[MrObvious]

It is too bad that he has poor health as he was a huge deal and a powerful American icon. But all that stress running the world's biggest company or one of the biggest in some respects isn't healthy.

[trojanscott]

I liken some of these comments to my UCLA fan friends. They suck so bad at football, the revel in USC's troubles, and celebrate and hope for bad teams, circumstances, etc. Hoping they'd actually improve and beat someone at the top of their game seems to be an afterthought. I, on the other hand, wish they'd pull themselves out of the gutter as a program to bring back the true rivalry.

[dalton4L]

Now that it's understood and agreed upon that by making a joke out of Steve Jobs' health you are being absolutely ignorant, let us get this out of the way as well:

Apple will not fail now that Steve Jobs is no longer CEO(he is chairman and will still be closely involved in product development and decisions). Bottom line. Apple was and is not thriving simply because Jobs was and is brilliant; Apple makes top-of-the-line products that are by far the most desired in their class - iPad is "the only tablet that matters," iPhone is by far the hottest selling smartphone, Mac OS computers are the only platform gaining ground while all other manufacturers are losing it in the PC market. Apple is killing it(in good ways(massive success), and bad ways(for other companies)), and by "it," I mean the entire technology world - ask any PC manufacturing company, any tablet maker, HP, RIM, the list goes on. If you deny any of this, you are either not well educated on the success of Apple and perhaps the tech world, or you are in denial. Go to YouTube and search a phone, any phone; now put 'vs.' after it and I can guarantee you 'iPhone 4' will be one of the top results - probably the top more often than not(keep in mind that the iPhone 4 is over a year old). Do the same for X tablet and you'll get iPad. Sure YouTube popular searches aren't reflective of success in the market(although they are to an extent - not proven, but observed), but it is certainly proof that iProducts are the benchmark and what everyone compares things to.

Now that it's understood that Apple is the most successful tech company on the planet, let us look at why Steve Jobs stepping down will not change that:

Steve Jobs got Apple to where it is today and was the driving force behind it's success - there's no doubt about that. However, just because he is gone doesn't mean that Apple will forget/not know how to make killer products. You think that because Steve is no longer CEO that all 50,000 employees are scrambling for answers and wondering what to do? No. Jobs paved the way enough for his staff to understand the vision and culture that is Apple. Tim Cook and everyone else will continue to do their job and complete what is needed to keep Apple at the top, with or without Steve Jobs. Some say that people bought an iPod or an iPad feeling like they're taking home a piece of Steve Jobs: what's really happening is you are taking home a piece of innovation that Steve had a hand in making.

Apple is loaded; it is worth more than 20 times what RIM is worth(AAPL 346.9B as opposed to RIMM 14.75B as of today's stocks). I think that if RIM can have the antics going on at the top that they do and still stay somewhat afloat, that Tim Cook would have to literally try to fail miserably to be considered a failure even within the next decade.

Apple are steady on their way to what is probably the closest to a technological monopolization that any company in history has ever even dreamed of... they are not going anywhere.

[MrObvious]

If they keep on pace, they will be the new Microsoft.

[Accidental Post]

Why would Apple want to go backwards????

[mmcpher]

It was interesting to sample some of the video clips of Jobs the last day or so. There was one from around 2005 when he addressed the graduating class at Stanford. It was obviously heartfelt and personal for Jobs, but it was surprising to see him ill at ease in speaking in public (by his lofty standards). He recounted his inspirational roots, after he'd drifted away from college but returned to find a passion for typography, a theme and thread that runs through his career, as is well known to Jobs fans. But it pops up again from interviews from years earlier, in his withering critique of MS and their clumsy lack of taste and style. Jobs is nothing if not a prideful man, but it seems as if he takes singular pride in his bringing the artisan's touch to the digital world, taken from the old master type-setters from the publishing world. Those of us who have been online since the late 80's, early 90's can probably recall just how hideous everything looked. For all of his achievements of a commercial and technology nature, it is sometimes forgotten that before he brought his elegant visual sense of style to device design, he changed the way all of read text online today. Its an aesthetic that is sometimes overlooked and underappreciated.

Jobs's onstage appearances with Gates are still fun to watch. Jobs, upright, alert and almost physically dominating the interviewer -- Gates, slouching, disheveled, passive-aggressively smirking, but in a mild sort of way. Jobs trying to be gracious, something that comes neither naturally or easily to him. It may be pointless to speculate, but FWIW, if Gates had still be engaged and at the helm I don't think Apple would have had quite the run up it has had, with the Ipod, the Iphone and the Ipad. IIRC, Gates was still active during the beginning of this period, but even then I had a sense of him beginning to wane in terms of interest. A younger Gates would have done more with the Zune, and even if the probability, based on their histories, was that MS would have been playing catch-up anyway in the phone and tablet markets, few played that game more effectively. Gates had done more with less, in terms of MS and PC's, relative to the Zune and Ipod, and the Windows Phones and Iphones. I wonder what would have happened if Apple had gone after the gaming console segment, that Xbox has taken over?

[the_sleuth]

you takin this the wrong way. a comeback from being at the bottom to being up top again.

I am relatively new to this website. But have not the regular Crackberry contributors been looking for a comeback these past two years?

I don't see significant change until Brothers RIM (Mike & Jim) step aside. RIM will muddle along in the interim.

[the_sleuth]

If they keep on pace, they will be the new Microsoft.

I would tend to agree. Microsoft's reign started with Window 95 and ended with Vista. Roughly, 20 years? Apple would have 10 year reign but Android might reduce it to 5 years.

[ThePinkChameleon]

omg.....i just rec'd a news alert that Steve Jobs passed away

[pkcable]

omg.....i just rec'd a news alert that Steve Jobs passed away

You can read about it on the blog.....

http://crackberry.com/steve-jobs-passed-away or at our sister site


http://www.tipb.com

[ThePinkChameleon]

You can read about it on the blog.....

http://crackberry.com/steve-jobs-passed-away or at our sister site


http://www.tipb.com

Thanks PK, I just went to the front page of CB for it now & then il make my way to tipb

Posted from my CrackBerry at wapforums.crackberry.com