When Steve Jobs Dies...

earllogjam

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Will this mark the end of Apple Computer?

What will Apple do if Steve Jobs dies? | Technology | Los Angeles Times

Will Apple be able to carry on as an innovative company without an unwavering vision and leadership that has steered the company to greatness in the last 15 years or will it succumb to mediocrity under some uninspired vision-less leadership as HP had with Carla Fiorina in charge or Apple Computer under John Sculley both of whom drove once stellar innovative and dynamic companies into the ground and almost buried them into bankruptcy?
 

Principessa

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Is he sick? Are you a major stock holder? Then don't worry about it. :tongue: Seriously, I'm sure the company is prepared to carry on valiantly in the event of his unfortunate demise. :cool:
 

jason_els

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Jobs, sadly, has pancreatic cancer.

Much of Apple's direction will fall to the board of directors. See how risk-averse the board membership is and then evaluate the situation. Has Jobs chosen an in-house successor?

Most companies don't do well without their founders. It's when they begin to fall prey to quarterly earnings enforced by the majority of their voting stock being held by investment banks. They lose vision, become risk averse, and bureaucracy soars as there's no one to say, "The buck stops here."

I hope Apple survives but if they don't, it's been a great run.
 

str8up8x6

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Sam Walton died, Walmart is still there. The real threat to Apple and Microsoft is not the death of Jobs or Gates or any other individual but the growth of free computer platforms such as GNU/Linux. Dell now offers desktops and notebooks with GNU/Linux preinstalled. That was unheard of just a couple of years ago.
 

jason_els

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Sam Walton died, Walmart is still there. The real threat to Apple and Microsoft is not the death of Jobs or Gates or any other individual but the growth of free computer platforms such as GNU/Linux. Dell now offers desktops and notebooks with GNU/Linux preinstalled. That was unheard of just a couple of years ago.

Perhaps..... but Apple sells a very successful brand based upon high quality and convenience. They are an upmarket brand compared to most PC manufacturers and so compete differently than the commodity boxes.
 

earllogjam

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Although I don't think all of Apple's lucrative and innovative products and services like the iPhone and iTunes where thought up by Jobs, he being the insightful and forward thinking leader was instrumental in seeing the full potential of these ideas and bringing them to fruition by his abiltity to inspire and attract, excite and lead engineers with his vision and dreams. I am not sure there can be a replacement. To many, including me, Apple and all it's creativity is Steve Jobs. When he goes the company goes downhill. It spirals into another Microsoft, technically proficient but dull, safe and unoriginal - kinda like the Zune player.
 

Skull Mason

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He released a statement saying that he has been suffering form a hormonal balance causing him to lose weight. Now that it has been diagnosed he believes he will recover within a few months. Unlock the iphone. 2012.
 

8wayup

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Last year they said that he had a rare form of pancreatic cancer and it responded to treatment. This year is a hormonal imbalance. Perhaps the hormonal imbalance is a result of the pancreatic treatment.
 

Phil Ayesho

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Hopefully they will unlock the iphone then

Go to Hong Kong.
Its illegal to sell locked phones in Hong Kong- if they sell iPhones in HK they are unlocked.

Fat lot of good it will do you for some of the functions require provider software and hardware that independent providers will not have.
 

Skull Mason

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Go to Hong Kong.
Its illegal to sell locked phones in Hong Kong- if they sell iPhones in HK they are unlocked.

Fat lot of good it will do you for some of the functions require provider software and hardware that independent providers will not have.

Ok, maybe he will add MMS and video then.
 

Phil Ayesho

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Jobs real talent is in recognizing a great idea when he hears it, and then helping making it real.
His biggest impact on product development is look and feel. And having the chutzpah and personal confidence to push thru development programs that more conservative CEOs would kill, or micromanage to uselessness.
He turned Pixar into what it is by recognizing the talent that was there and pretty much giving it free rein.

Jobs did not come up with the Idea of the iPod... but he did recognize the dire need of the music industry, and he did drive the entire process of developing the iTune/ipod combo into far more than just porducts... into a cohesive new distribution paradigm that was folded into products.
Without his personal cache, force of will, and track record... no other CEO could have gotten the various interests involved to agree to the cooperative venture of iTunes.

Trouble is that any New CEO will either NOT have the innovative credentials to win the confidence of the board and partnered corporations..... or he/she will have an entirely different innovative sense that they can not help but use to push the company in entirely different directions.

Jobs should be grooming a successor... gradually handing over more and more to some VPs to test each one... and hopefully isolate someone whose decisions reflect a similar sense of vision and resolve.

But then...if Apple drifts into banality.... That only creates an opportunity for some other upstart to become the next leader in innovation... Apple has certainly proven that people will pay more for better quality, better design, and a simpler, more satisfying experience.
Its a lucrative and viable niche for whoever has the imagination to pull it off.
 

earllogjam

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J
But then...if Apple drifts into banality.... That only creates an opportunity for some other upstart to become the next leader in innovation... Apple has certainly proven that people will pay more for better quality, better design, and a simpler, more satisfying experience.
Its a lucrative and viable niche for whoever has the imagination to pull it off.

The problem is most of those once innovative companies which frequently are small start ups usually get gobbled up by Microsoft or some other mega corporation that thrives on mediocrity.

Just off the top of my head-
Flickr was ruined by Yahoo.
Every product that Autodesk aquired thru a buy out turns to crap - ie- Corel Draw, Revit
 

D_Gunther Snotpole

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Steve Jobs ends cancer rumours - vnunet.com
Um, not sure I'm buying the hormone imbalance....but I hope that's all it is.

I think it would be illegal to knowingly put out lies that created false expectations about his health. Shareholders and anyone who might wish to buy Apple stock have a right to the truth in these matters. Or at least not to be told outright lies.

Trouble is that any New CEO will either NOT have the innovative credentials to win the confidence of the board and partnered corporations..... or he/she will have an entirely different innovative sense that they can not help but use to push the company in entirely different directions.

Very likely, but one can hope.
And sometimes someone steps out of the shadows to nicely fill some damn big shoes.

In other news: I examined (fondled, really) a new 20-inch iMac yesterday. Yummy. What a beautiful match of hardware and software. And what a sharp lookin' rig. Rubi wants an iMac. (Any 'puter daddies out there?:tongue:)
 

B_starinvestor

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I think it would be illegal to knowingly put out lies that created false expectations about his health. Shareholders and anyone who might wish to buy Apple stock have a right to the truth in these matters. Or at least not to be told outright lies.


From Dept. of Health & Human Services.

http://www.hhs.gov/ocr/hipaa/consumer_summary.pdf

From what I understand, the company need only report 'material' information to the public when the executive cannot perform his/her job...but the details of the medical diagnosis is not required if he/she can perform the job.

I found this excerpt from Linkedin:
If someone is an executive of a publicly traded company and cannot perform their work, for health or any other reason, then it is legally required that this status be made public. This is "black letter law" with absolutely no exceptions. It is there to protect investors. Naturally, the details of an illness are not disclosed, but whether the executive can function professionally must be.
 

jason_els

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The thing is he can credibly say they're not lies because medicine is not necessarily exact. A nutritional deficiency could be a symptom of his cancer treatment or the cancer itself and there may well be professional disagreement among physicians and nutritionists about its cause. Jobs' responsibility is to shareholders and the board. He needs to keep that stock price up and if it means digging up one doctor out of a 1000 who says he has a nutritional deficiency then they can reasonably claim that's the cause. Patients have full discretion in whose medical opinion they agree with.

I think Apple's main strength has been that they don't make crap. OSX is brilliant, their hardware is of high quality, their retail experience is very satisfying, their interfaces are superior, and their support is much better than average and particularly so if you have access to an Apple store. More than that, Apple understands the needs of users and satisfies them in ways other companies do not.