Can an Apple without Steve Jobs come up with the next big thing?

Tim Cook is an operational wiz. Philip Schiller is a marketing maven. Jonathan Ive is a design visionary. The men at the helm of Apple are among the best at what they do. But none seems to have that spark of genius like Steve Jobs — an industry oddity studied by business school students for his creative vision, uncanny sense for what consumers want and shrewd leadership. And that’s the central issue Apple faces, now that Jobs has relinquished day-to-day control. Apple’s breakaway success has largely been defined by Jobs’s ability to repeatedly develop groundbreaking computers and electronics. But the super-competitive marketplace ensured that the dominance of many Apple products was short-lived.

(Aug 25)