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Steve Jobs Taking Medical Leave of Absence
Uttini writes "Apple CEO Steve Jobs has just announced that he is taking a medical leave of absence, according to a release issued by the company today. While it's unclear what the reason is for the medical leave, Jobs' previous medical history includes pancreatic cancer as well as a liver transplant. While Jobs is out, Tim Cook is to be responsible for all of Apple's day to day operations."
I hope that no matter what operating system or computer manufacturer you love or hate, everyone can come together and wish him well. Whether you love or hate what he's done in the industry, he's a fellow human being first, and I hope he has a speedy recovery.
(Orthogonal to the fact that everyone wishes Steve good health,)
It's good for Apple that Tim Cook is getting so much exposure at the helm. There are many shareholders, as well as a significant amount of the tech press, that think Apple can't stand on its own without Steve. Any way Apple can show that it can continue it's current success streak with or without Steve is good for the long-term health of the company.
Well this is why they announced it on a US bank holiday when no shares are trading there.
In Frankfurt, Europe meanwhile, Apple shares are already down 7%.
Looks like it's business as usual in the crazy world of Apple shares.
Well at least we know it couldn't be a virus.....
I never understood the volatility of Apple's stock. Jobs could stub his toe and the stock would drop. Someone who works at Infinite Loop could get constipated, and the stock would drop. Someone's iPhone could get a scratch on the front glass, and the stock would drop.
Why is Apple's stock so prone to heavy fluctuation at the even the slightest hint of something not being perfect?
Living With a Nerd
Perhaps no other company is more tied to its CEO than Jobs, except maybe Warren Buffett. For as much as he and his family wish for privacy however it is reasonable for stockholders, especially HUGE stockholders to know how his condition is. When you buy a stock you are buying the leadership also. If anything this is probably going to drop AAPL's stock valuation down a bit to a more realistic level. 2nd biggest market cap in the world? Really? It certainly doesn't deserve it and with their margins getting squeezed and the fact that there only so many worlds they can conquer means that the shorts are probably going to make some $$$ on AAPL soon. Given that the survival of pancreatic cancer is so low and that Jobs decided to do more hippy dippy holistic approaches doesn't bode well for his survival. That's just the way it is. That being said, there probably is no visionary that comes close to Jobs and I am thankful for my iPhone, my iPod, my Mac and my iPad.
Apple aren't in the market of innovation, they're in the market of aspiration. Nothing they've done has been "innovative", every product they've release in at least the last ten years has already been done, but they package it in a format that makes people desire it. They're pretty much like a top clothes designer. A top designer can charge a premium way above the cost of his materials or the price of his competitors because people want to be seen in his clothes. If he loses the ability to design, he can still sell mass-produced pants, but they lose their elite appeal and have to compete purely on price, that's a downward spiral. Don't underestimate just how closely linked the health of Jobs and the health of Apple actually are.
.. and trust me, I'd say not being a billionaire sucks more.
A billionaire not only has people to help get through each day, but there are other people to research possibilities and provide the best possible care.
However, for me, it sucks more because I don't have the money (or the time) to do all the things I want to do, to see all the things I want to see in this still very beautiful and wonderful world. Nor can I care for those nearest me in the way I want to.
I wish SJ the best and hope he recovers from whatever ails him.
--I thought I was wrong once, but I was mistaken.
He had a rare type of pancreatic cancer called "Islet cell neuroendocrine tumor" which is far less deadly than most pancreatic cancer.
Sorry to throw a damper on your smug little rant, but it's not unusual at all that he would survive that.
Steve's health is already priced in. The run-up in share price has been driven by actual earnings, in fact the PE is down from a year or two ago. http://www.asymco.com/2010/08/02/apples-pe-ex-cash-nearing-15/
I'm sorry, but this whole idea that Apple users have fierce brand loyalty because we are mesmerized by marketing, packaging, and image - or that we are posers - is just crap. Apple succeeds because they believe in design down to their bones - not packaging design, but systems design. Apple believes that all parts of the product should be elegant and well thought out. They don't always succeed, but they try harder than anyone else. I use Apple products because they are well designed and retain their value and usefulness over long periods of time. And, I was an advocate for Apple back when their stock was in the toilet and people like Michael Dell - who wouldn't know innovation if it bit him in the ass - were saying shut the company down.
I also take issue with Apple not being an innovator. Apple's kit is full of innovation - whether it is manufacturing techniques, changes in the direction of computing, Operating systems, design, frameworks, functionality - you name it. By the standards people like to apply to Apple, no one is innovative.
Steve Jobs has been a huge boon to the computer revolution and to people like us who love computers and what they can do. NEXT was doing stuff in the nineties that made Windows look like a joke. The reason we are all walking around with mini touch screen computers is Apple and Steve jobs. One primary reason why MS is kept in check and doesn't own the Internet with their proprietary crap browser is WebKit. Yes, WebKit was KHTML, but it was a shell of what it could be. Now it powers Google Chrome, Android, Rim, WebOS, Nokia's Symbian - hell, even Office 2011 uses it for its HTML email. As someone who loves Linux, I think Apple has given Linux space to breath and helped to create a multi-polar computing world. Besides, isn't that the idea of open source - to not reinvent the wheel and to build on things and make them better while releasing things back into the wild? That is definitely innovation. You guys can keep bashing Apple as a company for posers while the rest of the industry waits for Apple to come out with the next big idea to copy.
"The world is a construct of forceful imagination. Those who don't know walk around in the reailties of those who do"
I don't use the iPhone because I don't like the control Apple exerts over it. Still, I recognize that the place smart phones are in today is due to the existence of the iPhone and without it those of us using smart phones would still be using Windows Mobile 6.5 bricks. So my relationship with Apple is both positive and negative. If we lose Steve Jobs, we will lose a driving force in the industry that will effect the quality of the electronics you buy; Apple or otherwise.
or else!