A pity you don’t mention either of Tim Cook’s legacies, asides from him being a brilliant product (line) operator.

Tim Cook will mostly be remembered for his stance on privacy and Apple’s implementation of (differential) privacy in this era of AI. I never have seen a company in this Millenium who state that privacy is a human right... except for Apple (wait for the splash screens after updating to iOS 11.3).

Asides from that, Tim Cook is working at a second legacy for his time at the lead of Apple: Apple as a health (prevention) company/device. The Apple Watch is undoubtedly a magic device, especially when looking at all monitors integrated in the latest model already - despite not yet having actual functionality. The Apple Watch already has the tech to measure for example oxygen levels.

Combined with the proactive software and little activity nudges, as well as continued rumors about Apple’s testing of even a glucose meter, and probably much more, it is clear that Tim Cook is steering Apple in an unexpected direction, two even.

Two directions which go way beyond an almost flawlessly integrated ecosystem. Way beyond providing users with the software and hardware, as well as functionality, they even didn’t know they wanted (or lacked/wouldn’t lack).

Tim Cook is probably the most underrated evolutionary CEO currently. He’s most definitely much more than Balmer, who financially excelled and made every shareholder happy. Not the users tho.