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[NinjaFridge]

The difference (and this is huge) is that he was never hands on with Pixar content. He was a very different CEO for Pixar.

At Apple he's extremely involved with product and that's really rare with CEOs. I'm sure the team there now is very capable but no one really stands out as being someone who has the same product vision as Jobs.

I'm not saying Apple would fail if he had to leave, but his loss would be a blow to the company.

Plus he gets people talking. He is pretty much the shit at selling things to consumers, and as good as Jonny Ive is he never gave off the same kind of charisma.

 

[Gallbaro]

The last time the market realized Apple's products have collapsed on them was '83.
-The stock collapsed about 80%.

Since Apple is essentially following the same road map in a new market, trying to maintain a closed hardware/software ecosystem then.
-When Jobs leaves I can see that being the catalyst to a similar event. Knowing that maturation of this market will largely follow the same exact pattern of the PC market.

 

[NYR]

Two things:

1) Just goes to show you, health > wealth should be how people view life, almost always.

2) Great time to buy Apple stock - it will fall, but it shall rise again

Hope he gets well soon. Such a defining personality of our generation, here is hoping he will be fine.

 

[BuggyDClown]

When did GAF become a 24 hour news station of overblown nonfounded statements.

You all sound like weathermen. Its going to be the worst inch of snow ever!
:lol

 

[giga]

NYT

Mr. Jobs suffers from immune system issues common with people who have received liver transplants and, as a result, his health suffers from frequent “ups and downs,” according to a person with knowledge of the situation, who agreed to speak on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to discuss it.

In recent weeks, Mr. Jobs began a down cycle and slowed his activities at Apple, the person said. Mr. Jobs has been coming to the office about two days a week, and appeared increasingly emaciated, the person said. He frequently lunched in his office, rather than in the company cafeteria, the person said.

 

[rezuth]

NYT

Do we know if its "fixable" so he can become better?

 

[jts]

My prayers go to the guy, but he's a fucking winner. We'll all die before him.

 

[WickedAngel]

Two things:

1) Just goes to show you, health > wealth should be how people view life, almost always.

2) Great time to buy Apple stock - it will fall, but it shall rise again

Hope he gets well soon. Such a defining personality of our generation, here is hoping he will be fine.

It's a lot easier to have the opinion listed in #1 when you've got more money than you could reasonably be expected to spend in 10 lifetimes.

 

[NYR]

It's a lot easier to have the opinion listed in #1 when you've got more money than you could reasonably be expected to spend in 10 lifetimes.

It shouldn't be that way, though.

 

[WickedAngel]

It shouldn't be that way, though.

Life usually isn't the way it should be but that's just the way things work. There aren't many people in the world who could just take 6 months of absence; not only would they not have the money to do it but they would lose their jobs for trying.

 

[Tobor]

I'll take this as an opportunity to pick up some shares, if the price goes down. Tim Cook did a fantastic job last time he at the helm and the company grew something like 40+% and stayed on record-setting pace during that time.

Check this WSJ piece from the last time Jobs was out:

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB123941988981610781.html

Apple in 2011 is well-prepared for these things compared to the Apple of 2009. You know there's a long-term roadmap in place for all the major product lines, and the future products too. The key executives seem to be very stable too.

Exactly. They have an excellent team in place. If Jobs were done today, and I don't think he is, the roadmap is going to be set for the next 5 years.

Anyway, my best wishes go out to Steve. Hopefully he turns around quickly. The tech industry in general wouldn't be the same without him.

 

[Jamesfrom818]

Well there goes the boost from the Verizon announcement.

 

[NYR]

Life usually isn't the way it should be but that's just the way things work. There aren't many people in the world who could just take 6 months of absence; not only would they not have the money to do it but they would lose their jobs for trying.

Agreed. Let's just put it this way - I'm really happy I am healthy today, and definitely will not be taking it for granted anytime soon.

 

[JCX]

Good for Jobs. He is more than set financially, so taking time to focus on himself is great, stock prices be damned.

 

[Chittagong]

Very worrying news. My wife who is an expert with cancer was pretty convinced cancer in his liver was the real reason for the transplant, and him not gaining any weight *at all* since the operation through October when we last saw him is really a worrying sign.

I hope he gets well and decides to rest and enjoy his life and family - he's already introduced the mass market to the personal computer, the graphical user interface with mouse, the MP3 player, the touch phone, the tablet, Pixar. A man is lucky to achieve just one of that caliber in his life.

I don't think Apple will be Apple without him. Already while he was gone they did stupid stuff like introduced a phone called the iPhone 3G S, only to be corrected to 3GS a day after he returned. I don't believe the culture will bind the company without the fear of Steve.

 

[brotkasten]

It doesn't have to be strictly about his cancer, it could just be generally speaking. His previous sickness left him very weakened, especially with his heavy weight loss, so some additional recovery is always better than continuing to work when he doesn't have to.

I hope he's OK.

I really hope he's okay.

 

[Timedog]

I wish he'd step down as CEO as well. Maybe with someone else in there my fucking ipod touch would work with my intell p55 chipset motherboard and I actually would've gotten some use out of it in the past year!

 

[antonz]

Very worrying news. My wife who is an expert with cancer was pretty convinced cancer in his liver was the real reason for the transplant, and him not gaining any weight *at all* since the operation through October when we last saw him is really a worrying sign.

I hope he gets well and decides to rest and enjoy his life and family - he's already introduced the mass market to the personal computer, the graphical user interface with mouse, the MP3 player, the touch phone, the tablet, Pixar. A man is lucky to achieve just one of that caliber in his life.

I don't think Apple will be Apple without him. Already while he was gone they did stupid stuff like introduced a phone called the iPhone 3G S, only to be corrected to 3GS a day after he returned. I don't believe the culture will bind the company without the fear of Steve.

I do to agree with your wife that I think his Condition is alot worse than is usually discussed. The Transplant probably bought him time but the fact he has shown little recovery from his prior status seems to indicate something is still keeping him down.

Planety of people go through transplants and get back a very normal life and appearance. Steve has not recovered at all in that regard.

 

[Lunchbox]

time to sell all the apple stock

 

[blame space]

man i have close to zero stake in any technology-based preferences (have had an iPod, Android phone, iMac, and windows laptop in my life), but I'll be damned if Steve Jobs isn't awesome. I hate to see that '03/'10 picture.

 

[LCfiner]

2003 Jobs is a bit chubby (before that inital cancer surgery).

2007 Jobs is "max level" Jobs, imo

 

[DonMigs85]

Like Gizmodo said, Apple might slowly erode into the next Sony without Job's guidance.
Their strength is their hw/sw design and lack of confusing product spam ala Dell, HP, Sony and the like. Every model is cleary differentiated with just a few SKUs each.

 

[Freestyler]

Is there some way I can sacrifice myself to ensure Jobs lives? Does he need another liver?

 

[Chittagong]

2003 Jobs is a bit chubby (before that inital cancer surgery).

2007 Jobs is "max level" Jobs, imo

:-(

 

[lucius]

Prayers are with him, been a big Apple fan even in the bad times but I think it is a bad idea to pick up the stock when it falls, sure I agree it will likely go back up for a while after that but then could easily see a huge drop if u don't get out then. Too risky IMO.

 

[antonz]

Yeah I would categorize Apple Stock as a risky investment for sure. It will drop and be appealing but if something were to happen say Jobs dies that stock wont rebound and will continue to fall.

Most people who own apple stock have their faith in Jobs not Apple.

 

[jambo]

It's crazy how much thinner he looks, hope he pulls through.

 

[polyh3dron]

2010 Jobs is the Christian Bale in The Fighter version.

 

[giga]

At tomorrow’s earnings call, Cook will probably do a repeat of what he said almost exactly two years ago when he Jobs took the six months leave.

There is an extraordinary breadth and depth and tenure among the Apple executive team. And these executives lead over 35,000 employees that I would call all “wicked smart.” And that’s in all areas of the company, from engineering, to marketing, to operations, sales, and all the rest.

And the values of our company are extremely well-entrenched. You know, we believe we’re on the face of the Earth to make great products, and that’s not changing. We’re constantly focusing on innovating. We believe in the simple, not the complex. We believe that we need to own and control the primary technologies behind the products that we make, and participate only in markets where we can make a significant contribution. We believe in saying no to thousands of projects, so that we can really focus on the few that are truly important and meaningful to us. We believe in deep collaboration and cross-pollinization of our groups, which allows us to innovate in a way others cannot. And frankly, we don’t settle for anything less than excellence in every group in the company, and we have the self-honesty to admit where we’re wrong, and the courage to change.

And I think regardless of who is in what job, those values are so embedded in this company that Apple will do extremely well. And I would just reiterate a point Peter made in his opening comment, that I strongly believe that Apple is doing the best work in its history.

http://www.macworld.com/article/138370/2009/01/jobs_cook.html

 

[tedtropy]

I don't imagine anyone likes thinking about their mortality, but for a guy like Jobs that has (love him or hate him) accomplished SO MUCH in a lifetime, what must it be like to know there's far fewer years in front of you than behind and that there's ultimately not much you can do about it?

 

[Dreams-Visions]

Plus he gets people talking. He is pretty much the shit at selling things to consumers, and as good as Jonny Ive is he never gave off the same kind of charisma.

meh.

The Trunk Monkey could get on stage and sell Apple products. they sell themselves.

Hell, you could sit an audience down, play an Apple conference PPT slideshow with a mute on stage and get the same buzz.

 

[blame space]

meh.

The Trunk Monkey could get on stage and sell Apple products. they sell themselves.

Hell, you could sit an audience down, play an Apple conference PPT slideshow with a mute on stage and get the same buzz.

disagree.. Jobs is a demigod. when he talks, the world listens.

 

[SnakeXs]

meh.

The Trunk Monkey could get on stage and sell Apple products. they sell themselves.

Hell, you could sit an audience down, play an Apple conference PPT slideshow with a mute on stage and get the same buzz.

Yeah, it's not like there's a specific term/acronym created for him due to his ability to portray ideas to the general public or anything.

 

[Burger]

Hope his biography is finished before... you know.

 

[LCfiner]

I get what Dreams-Visions is saying. it's a little bit of both, really. the well made presentations help set the buzz but that's only amongst the small audience of tech geeks that actually watch them.

the products have to sell themselves once they hit stores.

his biggest contribution has been the vision of product simplification, streamlining and whittling products (and product lines) to the bare essentials.

 

[viciouskillersquirrel]

Nintendo's ninjas are devious indeed.

 

[FuturusX]

.

 

[Cloudy]

Prayers are with him, been a big Apple fan even in the bad times but I think it is a bad idea to pick up the stock when it falls, sure I agree it will likely go back up for a while after that but then could easily see a huge drop if u don't get out then. Too risky IMO.

Until ipad has some credible competition, anyone who doesn't buy on a selloff is crazy. I am ready to buy-buy-buy /Cramer

Yeah I would categorize Apple Stock as a risky investment for sure. It will drop and be appealing but if something were to happen say Jobs dies that stock wont rebound and will continue to fall.

Most people who own apple stock have their faith in Jobs not Apple.

Most people who buy their products religiously probably don't even know who he is. I hope he gets better but the company will be fine with or without him at the helm

 

[RDreamer]

Part of me wants to watch Apple's stock and pounce on it if it gets low, but I wonder if the media will even let Apple be a great company without Jobs. I kind of worry that if they pulled out a product like, say, the Macbook Air without Jobs at the helm people would wonder what in hell they're smoking and say that it's all downhill from here without him, whereas with Jobs people wondered about it, but then were mostly just like "Oh well, it's Jobs, he has weird ideas but they work out."

 

[Cloudy]

Btw, I actuaully own AAPL but I'm hoping for a drop tomorrow so I can buy more

 

[LCfiner]

Btw, I actuaully own AAPL but I'm hoping for a drop tomorrow so I can buy more

tomorrow will be interesting. for sure it'll drop during early trading but the quarterly results are getting released at the end of the day.

so, if those are really high, then stocks may rebound almost immediately. of course, if apple only met expectations instead of beating them, then stocks may still dip afterward.

Personally, and somewhat selfishly, I'm upset that Jobs won't be around for the conference call to slag the competition like he did last time. that was surreal and awkward and hilarious all at once.

 

[Cloudy]

The rumors are that they had a record $24 billion in sales last quarter

 

[numble]

Most people who buy their products religiously probably don't even know who he is. I hope he gets better but the company will be fine with or without him at the helm

It's a bit of both the products selling themselves and Jobs presenting them. The iPad didn't have any commercials prior to launch, but it sold tons on launch (but it did sell even more once commercials and word of mouth got out). There weren't many AppleTV sales despite Jobs presenting it, until they cut it to $99 and changed some features like adding Netflix. The iPhone 3GS did very well even though Jobs didn't present it.

 

[Jenga]

Personally, I don't think the regular consumer gives two shits about Jobs the presenter, they only care about the hip niche Apple has carved up. If Jobs were to suddenly announce he would now call the shots without being in the public I don't think it would make even a dent.

 

[Dreams-Visions]

I get what Dreams-Visions is saying. it's a little bit of both, really. the well made presentations help set the buzz but that's only amongst the small audience of tech geeks that actually watch them.

the products have to sell themselves once they hit stores.

his biggest contribution has been the vision of product simplification, streamlining and whittling products (and product lines) to the bare essentials.

yessir.

We love Jobs because he represents what we like about Apple. But he's not needed to sell the products. As long as a Ballmer type doesn't start doing the presentations, all will be well.

Edit: and The Trunk Monkey is a very talented primate. Thank you very much.

 

[Emerson]

Pancreatic cancer is serious business. I would not be at all surprised if his illness is worse than he let on.

 

[big_z]

Pancreatic cancer is serious business. I would not be at all surprised if his illness is worse than he let on.

This. The guy only gets worse looking, he's basically a walking skeleton right now.

 

[GodfatherX]

didn't he also go vegan after his last leave? figured that was always part of the reason for his weight loss/frailness

 

[Meier]

 

[Tabris]

A Steve Job-less Apple is the same as Bill Gates-less Microsoft. The business guys invade and the companies lose what made them great before.