Despite all that Steve Jobs accomplished, it's critical to note that there is far more to Apple than any one individual... even if that individual is Steve Jobs. It's romantic to think of him toiling away in his garage at all hours of the day and night to create the product that would be the legendary "one more thing." Then after burning the midnight oil, he'd hop in the car and drive up to San Francisco and show it to an enthusiastic audience and world.

To do so is to forget the thousands of Apple employees who designed, built, marketed and sold those products as well. Names like Jonathan Ive, Phil Schiller, Scott Forstall, Tim Cook, Eddy Cue, Greg Joswiak and many others too numerous to mention all play key roles in creating and delivering Apple products to the world. To the best of my knowledge, none of them are going anywhere anytime soon.

To those that are concerned with a new CEO at the helm, it should be noted that Tim Cook is not an outsider brought in by a headhunting firm to replace Steve Jobs, but is a long-tenured employee who has not only shown expertise in operations but has taken the CEO position three times during leave of absences by Steve Jobs. He has effectively overseen Apple's day-to-day business since the beginning of this year. In short, Tim Cook is a tried and tested person filling this role, and under his leadership the company has seen some of its most profitable quarters and largest growth in valuation.

Perhaps the single biggest mistake Apple has made in the last decade was tying the success of the company too tightly with the charismatic persona that is Steve Jobs and downplaying the role of others. In recent years, Apple has worked hard to showcase those others and make their contributions more widely known.

In the end, however, it is not Steve Jobs's charisma and even brilliance that drove consumers to purchase Apple products. In fact, the majority of consumers have never seen or heard Mr. Jobs speak or present; they know only of his legend. It is in this effort that Apple needs to focus: In many areas, Apple's challenge is not fighting competitors, it's fighting the legend of Steve Jobs and focusing the consumer not on any one individual but rather on Apple, Inc.