It does seem like Apple under Cook is in 'maintenance mode'- by which I mean the company is only making incremental improvements in their existing product lines without designing brand new 'wow' consumer items that take the world by storm and invent new user interaction paradigms. It will be interesting to see if another creative mind will be able to do that again for Apple. I don't see Tim Cook as having that spark.

I would like to see someone do a longitudinal, in-depth study along these lines. People make claims with essentially anecdotal evidence supporting both sides. I know I don't have the patience to do so, but maybe someone else will :)