly dull most large organisations (look at Microsoft). He will lack the 'god given' forcefulness that Steve had; he has neither the charisma, nor the legacy of being the company's founder to back him up.

I think the most likely risks of failure for Cook will be failing to keep the 'top team' in place. Ive is a key player, but there were rumours earlier this year of him leaving Apple to return to the UK. Surely a man of his talents must be bored too (Apple products slim down and grow smooth edges, but totally new designs are pretty infrequent; is Ive fully occupied?). Without Jobs' magnetic personality as a reason to stick around, these rich men who head Apple's divisions must have a greater chance of leaving - they certainly have less of a reason to stay.

If Cook looses Ive and maybe another division head in the next two years I won't be surprised; and at that point he'll have a difficulty in re-growing Apple's essential aesthetic, given he isn't a vision man himself.
 
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