A lot of people, Apple fans or not, grieved the death of Steve Jobs on October 5, 2011.  Tim Cook, took over the reigns at Apple, but there was a lot of doubt if the company will ever be the same without Jobs.  Though there was concern over Cook’s competence and strategy, it seems that concern has been washed away as Apple released product after product.  Though some releases faced challenges, consumers still lined up outside Apple stores.  And it doesn’t hurt that Time Inc. named Cook the runner up for their Person of the Year award, coming up just short of US President Barack Obama – and honestly, coming second to Obama is still a big deal.

But what did Cook actually do to deserve the second highest honor?

Great Personality

Cook is not known for being an extrovert; he likes to take charge but not with the spotlight on him.  So when he took the stage to introduce the iPhone 4S last year, people were a bit underwhelmed, and of course compared him to Jobs ,who was a great showman.  But as Time describes, Cook is perfect just the way he is.

“[L]ike an Apple product, Cook runs smooth and fast. When Jobs died on Oct. 5, 2011, of pancreatic cancer, there were questions about whether Cook could lead Apple,” Time’s description of Cook.  “Some, myself included, wondered whether Apple was even a viable company without Jobs. Since then Cook has gone about his business apparently unintimidated by his role as successor to one of the greatest innovators in history. Cook’s record hasn’t been flawless, but he has presided in a masterly way over both a thorough, systematic upgrading of each of the company’s major product lines and a run-up in the company’s financial fortunes that can only be described as historic.”

Humble

Though he wasn’t as hands on like when he served as Apple’s chief operating officer, thus the Maps kerfuffle, he knew when to admit mistakes and acknowledge other’s great feats – such as advising people to use Google Maps, or any other good navigation app or service for that matter.  He apologized for the whole Maps debacle, promising that they’re doing everything to smooth out their Maps app for a better user experience.

Make peace, not war – almost

Jobs’ dying wish was to bring down the wrath of the gods against Google for the Android platform and other companies he said copied or infringed their products and technology, resulting in a string of patent infringement cases against rival tech companies such as Samsung, HTC, and Motorola.  Though Cook is still breathing down hard against Samsung, they managed to play nice with HTC and entered into a licensing deal with the company.  Though it portrayed Cook as becoming too much of a softie, this just means Apple’s open to ending all patent brawls in exchange for a licensing fee.  It’s a win-win situation, actually.

Those are just some of Cook’s special features, and I’m sure he has a lot of them.  I know there a lot of anti-Apple people out there, but you can’t hate Cook for doing exceptionally well despite the constant questioning of whether or not he really is fit for the job.  As they say, haters gonna hate, you just have to ignore them and live your life knowing that you did well.