Jobs Leaves Apple With an Uncertain Future

What’s the Latest Development?

Steve Jobs has resigned from Apple, the company he saved from bankruptcy to bring to the summit of the world’s computing firms. In a letter to his board of directors, Jobs conceded that he could no longer fulfill his obligations as C.E.O. and strongly recommended the board appoint Apple’s logistics man, Tim Cook, as the new head of the company. Cook is the man behind Apple’s streamlined production facilities in China and largely credited for the company’s wide profit margins. Cook is necessary to the company but is he sufficient for its continued success? 

What’s the Big Idea?

Rarely has one man had such an influence over such a large and successful company. Jobs’ remarkable vision into the future of creative computing elevated him to guru status in the eyes of many Apple consumers. His departure is highly symbolic though not immediately a crisis: “The good news for Apple is that the product road map in this industry is pretty much in place two and three years out,” said David B. Yoffie, a professor at the Harvard Business School. Cook has long been considered the heir apparent by industry insiders as well as Wall Street.