Oh thank God - Apple's new CEO is a Southerner

As the world reacted to the news of Steve Jobs stepping down as Apple CEO, my thoughts turned to fried chicken.

Tim Cook, the man Steve Jobs chose to succeed him as Apple's CEO, is a Southerner. So it was only natural that I wondered if this meant Apple's company cafeteria will now be serving fried chicken? (Perhaps it already does?)

Cook is an Alabama native. He majored in industrial engineering at Auburn University, is a big Tigers football fan, and claims his office is covered in Auburn memorabilia. He gave the 2010 commencement address at Auburn's graduation ceremony. Cook earned an MBA at Duke University.

It's truly sad to see Jobs, who's had more impact on our lives as CEO than most government leaders could ever hope to achieve, resigning. It's obvious Jobs departed for health reasons. I sincerely hope he grows stronger and, a bit selfishly, I also hope he will continue to enrich our lives in ways we can't imagine (which was always his specialty). But hey, at least we've got a Southerner as CEO at the world's most valuable technology company.