“Last week, NBC’s prime-time magazine show Rock Center with Brian Williams aired Williams’s lengthy interview with Cook, and Bloomberg BusinessWeek published a cover story about Cook’s conversation with the magazine’s editor, Josh Tyrangiel,” Jon Friedman writes for MarketWatch. “Each interview represented a terrific ‘get.’ Sixteen months after Cook succeeded the legendary Steve Jobs as Apple Inc.’s CEO, Cook remains one of journalism’s most coveted interview subjects.”

“But what’s in it for Cook? Why is he talking right now?” Friedman writes. “It’s simple. Perhaps, he feels he has to. Primarily, with Apple’s shares tumbling, Cook needs to calm investors. Apple has dropped about 8% since the Nov. 30 close. It’s a smart, pro-active strategy. It shows stockholders that Cook “gets it.” He understands the responsibility of being the CEO of Apple.”

Friedman writes, “Cook came off well in both interviews last week. He seemed poised, prepared, down-to-earth and confident.”

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MacDailyNews Take: Tim Cook is in the unenviable position of having the ultimate tough act to follow, the biggest ever pair shoes to fill; a thankless job (if you leave his bank account out of the equation). And, yet, he does show signs of being able to keep the crowd’s attention even though Elvis has left the building. What Cook has accomplished so far has been quite amazing. While the jury’s definitely still out, Cook has done little to diminish and much to inspire our confidence in his ability to lead Apple into the future. We wouldn’t bet against him.