Here’s to the stable ones: In praise of Tim Cook - Engadget

Genius is nothing if it can’t get anything done. Tim Cook's tenure as Apple CEO ends September 1 when he takes the role of executive chair. He will be replaced by John Ternus, a 25-year Apple veteran and head of its hardware engineering division. I get the sense Cook's professional obituaries will focus on his steady hand, execution success and lack of intra-company drama. All of those are virtues but I suspect the media, ever in love with a narrative of its own concoction, will use them as cudgels. Consider this an attempt to balance the record ahead of Cook's damning with the faintest of praise. Cook is quiet and private, making it easy to paint him as a bland managerialist who coasted on the success of the iPhone. In Ternus, Apple once again has a "product guy" at its helm, a term loaded with enough subtext to sink a battleship. You can feel the implication that it's only "product guys" who have the vision, taste and knowledge to innovate. By extension, Cook was never "a real nerd," but an empty finance guy that never understood what makes Apple tick. If there's one thing Silicon Valley loves more than money, it's a mercurial genius upon whom they can rest their dreams. Figures