Steve Jobs Taking New Medical Leave of Absence

[Apple...]

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Later today Apple will be announcing it's "Back to Flash" event and also the support of Blu-Ray...

Now is not the time to be funny...

(although this post did make me chuckle a little - thanks for the laugh )

 

[AtHomeBoy_2000]

According to Apple, the share holds should vote AGAINST a line of secession.

 

[fishmoose]

Any reaction to this has to begin and end with “Let’s all hope that this husband and father comes out of (whatever this is) OK.”

In fact, let’s make that the middle of this, too.

Ihnatko.com

All one can say really.

 

[DreamRaj]

Take care, Steve!

Wishing you all the best, Steve.

The last time you took a similar leave you came back healthier and soon introduced a "magical" new product. Hope you surprise us all again in the near future.

But the most important thing is for you to get some good rest and medical attention. Will pray for your well being.

Fyi, I won't be selling even a single share. In fact, I'll buy more if it dips, like I did the last time

 

[My name is Alex]

although I hope for the best at this point it has to be assumed they found metastasis of his cancer and he is going to be gone in 6 months. What a shame, I am sure his legacy at Apple will be remembered and the company will do just fine but man that sucks

This post brings out the optimism in me.

Get well soon, hopefully he can come back at a keynote in the near future and write 'the reports of my death are greatly exaggerated' again. I hope...

 

[mac jones]

Times up.........

 

[KPOM]

Hang on...

It's Martin Luther King, Jr. Day so the NYSE is closed today...

Seems like a planned thing if they are closed all day? Avoid panic and avoid to much of a drop in stock price.

Apple up to their old games again.... hope this is as simple as just 'leave'.

Markets are open in the rest of the world and the stock is down about 7%. Ouch. If anything, announcing this on a US-only holiday probably makes it more volatile, but there's a chance it will recover somewhat tomorrow, particularly if Apple had a strong quarter. Don't expect a surprise appearance on the call from Steve Jobs, though. Tomorrow is Tim Cook's show.

Anyway, I tend to agree with the posters who suggest that this will eventually convert to a "retirement" for Jobs as CEO. I think he'll stay on as Chairman. Tim Cook did a great job last time, and there was speculation that he might be lured to a competitor. If the board offers him the CEO office he'll probably stay.

Running a company as big as Apple is very stressful and it's obvious that it has taken a toll on Steve Jobs. If he takes a few months off to recover again like last time, and concentrates on strategy only. I'm guessing that Apple has road maps for the Mac, iPhone, and iPad lines for the next few years. What is less certain is whether there are any other "game changing" products in the pipeline, and whether Tim Cook can keep the company as innovative as it is now.

 

[Cinematographer]

This is what happend in 2009. No need to panic I guess.

(http://www.geekculture.com/joyoftech/joyarchives/1264.html)

 

[Bodypainter]

sad to hear this!

does anyone know if one of his 4 children is working at apple?

 

[kas23]

Tim should just take the reigns, permanently. Steve has already had one liver transplant, is he gonna get another now? Money-wise, he probably could. Poor guy, he should just live this life and focus on his family at this point.

 

[Apple...]

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IMO, the big question is what role Phil and Peter will fill if Steve retires.

Rest Steve. We understand.

Trust me Apple has an iron-clad succession plan in place.

Which is why no one should be overly worried about Apple's future direction.

 

[Zauberer]

No doubt Steve Jobs is one of the most visionary business leaders of all time. However, Apple, especially with its unique corporate culture, has too many people passionate about its products to stop it from continuing to perform.

 

[rdowns]

I'm tired of the meme that Apple is run by one man. It's ****ing ridiculous.

 

[iChan]

...they have had several of these now and Cook has stood in brilliantly in all of them. Over the last year or two they have pushed more and more people to the front of the presentations... Check out the "Back to the mac" event and you can see, Steve is more or less the MC... They've known this for a long time...

Then you have Tim Cook on stage with Verizon instead of Steve... It's not a sudden thing, they are managing the message, like they do with EVERYTHING apple makes, says or does...

And let's be honest, Tim Cook has been taking care of "day to day operations" at Apple for the last 10 years. Steve is the vision guy who happens to be fanatical about the execution of that vision down the last detail. But he's spent 10 years getting others to be equally fanatical.

He has taken an almost bankrupt company to be the second most valuable in the world (who knows when it will become the MOST valuable, I wouldn't write that off, given where they started in 1997 when he returned!)

If I were Jobs, I'd say "I think I did what I was asked to do and I think I can retire now." But he's Jobs, so he will forever be part of apple product strategy until the day he dies (which is hopefully many many years away.) Hence, they are managing the message so they wind up with a new CEO but Jobs very much seen as the man with the vision... They'll wind that bit down over time and ramp Ives, Schiller etc up on that side...

They are a smart group of business people and they are figuring out how to manage the (private) issue of a CEOs health against their duty to their shareholders.

No one can argue that Apple hasn't delivered for it's shareholders...

Just my 2c/p.

Excellently put. Bravo.

 

[DrFrankTM]

Maybe it's an American thing, but for us Europeans, a message beginning simply with "Team,..." instead of something like "Dear Team,..." sounds rather, let's say, disrespectful. You'd only do this in the military.

Besides that, I think one does not need a a PhD in Mathematics to calculate the probability of Steve's health forcing him to retire permanently in the very near future.

I don't think that Apple will stay a shining star without him, but it would still be interesting to know who will be in charge once he's left the company.

"Dear" is just a word. It's a pretty formal form of address too, as far as I'm concerned. "Team" is more than enough. It means "you, guys, who are part of my inner circle." We can all say that we're on Steve's team - because we love the products and the company -, but when he says that you're on his team, it means a whole lot more. I don't think I'm too far off if I say that Steve thinks of Apple as a big family. He went with "team" because it's a whole lot more respectful than "children".

Mind you, English is a second language for me too, but that's how I read it. "Dear Team" would have felt distant, protocolar, cold, like he was writing to an uncle he hasn't seen in 20 years. He had no use for it.

 

[DotComCTO]

Wishing godspeed to Steve Jobs and his family. You can have everything in the world, but if you don't have your health, you have nothing. I hope Steve Jobs and his medical team are able to resolve the issues he is experiencing.

Peace.

--DotComCTO

 

[Glideslope]

According to Apple, the share holds should vote AGAINST a line of secession.

They wont. However, if they do they deserve their $85.00 a share company in 2 yrs.

 

[wikoogle]

Please get well soon Steve. You have made such a huge mark in the history books and helped bring joy to so many lives twice now, first with personal computing, and now with tablets and smartphones. We all hope that you have many decades ahead of you to take part in the great legacy you will someday leave behind.

 

[MrSmith]

... (who knows when it will become the MOST valuable, I wouldn't write that off, given where they started in 1997 when he returned!)

About the time they sell Apple computers in all those stores that sell Windows machines, I imagine.

 

[Nuvi]

In all honesty Apple should have started paving a way for a new CEO straight after SJ had his second leave of absence. By now SJ should have been Chairman of the Board at best or even a senior advisor. From that perspective I think its for the best if SJ is permanently replaced. However, there should have been a smoother transition.

From consumer perspective I don't think this will have any negative effects. One could even argue that Apple has even greater interest of releasing (sooner then expected) new "awesome and magical" products to offset any negative media attention they might gain with this issue. However, health issues like these are always sad indeed.

 

[Glideslope]

"Dear" is just a word. It's a pretty formal form of address too, as far as I'm concerned. "Team" is more than enough. It means "you, guys, who are part of my inner circle." We can all say that we're on Steve's team - because we love the products and the company -, but when he says that you're on his team, it means a whole lot more. I don't think I'm too far off if I say that Steve thinks of Apple as a big family. He went with "team" because it's a whole lot more respectful than "children".

Mind you, English is a second language for me too, but that's how I read it. "Dear Team" would have felt distant, protocolar, cold, like he was writing to an uncle he hasn't seen in 20 years. He had no use for it.

Thanks Doc. Well deciphered.

Please all, end it here. There is no further need after this.

 

[Lesser Evets]

The moment Jobs hits the dirt, that company will probably slide in there with him, and the rest of the computer community will go to hell.

Though there are a lot of innovators, few have the power to lead an industry and connect it to the needs of the common person. If Jobs hadn't existed, computers would still be wank-tech for the insufferable engineers (nerds) willing to waste lives chasing complicated software solutions to simple functions.

 

[TheSlush]

To your health, Steve!

 

[zedsdead]

Now, Steve has bounced back before, and everyone said he wound't return last time. He even worked on the iPad during his recovery.

It does sound like he will be gone for the entirety of 2011 based on those comments in the message, so this sounds very serious.

I personally don't think he will be back this time, although he has beaten the odds before.

My prayers are with you Steve...get well.

 

[Mawal]

S asks to respect his privacy...let's do that.

...as for the rest, we will see.