Jobs and Wozniak, courtesy of Gizmodo

“I have always said if there ever came a day when I could no longer meet my duties and expectations as Apple’s CEO, I would be the first to let you know. Unfortunately, that day has come.” —Steve Jobs, August 24, 2011

I’m sure by now you’ve heard the big news that Steve Jobs is stepping down as Apple’s CEO, and the current COO Tim Cook will be taking his place. I can’t say that I’m surprised, Jobs has been ill for quite some time, and he needs to focus on himself and his family. So where does that leave Apple?

I’m not going to say that it’s all going to hell in a handbag, but I think Cook has some huge shoes to fill. Regardless of your IOS v. Droid/Mac vs. PC point of view, you can’t argue that Jobs is an amazing innovator and has made some very smart choices to get Apple to where it is today. Seriously, companies are going under and businesses are reporting losses, but people are still finding the money to buy the latest iPhone. People can ironically bitch about the economy while sipping a latte at the corner coffee shop while checking their stocks on an iPad2. Even in the worst economic times since the Great Depression, people thirst for Apple products. Yes, yes, there is an entire marketing team and countless others behind the company, but with Jobs at the wheel, they have consistently portrayed their products as hip, cool, and sexy—and we eat it up.

Okay, so you’re shaking your head because you could care less about Apple. Come on, you’ve got to give the man credit for being an innovator. Sure, I love Android OS on my phone, but who had the first true “smart phone”? Apple. I also dig the Droid Tablets now, but who had it first? Apple. What we know now as “Windows” originated with the Apple Macintosh. It’s one thing to take an idea that has already been created and make it better, but its quite another to give the public something completely new.

Oh, don’t give me the “he stole it from Xerox” argument. Okay, let’s say that he “stole” the GUI from Xerox—he sure as heck executed it in a way that no one else even thought of.

On the flip side, what happens when you try to be super innovative with your wacky products? You have some failures. Hey, it happens! Check out this list of Apple products that failed from www.minyanville.com. Some of those are such a flash from the past. I remember wanting a Newton so bad back in the day—it was going to change everything! And it would look oh-so-sweet next to my LC2. Even though these products didn’t make it, you can see how they led to better, more polished machines. You can’t win every time!

Another point to show how badass Jobs has made the company—you know how folks complain that iPads aren’t as good as Droid tablets because they don’t support Adobe Flash? What I find amazing is that it’s not stopping Apple. What are web developers doing? Making iPad versions of their sites that use alternatives to Flash! Hah, people bend over backwards to conform to iPad—most excellent.

Back to my original point, Cook has some huge shoes to fill. Maybe his leadership will do even greater things for the company! I know there are loads of people working behind the scenes at Apple, but none of that occurs without a great leader making the right decisions. I know, I’ve called Jobs “smug” in the past, but I think it’s okay to be smug when you can back it up. I wish luck to Cook, health to Jobs, and I look forward to seeing what Apple comes out with next. The competition between IOS, Droid, Windows, etc. is great—it just means we’ll keep getting more awesome products out of all these guys!