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What Will the Return of Steve Jobs Mean for Apple?

mashable.com — Six months ago, Apple founder and CEO Steve Jobs took a leave of absence from his company to focus on his health, leaving the company in the hands of COO Tim Cook and other Apple execs. Since that seismic shift, there’s been speculation over his return – or even if he would return at all.

Who dugg this? Made popular Jun 21, 2009

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  • RedStateRetard, on 06/21/2009, -1/+29He will slowly ease into his old job. He will scream and yell at employees on a part time basis for the first few months.
  • digitalpencil, on 06/21/2009, -4/+22Tim Cook's getting a slap for denying the Commodore64 app.
  • ml4rocky, on 06/21/2009, -5/+21Steve's return has to be positive. Apple's stock began to tumble when he announced his sick leave. He's a very bright man who is filled with great ideas. I hope he comes back with many more. I wish him the best of health, of course. A liver transplant is obviously very serious.
  • notoneofus, on 06/21/2009, -2/+12"Just aorta curious I guess. "

    Nothing wrong with his aorta. It was his liver.
  • KSUdesigner, on 06/21/2009, -1/+10Apparently the idiots digging me down need proof.

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steve_Jobs
    "In mid-2004, Jobs announced to his employees that he had been diagnosed with a cancerous tumor in his pancreas."

  • OptionalPirate, on 06/21/2009, -4/+13You're trying too hard.
  • KSUdesigner, on 06/21/2009, -2/+10You just heard this? He was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer 5 years ago.
  • apersaud, on 06/21/2009, -0/+8Hopefully, when he returns he can pick up the phone and yell at AT&T for not having MMS and Tethering ready.....
  • wdowell, on 06/21/2009, -0/+7I would say that stock tumbled under the uncertainty. Whatever happens on Jobs' return, he needs to be make it explicitly clear that the past 6 months has been managed without his help, and apple is capable of doing so again.

    Any transplant precipitant will know (and indeed I am one such person) that there are bumps in the road to come - a transplant inst a cure, not least for cancer, so let's make that very clear too - it's a treatment.
  • wdowell, on 06/21/2009, -0/+6if he's on the typical immunosuppressant drug regime, including steroids, his mood will likely alter..

    (I'm a transplant recipient myself - my mood swings with those drugs went insane)
  • damonic, on 06/21/2009, -5/+11You mean something like his old liver powering a 10" iTablet?
  • jojomynojo, on 06/21/2009, -18/+23Hopefully steve comes back. He's a great face for apple and has always kept us mac users quite happy.

    Mainly what I'm wondering though, is how involved he was with the release of the new iPhone. Just aorta curious I guess.

    In the end, I wish the guy good health whether he comes back or decides to just take it easy.
  • fitzfan, on 06/21/2009, -1/+6No, you just need to not be a dumbass.
  • kreatre2007, on 06/21/2009, -2/+7When Steve returns, it will be the same as before...

    He will be leading a team of very talented people. There's nothing different from before he got sick. I think his absence has proven that Apple won't fall flat on its ass if Steve isn't there.
  • Psara, on 06/21/2009, -0/+5As long as we don't have another Gil Amelio-esque CEO, Apple should be fine.
  • heyimfromreddit, on 06/21/2009, -2/+7Exactly. I'm an..."Apple user" (I feel dirty for saying that) but this obsession with Steve Jobs that some seem to have just creepy.
    He's pretty good at presenting new products I guess?
  • inactive, on 06/21/2009, -0/+4Wow! I want to get one when I am 90 then!
  • heyimfromreddit, on 06/21/2009, -1/+5This is Digg.
  • Falldog, on 06/21/2009, -5/+9What's changed since he left? Nothing. What'll change when he gets back? Nothing. Oh, no, the stock went down! I thought we learned not to follow the whims of investors and the stock market after recent events. His departure hasn't hurt any Apple products, market share, or content offerings. If anything since he left the iPhone actually showed up with features to match the competition. But, we'll probably see him announce some new product they've been holding out on so people can return to believing Jobs it the be all, end all for Apple; certainly the thousands of intelligent people under him have nothing to do with the company's success.
  • inactive, on 06/21/2009, -2/+5Again...NO HE IS NOT. The head hojchos of a company are NOT allowed to withhold information that may affect the profits of a company. And Jobs did not just "want a private life". They actively LIED about his healthy.
  • MacParrot, on 06/21/2009, -1/+4"I wonder if the fanboys actually understand that Steve isn't personally assembling all those iPhones and MacBooks."

    He isn't???

    (tosses iPhone out the window)
  • jwolcott, on 06/21/2009, -0/+3People with liver transplants have a 58% chance of surviving 15 years: https://www.uktransplant.org.uk/ukt/statistics/pre ...
  • MasterGrief, on 06/21/2009, -1/+4This was entirely unwarranted.

    It's a well established fact that Apple tries to bleed customers dry on simply upgraded re-releases. You didn't have to pull this example out of the air to illustrate the point.
  • gibson85, on 06/21/2009, -5/+8these comments suck
  • AmazingSteve, on 06/21/2009, -0/+3Watch Apple stocks every time Jobs so much as sneezes. Dead or dying Jobs = Dead Apple. Why the ***** do you think the transplant was so hush, hush?
  • fitzfan, on 06/21/2009, -0/+2Yeah, its going to suck for all of Apple's designers who have been sitting on their asses looking at the iPhone for 6 months. Now they will actually have to work on a new pipeline of products.

    /s
  • wonderchemist, on 06/21/2009, -0/+2Either the entire stock market tumbled under Steve's sick leave, or Apple's stock performance had little to do with Steve Jobs.
  • lrdntwnd, on 06/21/2009, -0/+2Keep in mind that most of the design is actually done by the design team headed by Jonny Ive. Sure, Steve is a visionary who imagines amazing products, but in the end, it's the design team that actually makes them look good. It's the engineering team that makes them work. I'm not saying that Steve would be easy to replace, but they can continue designing great products for years after he leaves (if/when that happens).
  • wdowell, on 06/21/2009, -0/+2Good to see actual statistics, but let's be clear: for the most part, those recipients stated didn't have cancer before. This complicates things somewhat.. ( I say this as a transplant recipient myself..)
  • inactive, on 06/21/2009, -1/+3I wonder if the fanboys actually understand that Steve isn't personally assembling all those iPhones and MacBooks.

  • swimtwobirds, on 06/21/2009, -0/+2not true.he wasn't gone long enough to gauge the impact his absence would have on future product development. you would need 18 months for that, given the product lead times.
    personally, i think it would make a huge difference over time. Apple is currently a company run by an incredibly forceful auteur. take away the incredibly forceful auteur and you have a different company.
  • ronmexico, on 06/21/2009, -0/+2Yeah Mac and iPod sales don't make any money...
  • swimtwobirds, on 06/21/2009, -0/+2for sure. i remember reading somewhere that it was actually phil schiller who pitched the idea for the wheel navigation on the ipod, for instance. But in a way, I think its more that jobs is such a complete maniac, one who will go at you with a flamethrower if he thinks you're messing up. i believe the mobile me team are mostly paraplegics at this point.. But definitely apple will continue as a centre of excellence, but there will still be the lack of the 'there cant be any more than four screws on the base of this MBP' voice of jobs. not to mention his PT Barnum aspects..
  • Tehrab, on 06/21/2009, -1/+3It was only 6 months. The strength of Apple's brand will carry it a decade, at least, in the event it completely loses its way, much the same as it did when Apple ousted Jobs in '85.
  • Canadianpj, on 06/21/2009, -1/+2Wow my blocked user list must be in the hundreds by this point.
  • spiralspirit, on 06/21/2009, -1/+2to be fair, jobs got the luxury branded liver. the user can't change the battery, but it looks great!
  • stuffradio, on 06/21/2009, -0/+1Hopefully when he returns he will open the iPhone OS some more!
  • toe_head2001, on 06/21/2009, -0/+1He will fire the people responsible for screwing up the iPhone app demos at WWDC.
  • Wilddigi, on 06/21/2009, -0/+1It will mean less stupid ***** mean rude comments on digg. And who is to say, he was still wasn't involved from his house.
  • gamepr0, on 06/22/2009, -0/+1Damnit, I bought this laptop solely because I thought he assembled it :( not because of the operating system... at all...
  • pinchduck, on 06/21/2009, -0/+1What poor bastard had the clause '...and surrender your liver...' quietly inserted into his AT&T contract?
  • deema1, on 06/21/2009, -1/+2It means he will DE-LIVER some great new products.
  • nexmachina, on 06/22/2009, -0/+1I can answer the question without reading the article.

    More overpriced shiny cheap gadgets made in China.
  • MrZaiko, on 06/22/2009, -0/+1Just keep covering your ears "Say it aint so! say it aint so!"
  • 7aji, on 06/22/2009, -0/+1It did pop up everywhere.... because he was leaving!!
  • cheesehound, on 06/21/2009, -3/+4TURTLENECKS FOR EVERYONE!
  • jojomynojo, on 06/23/2009, -0/+1Wow, ever thought that maybe you take computers a little too serious?

    Oh, speaking of knowing nothing about hardware, everyone knows a two button mouse works on a mac. I have a wireless apple mouse for my mac, and it's touch sensitive. It knows when my fingers want to right, left, or middle click. And there's a squeeze button feature on the sides. Which adds up to 4 total buttons for whatver you want them to do.

    So next time you try to know it all, realize your an idiot. And that you actually know nothing at all.

    Especially at being a decent human being. Were talking about his health here. This man beat pancreatic cancer and has just had a liver transplant. Both are things people die from every day. Maybe have the decency to either wish this man good health, or just keep your teen angst to yourself. You ***** *****.
  • falser, on 06/22/2009, -0/+1Sell AAPL short on the day Jobs returns and you will bank it.
  • lostngone, on 06/22/2009, -0/+1Quote: "For example, Phil Schiller, Apple’s Senior Vice President for Product Marketing, did a great job replacing Steve Jobs as the WWDC keynote this year."

    Huh?!?! I was at WWDC, all I can say is we must have been watching two different keynotes. Phil didn't do a bad job but he is no Steve Jobs when it comes to public speaking. He appeared rushed and didn't even pause for applause or jeering.
  • brie987, on 06/21/2009, -0/+1Apologize to the actual person that was next in line for a liver transplant but could not pay cash up front for it. Yes there is a list.
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