Ever since Steve Jobs’ passing, the question of who is going to be making the decisions at Apple has been asked repeatedly. The new CEO Tim Cook is by Jobs’ admission “not a product person, per se”, and so he would need support when it comes to design and manufacturing. Walter Isaacson, author of Steve Jobs’ best selling biography has stated, according to Fortune, that Jony Ive would be the second half of Apple’s leadership.
Isaacson claimed that Ive and Cook were “joined at the hip”, and that “they represent both halves of Steve Jobs’ personality”. Ive was very much Jobs’ spiritual partner at Apple, and he brings the much needed creativity to the table. Cook on the other hand brings an incredible work ethic and superb organization.
I agree with Isaacson. If you put Ive and Cook together, you more a less get Steve Jobs. Having said that, Jobs is almost irreplaceable and there will always be some aspects of his personality that will be missing. I don’t think for example, that the manic attention to detail will remain the same. It will still be high, but it won’t be the level it was when Steve was there.