UPDATED 10:36 EDT / OCTOBER 05 2011

A Genius behind THE Genius: Tim Cook

Apple CEO Tim Cook officially assumed office as Apple’s CEO.  Everybody, especially the hawk-eyed Wall Street, is going to keep a close eye on him as he runs the most innovative company of the century, succeeding Steve Jobs, one of the most innovative geniuses of today. He shares Jobs “perfectionism and obsession with detail,” says CNN.

Everybody wants to know what’s going on behind that serious, softer-spoken and conservative face of a guy. He’s been interim CEO at Apple a number of times over the last few years as Jobs occasionally takes a leave due to health issues. That alone concludes him to be the best guy next to Jobs himself at Apple. Tim has been marching at the pace of Jobs’ drum and he concurs with hi idea of aesthetics, value, innovation, signature and style when it comes to Apple products. That gives us all a peace of mind.

However, nobody really knows the truth about the genius behind THE (Steve Jobs) genius. We know the kind of guy that he is, his subordinates’ take on him, his net worth and where his dorm is at Auburn, as well as how polite he is to the point of being quite aloof— but that’s as far as it goes.

As the man behind business operations, you can’t expect him to be as sociable as Steve Jobs. Cook is more like “An interrogator. A collector of data. A fierce negotiator,” as InformationWeek puts it. He’s uncompromising and he knows what’s needed to be done.

“Tim’s just not a real social person. He’s not antisocial, either. He just never seemed that interested in other people,” says Gina Gloski, a Boston-based semiconductor consultant, graduated from Auburn the same year. “I’m a hugger and a kisser, but I’d never feel comfortable giving Tim a hug or a kiss.”

Similar but Alike

While Steve and Tim may seem different, they’re alike in so many ways. The both love Bob Dylan. Also, Cook said nothing will change at Apple under his watch. By that, he means the Apple culture Jobs has established over the years will always be there to guide the company. “Apple has beautiful products, but what Jobs has been building is a company whose legacy is ideas,” says Silicon Valley futurist Paul Saffo. After all, Cook will still be reporting to Jobs and he doesn’t intend to replace Steve Jobs.

“Come on, replace Steve? No. He’s irreplaceable,” Cook said. “That’s something people have to get over. I see Steve there with gray hair in his 70s, long after I’m retired.”

Cook joined Apple back in 1998 and he’d been with IBM for 12 years before that.  Jobs was looking for someone to cut the inventory back so Cook’s ingress to the company was seasoned. He not only trimmed, but dramatically curbed the company’s expense.  He technically set up the stage for Jobs to invent his Apple products – the iTunes, iPod, iPhone and iPad.  Cook eventually becomes the highest paid executive in the company.

With all due respect to Tim, there’s still no stopping the internet folks from making fun of what’s popular. In this video we see a backstage spoof of Tim Cook’s preparation for the iPhone 4S announcement, and it turns out the guy furtively filming is Steve Jobs.  In another video, people gets overly emotional about Apple releasing an iPhone 4S instead of an iPhone 5.  No seriously folks, you gotta check the software before you judge.


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