Cook is definitely one of the world’s best operators (I think he was COO during Jobs’ tenure). But he is not a visionary by any stretch. Maybe Apple itself does not need a visionary, but I think tech needs one.
Before Cook, Apple’s supply chain and manufacturing was a mess—too many of some products and not enough of others.
Back in the day, it was a running joke trying to buy products as an organization—they would announce a new Mac but you couldn’t buy it for 4-6 weeks.
It was Tim Cook who implemented Apple’s build to order system after Dell demonstrated its success. We take it for granted now, but it was a huge development at the time.
