With John Ternus taking over as Apple CEO this fall, Tim Cook, the company’s current chief, revealed on Thursday what he told his successor.
It’s advice that should please any iPhone or Mac user.
What Steve Jobs told Tim Cook
Tim Cook was asked about his recommendation to Ternus because Apple co-founder Steve Jobs had a famous piece of advice for Cook when Cook was taking over as Apple CEO in 2011.
“Don’t ask what I would do. Just do the right thing,” said Jobs.
On Thursday, Cook said, “Steve’s advice to me lifted a huge burden, and that advice did well for me over the 15 years [I was Apple CEO].”
What Tim Cook told John Ternus
The topic came up because Cook was asked what counsel he had for Apple’s next CEO, John Ternus , during a conference call with investors after Apple’s most recent record-breaking quarterly earnings were announced. It’s now Cook’s turn to be the hugely successful executive passing down pearls of wisdom.
“What I told him is that one of the most important decisions he’ll make is where to spend his time, and I would spend it where the greatest benefit to the company and the users are,” responded Cook.
“Never forget the North Star for the company,” he continued. Describing his management of Apple as being guided by “our North Star: our users” is a phrase Cook has used many times in the past.
“We’re about making the best products in the world that really enrich other people’s lives,” said Apple’s outgoing chief executive. “And if you keep focusing on that and make your decisions around that, it will produce a great business, and we’ll be able to build more products and do it all over again.”
Ternus himself spoke to investors on Thursday, and talked up the ‘incredible’ products the company has in the pipeline — without going into details, of course.
Ternus takes over as Apple CEO in September. At that time, Cook will become executive chairman of Apple’s board of directors.
Ed Hardy has been writing full-time about tech for 25 years, and using it for much longer than that. His intro to Apple was a Macintosh SE/30 (which he still has), but now he uses a 13-inch iPad Pro as his primary computer.
That’s because he’s a “tablet first” type of guy. Rather than use a Macbook, he connects a keyboard case to the iPad. And instead of a desktop Mac, he connects his tablet to a 27-inch display and full-size keyboard. (So don’t try to tell him that everyone has to use a Mac to be productive.)
Before coming to Cult of Mac, Ed wrote for NotebookReview, TabletPCReview and Brighthand, as well as other sites.
