> I've come to a conclusion that Cook's reign at Apple will probably mirror Ballmer's reign at Microsoft. Doubtful. Cook seems well aware of his limitations in

> I've come to a conclusion that Cook's reign at Apple will probably mirror Ballmer's reign at Microsoft. Doubtful. Cook seems well aware of his limitations in vision and abilities. You see a microcosm of this at the Keynotes: he wisely hands off to other experts as soon as possible. You also see this in his handling of senior roles in Apple. He's not the visionary Steve was but he hires to keep the vision active in the culture by finding domain experts. This is true in retail, in industrial design, in chip design... He's nothing like Balmer in how he actually handles the company and it's staff, and that's why I think you'll be surprised. I mean, the "me too" thing is symptomatic of this line of thinking: Apple has always followed on; it's what they are best at. They see a market, see how it works, then take what works and distill it down to a product that is narrower in scope but "just works" for the general market. First to market isn't a big deal, it never has been, it's getting the product right that's important. Apple is very good at that.