World media are caught by surprise
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The stepping down of Apple CEO Steve Jobs has caught newpapes and magazines world over by surprise. Though he is taking five-month medical leave on health grounds, speculations are rife his exit will be permanent.
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Most of the papers are trying to figure out the likely fallout of the exit of a man who pioneered the era of personal computers in the 1980's and went on to rewrite the many dynamics of technology business with such revolutionary inventions like iMac, iPod and iPhone.
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"No boss today embodies and defines his company as completely as Steve Jobs," says The Economist.
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The analysis quotes Mark Anderson of Strategic News Service as saying: "I don't see an Apple, the way we would define the company, without Steve."
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The report says that Cook, who is chief operating officer, may take over as Jobes' successor. "Cook keeps a very low profile, as Mr Jobs prefers his staff to do. He is single and a workaholic. He has a southern drawl and is as cool as Mr Jobs runs hot," says Economist.
But the real question for Apple, says the report, is whether "the person of Mr Jobs is the glue that holds the talent underneath him together."
The other important parts like design, engineering, logistics etc are the domains of various people including Cook. But ultimately the "vision thing belongs entirely to Mr Jobs. Without him, will all the other pieces, and the magic, come unglued?" the report ends with this question.
"Less asked, but just as intriguing, is: what is Jobs without Apple," asks Guardian's technology editor Charles Arthur.
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"He's an obsessively private visionary, with world-beating talents for negotiation, motivation and attention to detail," says Arthur, adding that it is precisely that approach which has helped Jobs transform the world three times: "first in computers, then films, and latterly music."
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"It was Apple (not Microsoft) which gave the world computers with "windows"; Pixar changed the way we think about animation; and record companies might have vanished if not for the online iTunes Music Store," the report goes into details of the contributions of a great technology visionary.
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"It would be difficult to take the Apple out of Steve. The company has defined him for so many years," the report quotes an analyst.
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Steve Jobs' "perfectionism, autocratic managerial style and disregard for conventional wisdom are at the heart of Apple's remarkable streak of success," says New York Times.
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This report also says that Apple's longtime COO Cook may overtake at least temporarily. But some Apple watchers and former employees are skeptical about Apple's fate "if it is forced to soldier on without Mr. Jobs," says the report.
The sudden absence of Steve Jobs couldn't come at a more challenging time for Apple, says Wall Street Journal.
The company had strong momentum over the past several years with its iPods and Macintosh compuiters dominating in their respective fields. "But that picture is changing as the economy and consumer spending continue to slow," says the report.u00a0
Wired.comu00a0reports that Steve Job probabaly won't come back because "there are several reasons to think that Jobs' latest letter is as unreliable as the milder health statement he made a week ago:
However, Financial Times expresses the hope that Jobs will be back at Apple by the summer, "ready to extol the virtues of whatever sleek piece of kit the company's team of designers has come up with next."
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