Tim Cook expressed his sadness over the passing of his predecessor in an interview with journalists Walt Mossberg and Kara Swisher on Tuesday evening to mark the launch of the tenth All Things Digital conference in California. “It was absolutely one of the saddest days of my life when Steve passed away,” Cook said with visible emotion.
Mr. Cook also went ahead to show the respect and adoration he had for Jobs when he referred to him as a visionary leader, and further indicated that his role was never to replace his predecessor. This is quite a clever comment from Cook, as true leaders are good at curving their own paths other than basing their plans on others’ achievements.
Nevertheless, Cook does still borrow some of the ideas he inherited from Jobs. He said that Steve jobs had already given the Matching Gift Program launched in September last year, a vote of confidence. Cook also highlighted Jobs’ Legacy as the building blocks for Apple’s Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) success in future, evading from all questions seeking to determine what changes he intends to make in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL).
But Cook is not just following the legacy, he is indeed making changes in secrecy as the norm of the most secretive company in the U.S continues. In the same interview, Tim Cook mentioned the possibility of integrating Facebook via iTunes, iPhone or iPad, something that was never thought of during Job’s reign.
Cook also stressed that Apple TV was very much in the cards as well as plans to revamp resources toward the enhancement of Siri software.
A recent profile by Fortune’s Adam Lashinsky, suggested that Apple has become more open and corporate since the beginning of Tim Cook’s era. By default, this means that the company’s culture of secrecy may be under threat.
Tim Cook did not only learn how to run the world’s most valuable company, he also learned that the best way to run such a big company is to balance work and life, day after day, as he was advised to move on and find ‘joy in the journey‘ by Jobs himself before his death in August 2011.
