Let’s look at what Apple has accomplished since Jobs’ demise. They have released the iPhone 5, iPhone 5c, and iPhone 5S, the 3rd and 4th generation iPads, the iPad Mini, new iMacs, new Macs, iOS 6, iOS 7, OS X Mountain Lion, and OS X Mavericks. There hasn’t been any new devices and nothing revolutionary.
We can’t really blame this on Jobs’ absence or on Cook’s presence. From what we know of the changes instituted since Jobs’ death, he had a hand in many of them, and they just weren’t rolled out until after his passing. Of the revolutionary devices or systems that debut in the next few years, Jobs may or not have been a part of those. They can be several years in the making, meaning it could have been his idea to begin with.
Tim Cook isn’t necessarily known as a big “idea” guy anyway. He’s a business man. He keeps the company running and does what he can to put the flames out and keep the passion going, especially in this past year with Apple stock falling as much as it has. Sir Jony Ive is the man who is more the “idea” guy; the design expert became the Senior Vice President of Design in this past year. He’s the one behind the new look of the iPhones and iOS 7.
It seems like Jobs installed two guys in Apple to make sure the company was well taken care of once he was gone. Maybe this is what he had to do to ensure he would rest in peace.