TheOverAnalyzed

Neil Cybart’s recent piece inspired some interesting thoughts from John Gruber. Here’s what he had to say:

I’d guess that the current short list of Cook successors would consist of (in alphabetical order) Eddy Cue, Jony Ive, Phil Schiller, and Williams. All of them long-time Apple leaders. (After a few more years, Angela Ahrendts would certainly be considered. But at this point she’s still too new to the company.) I think Ive is the least likely of the bunch to want the job, but he certainly has the respect within the company.

I just had to link to this piece because I too have thought about whom might be next in line after Tim Cook is done.

Certainly Jony Ive should be on that list. He was, after all, said to be the “spiritual successor” to Jobs. His industrial design direction has helped elevate Apple from the dismal state it was in by the time they acquired NeXT, into the sprawling, record-breaking revenue monster that is Apple today. That said, in the past few years of Apple Keynotes, we barely get any showing of Jony, except for his fabled white promo videos.

Eddy Cue has, in my opinion, about the best stage presence of any of the executive ‘regulars’ who present at the Keynotes.^[1] That might not mean much to anybody, but one of Steve Jobs’ biggest talents was delivering Keynote addresses. Cue simply hasn’t had the opportunity to equal Steve Jobs, but I believe if given the opportunity, he could.

Phil Schiller has to be on the list too. He is just as much a part of the old guard as Jony. And, despite his most recent lackluster Keynote address, he generally engages with the audience well enough.^[2]

I think the best suggestion comes at the end of his Gruber’s speculation:

But a replacement who isn’t named until Tim Cook’s retirement in, say, 2030, will likely be someone we don’t yet know — someone who’ll rise through the company’s ranks between now and then.

We will just have to wait and see. Until then, I am happy to go along for the ride 