Apple CEO Tim Cook D10 Interview: 'I Am Not Steve Jobs'

'I Am Not Steve Jobs'

Apple CEO Tim Cook has said his goal is not to replace founder Steve Jobs.

Speaking at the All Things Digital D10 conference in his first live media interview, Cook said: "Steve was a visionary. My role was never to replace him."

Cook gave a wide ranging interview, although as is traditional for Apple he gave few hints about its future products.

Apple's CEO, who took over after the death of founder Jobs last year from cancer, said that it was an exciting time to be the head of the company, joking he wished he could describe the things he'd seen but was not allowed to talk about.

But when pressed about his style of leadership by interviewers Walt Mossberg and Kara Swisher, Cook said he did not want to emulate the company's co-founder.

"I've never felt the weight of trying to be Steve. It's not who I am and it's not my goal in life," he said.

"I am who I am, and I'm focused on that, and being a great CEO of Apple."

Cook said it took him a few months to refocus after Jobs' death.

"I think he taught all of us that life is fragile," he said.

Among his more interesting comments, Cook said that Apple was not interested in being in the "console business" but that gaming was increasingly important to its bottom line.

Cook said:

Gaming has kind of evolved a bit. More people play on portable devices. Where we might go in the future, we'll see. Customers love games. I'm not interested in being in the console business in what is thought of as traditional gaming. But Apple is a big player today and things in the future will only make that bigger.

He added that Apple was "doubling down" on its voice assistant feature Siri, first seen in the iPhone 4S released last October.

"I think you'll be really pleased with some of the things coming over the coming months," he said.

Cook added that Apple TV remained "an area of intense interest" for the company:

I think most people, maybe not all, but many people would say this is an area in their life they’re not really pleased with. You know, they might not be pleased with many things about it. The whole TV experience. So, it’s an interesting area, so we’ll have to see what we do.

He also hinted at a closer collaboration with Facebook, which is so far not as integrated into its mobile operating system iOS as Twitter or email.

"Stay tuned," he said.

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