Yesterday’s news of Steve Jobs tendering his resignation as a bombshell. Nobody saw that coming - at least not so suddenly without warning and certainly not two weeks before a major announcement. My focus on yesterday’s article was to speak about my path to Apple and the impact Steve Jobs’ vision made on my life.

What does the face of Apple and its strategy look like after Steve? There are so many things to consider. The bottom line is that it won’t be the same - no matter what. Apple was Steve’s baby. It was his creation and vision. He had help along the way, of course. And his vision is shared, but that guy was so far in the weeds in day to day operations, ensuring every last detail was precise and perfect that it’s impossible for anyone else to keep that up.

If anyone can do it, Tim Cook can. He’s been Steve’s right hand and, presumably, knows the plans Steve had in mind better than anybody else. He was the COO and the interim CEO during Steve’s medical absences. With Jobs sitting as the Chairman of the board of directors at Apple, employees and executives will have near regular access to him and he can clearly be involved in many decisions. I can only imagine that the close bond he’s formed with his executive team - Jonny Ive, Scott Forstall, Phil Schiller, etc will continue to serve Apple well as they garner opinions and advice from him going forward.

Who takes Tim’s spot? I’d be happy to be the new COO, but I already have a job. So who is going to do it? We all know that Steve didn’t do it by himself and neither can Tim. So whoever is chosen to be his second in command will be important. 

As we saw yesterday, Apple’s shares fell in after hours trading immediately following. People are nervous. We have come to expect a certain level of quality from Apple and, frankly, haven’t seen Tim pull it off just yet. The iPhone 5 is around the corner, as best as we can tell, the new iPad should be starting production, with or with our Samsung’s help. It’s a crucial time for Apple.

So what will happen? Things will be shaky for Apple for a while. Their share price will fluctuate heavily. It will sell based on nervousness and people will swoop in on a good deal an push it up. Lawsuits will drive it down and the iPhone 5 will push it back up. Every product will be met with “Steve could have done it better” initially. What people don’t realize is that Apple doesn’t make snap decisions. Anything you see for the next year or two has already been in the works.

With the new headquarters on the way, an iPhone around the corner, typical refresh schedule for the rest of their products, and a CEO who has had 6 months to unofficially get used to the position before assuming the role int he face of shareholders. The development of the next iPhone is completed so Tim gets to ride that out. He’s already publicly addressed his team at Apple and promised that the culture will not change. It’s always was, is and forever will be Steve’s house.

At the end of the day, we’ll have a different guy on stage, but the change will be transparent to the user due to the culture and ecosystem built in that company and the team of incredibly talented people still there that believe in the way Apple does things.