Apple's on track but Tim Cook needs to show HIS style, not Steve's

The iPhone 5 launch may have been lacking in blockbuster headlines, but Apple certainly maintained the highly distinctive and effective presentation style that is so much a part of the Steve Jobs legacy.

Doubts as to how Apple can manage without Jobs have been fading with time and it was always going to be unrealistic for exemplary products to make further huge steps forward on an annual basis.  In fact, we might all have felt a little cheated if our new purchases seemed a little redundant within a matter of months.  So, consolidation and gradual evolution – as we saw in spades in the September 12 launch – are now the order of the day.

Just one more thing though – and I’m afraid it’s not an Apple-like tasty little surprise with which to round off.  Tim Cook needs to develop a personality of his own.  On September 12 he was the weak spot in that he sounded too much like he was reading from Steve Jobs’s script.  Only Steve could get away with so many repeated superlatives and he simply served to remind us that Steve is no longer around. 

So Mr Cook – please let’s see you own personality and style - which surely can’t actually be a slightly paler version of your dear departed friend.  Once you apply your own stamp then the Apple presentations – excellent as they are – can start to evolve, which is what they must do to show for certain that there is plenty to come post-Steve.