http://www.lbnelert.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/10/apple-faces-challenges-without-jobs.img_.204.136.1317916095638.jpgAPPLE HAS TOUGH PATH WITHOUT JOBS: Steve Job’s passing comes at a crucial moment for Apple and new CEO Tim Cook: it is surrounded by ferocious competitors bent on ending its dominance. Google hopes to beat the iPhone with its Android operating system; Netflix wants to become the premier destination for internet streaming; and Amazon is undercutting the iPad with its inexpensive new tablet, the Kindle Fire. Jobs was able to make investors and consumers believe with his near-religious descriptions of the company’s products, but Cook is a more technical leader. His challenge will be to fight the real or imagined impression that Apple’s products are slipping with Jobs behind them.