Steve Jobs is a national treasure and visionary of the first order
Friday, January 16, 2009 - 09:05 AM EDT"To some Steve Jobs is a national treasure and to others he is a visionary of the first order," Maggie Shiels reports for BBC News.
"These are just some of the views being expressed in Silicon Valley about the Apple co-founder following the news he is taking a medical leave of absence from the company," Shiels reports.
"Mike Arrington [TechCrunch editor] said, 'He has single-handedly brought the US back into the mobile ball game with the iPhone. Until then it was all about Europe and Asia. He also broke the back of the music industry with iTunes. Those are two big legacies to leave behind, so I really believe he is a national treasure,'" Shiels reports.
Shiels reports, "Van Baker who is a principal analyst with Gartner and covers Apple for the industry said 'The hit the stock price has taken was inevitable because he is the public persona of Apple and, largely wrongly, most people think as goes Steve so goes Apple. In truth it's not going to have an impact on Apple in running their business. They will do just fine. Tim Cook, who is taking over, is a very capable guy. He's not the personality Steve is, but he is very competent and Apple will do just fine.'"
MacDailyNews Note: Not really much of a prolonged "hit" as AAPL dropped 10% immediately due to general idiocy, but recovered; ending up closing down just $1.95, or -2.29%, yesterday. In pre-market trading today, AAPL is up $0.73, or +0.88%, currently.
Shiels continues, "Now with his second medical leave of absence , the question as to whether or not Mr Jobs will return takes on even more weight. 'That is the real question,' suggested Mr Arrington. 'When a CEO steps down for health reasons, chances are they are not coming back. However he did come back after his bout with pancreatic cancer in 2004 so there is no reason to think he won't depending on how serous his health problems are.'"
Shiels reports, "Charles Wolf an analyst at Needham & Company who follows Apple said 'It is reasonable to expect, given the history of Steve's illness, that the market is probably going to assume that he is not going to return to Apple.'"
Full article here.
MacDailyNews Take: So, is that it? After years of rumors and health scares, real and imagined, was the idea of a "post-Steve Jobs" Apple already priced into AAPL shares?
Apple Store Advertisements
iPhone 3G S: From $199. Free shipping.
New 13-inch MacBook: From $999. Free shipping.
13-inch Macbook Pro: From $1199. Free shipping.
13-inch MacBook Air: From $1499. Free shipping.
15-inch Macbook Pro: From $1699. Free shipping.
17-inch MacBook Pro: From $2499. Free shipping.
New Mac mini: From $599. Free shipping.
New iMac 21.5-inch: From $1199. Free shipping.
New iMac 27-inch: From $1699. Free shipping.
Mac Pro: From $2499. Free shipping.
iPod touch: From $199. Free Shipping.
iPod nano: Now shoots video! From $149. Free shipping.
iPod shuffle: From $59. Free engraving. Free shipping.
Apple TV: From $229. Free shipping.
Send us links! Email: webmaster@macdailynews.com
MacDailyNews on Twitter
MacDailyNews app for iPhone and iPod touch
Related articles:
Why Steve Jobs is bigger than Bill Gates - January 15, 2009
Apple co-founder Woz sees potential silver lining in Steve Jobs’ medical leave of absence - January 15, 2009
Steve Jobs’ impact on the entertainment industry - January 15, 2009
Walt Mossberg on Steve Jobs’s health, Apple (with video) - January 15, 2009
Analyst Roger Kay: ‘I think Steve Jobs has cancer… just look at the photos’ - January 15, 2009
Apple CEO Steve Jobs’ medical leave makes market cautious - January 15, 2009
S&P analyst: No immediate worries about impact of Steve Jobs’ medical leave on Disney - January 15, 2009
When Apple CEO Steve Jobs met Tim Cook - January 15, 2009
NY Times’ Nocera: Steve Jobs can no longer be trusted - January 15, 2009
BusinessWeek: Tim Cook should lead Apple capably during Jobs’ six-month medical leave - January 15, 2009
NY Times: What if Steve Jobs never comes back to Apple? - January 15, 2009
Bloomberg: Apple CEO Steve Jobs may be facing surgery to remove rest of pancreas - January 15, 2009
TheStreet.com: ‘For now, let’s just not write any obituaries, either for Steve Jobs or for Apple’ - January 15, 2009
Forbes: Lawsuits could fly over Jobs’ medical leave of absence - January 15, 2009
Dan Lyons ‘banned’ from CNBC after on-air screamfest over Steve Jobs’ health (with video) - January 15, 2009
NY Times’ sources: Apple CEO Steve Jobs is cancer-free; dealing with malabsorption condition - January 15, 2009
Tim Cook - Steve Jobs’ temporary replacement at Apple - seen as strong, disciplined manager - January 14, 2009
CNBC’s Goldman: Apple’s Jobs may be in serious denial about severity of his health problems - January 14, 2009
Apple shares slide on news of CEO Steve Jobs’ medical leave of absence - January 14, 2009
Apple CEO Steve Jobs takes medical leave of absence until the end of June; puts Tim Cook in charge - January 14, 2009
= 
As long as Steve Jobs is alive he will be involved with Apple.
Let's hope he lives a long, happy and as healthy as possible life.