Book predicting a bleak future for Apple without Steve Jobs is 'nonsense,' says Apple CEO Tim Cook
A recent book about the future of Apple after the death of Steve Jobs has prompted a from current CEO Tim Cook calling the book 鈥渘onsense鈥� and saying that he feels 鈥渧ery confident about our future.鈥�
Author Yukari Iwatani Kane released her book 鈥淗aunted Empire: Apple After Steve Jobs鈥� on March 18. In its review called the book a story in which Apple has 鈥淸lost] its soul.鈥�
鈥淭he company鈥檚 knack for conjuring breakthrough i-gadgets lapsed into a series of ho-hum upgrades, misfires like the befuddled artificial intelligence app Siri, and interminable patent lawsuits, while market share, profits, and stock price eroded,鈥� PW writes in its review. 鈥淜ane makes the story a study in CEO leadership styles, contrasting Jobs鈥檚 visionary bluster with his successor Tim Cook鈥檚 icy bean-counting.鈥�
wrote that 鈥渋t seems self-evident that without Jobs' peculiar blend of devotion to both technological superiority and sheer beauty, Oracle CEO Larry Ellison's view is the correct one: Apple 鈥榳ill not be nearly so successful because he's gone,鈥欌�� although the review also noted that, because of the time during which it was written, Kane鈥檚 book doesn鈥檛 include such recent Apple successes as iOS 7 and the iPad Air.
In a interview, Kane said that if one judges by numbers, Apple is still doing well.
鈥淏ut Apple鈥檚 own definition of success is much more,鈥� she said. 鈥淚ts promise is to be exceptional 鈥� to make insanely great products that change the world. The latter is difficult to do without Steve Jobs鈥檚 reality distortion field. In its absence, Apple is simply less convincing鈥� The business challenges that Apple is facing would have been considerable even if Steve Jobs were around. His loss makes it all the more difficult because there is no one with the moral authority to take the kind of risks that made Apple so iconic in the first place. A hired manager will never have the same authority as a man who not only founded the company, but rescued it as well.鈥�
In Cook鈥檚 statement about the book, he said the 鈥渘onsense belongs with some of the other books I鈥檝e read about Apple.鈥�
鈥淚t fails to capture Apple, Steve, or anyone else in the company,鈥� he said. 鈥淎pple has over 85,000 employees that come to work each day to do their best work, to create the world鈥檚 best products, to put their mark in the universe and leave it better than they found it. This has been the heart of Apple from day one and will remain at the heart for decades to come. I am very confident about our future.鈥�
