Re: A few folks I know that run Apple gear...
Replacing Cook and Ive won't make any difference, because there is no one like Jobs in the entire industry.
Jobs was an asshole, but he was a talented asshole. He was the only person with his particular blend of obsessive insight into aesthetics, design, culture, technology, marketing, and opportunity.
Cook is a talented politician. But he's a mediocre marketer who is trying to turn Apple into the Louis Vuitton of tech. Ives knows how to do pretty, but he's not nearly as good or nearly as original as he's made out to be. He was a good idea mine for Jobs, but Cook doesn't know how to manage him.
No one at Apple is championing the users any more.
This won't end well.