Yukari Iwatani Kane for the Wall Street Journal:
Cook also knew the power of silence. He could do more with a pause than Jobs ever could with an epithet. When someone was unable to answer a question, Cook would sit without a word while people stared at the table and shifted in their seats. The silence would be so intense and uncomfortable that everyone in the room wanted to back away. Unperturbed, Cook didn’t move a finger as he focused his eyes on his squirming target. Sometimes he would take an energy bar from his pocket while he waited for an answer, and the hush would be broken only by the crackling of the wrapper.
Her new book on Apple, Haunted Empire: Apple After Steve Jobs comes out March 18.
Here’s why I care: it’d be simple for Yukari to espouse the ‘Apple is doomed without Steve’ narrative. It’d also be equally simple to say ‘Tim Cook makes Apple billions so shut up’ and call it a day. I don’t think either of those narratives ring completely true though, so I’m interested to see how an entire book dedicated to the subject walks the line.