# Steve Jobs Resigns



## spartanstew (Nov 16, 2005)

http://blogs.wsj.com/deals/2011/08/24/steve-jobs-resigns-as-apple-ceo/

August 24, 2011-To the Apple Board of Directors and the Apple Community:

I have always said if there ever came a day when I could no longer meet my duties and expectations as Apple's CEO, I would be the first to let you know. Unfortunately, that day has come.

I hereby resign as CEO of Apple. I would like to serve, if the Board sees fit, as Chairman of the Board, director and Apple employee.


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## hdtvfan0001 (Jul 28, 2004)

It is sad news to hear about Mr. Jobs.

It would seem this is quite serious this time, in comparison to to his last medical leave.

He is a proven visionary and I respect him for that, as well as his contributions on many charitable fronts. 

May he enjoy his life away from the corporate clatter.


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## Go Beavs (Nov 18, 2008)

It looks like he won't be too far away. He is expected be Chairman of the Board.


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## Cholly (Mar 22, 2004)

More on Jobs:http://www.pcworld.com/article/238736/steve_jobs_resigns_as_ceo_of_apple.html?tk=nl_newsalert


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## spartanstew (Nov 16, 2005)

Go Beavs said:


> It looks like he won't be too far away. He is expected be Chairman of the Board.


Chairman of the Board doesn't mean much (although sometimes it might). Our Chairman participates in a phone call twice per year.


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## Steve (Aug 22, 2006)

Former Apple exec Guy Kawasaki made this comment to The New York Times today:



> "You could make the case that Steve has injected so much of his DNA into Apple that Apple will continue," said Guy Kawasaki, who was an Apple executive in the late 1980s. "Or you can make the case that without Steve, Apple will flounder. But you cannot make the case that Apple without Steve Jobs will be better. Hard to conceive of that."
> 
> [*more*]


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## Chris Blount (Jun 22, 2001)

It's sad but no surprise. Honestly I think the company will continue to thrive.


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## Tom Robertson (Nov 15, 2005)

For the immediate future, I suspect this has a bunch of potential for good for Apple. This might free Jobs up to be even more creative and visionary without the day to day grind of being CEO. 

That said, it is sad that presumably it is his health that is dragging him down.

Cheers,
Tom


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## Sixto (Nov 18, 2005)

Can't remember that I ever really had sad weepy thoughts about hearing of any CEO change, but this one really made be sad to see with the first tweet earlier today. I'm assuming it's health related.

I'm fairly new to the i* world, loving the iPad2, and recently (finally!) switching from Blackberry to iPhone4, but have been watching from a distance for a looooong time.

Whether you love him or hate him, Steve Jobs has certainly changed the world.

First usable graphical UI for the mainstream, digital music, the coolest phones ever, and lately finally a real deployment of tablet computing.

All of the above weren't necessarily invented by Steve/Apple, but he found a way to have each get great market adoption, worldwide.

Hopefully he'll still be around for awhile, because he has indeed made a difference, whether you love him, or not.

Sad day.


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## Stewart Vernon (Jan 7, 2005)

I'm not sure that any one employee has meant so much to a company in the modern age.

Jobs was co-founder of Apple... and his ousting certainly didn't help their cause... meanwhile he went on to other successful endeavors on his own and was asked back to help revive a struggling Apple in the 1990s.

They have been on the fast track straight up ever since. He is more than just an echo of a time past or a founder lingering around... he might be the soul of Apple.

For his health, I wish him well... but this doesn't seem like good news as I can't imagine him stepping away unless he absolutely had to...

I agree the company will be ok for now... but unless they have some smart people who have paid attention to Jobs in recent years, I fear they might rest on their laurels and fall back as they did the last time he wasn't around to innovate.


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## Steve (Aug 22, 2006)

Chris Blount said:


> It's sad but no surprise. Honestly I think the company will continue to thrive.


I'm sure the next 2-3 years of products are already in the pipeline, so it should be business as usual for Apple.

I think the real test will be 5 years down the road. Without someone like Jobs instigating the competition to set the bar higher, the whole industry could stagnate. I'm hopeful someone else can step-up as the next great innovator. Google's Page is brilliant, but at heart, he's a "computer guy", IMHO. In my mind, Jobs is a "consumer appliance" guy. For better or worse, I think that's always been the difference between Apple and the competition.


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## fluffybear (Jun 19, 2004)

Mrs. Fluffybear had the pleasure of meeting Mr. Jobs through her work (just prior to the release of Jaguar) and said that he is a very interesting person to have a conversation with though he is kind of foul-mouthed.


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## Go Beavs (Nov 18, 2008)

spartanstew said:


> Chairman of the Board doesn't mean much (although sometimes it might). Our Chairman participates in a phone call twice per year.


Somehow I think Jobs may be a little different compared with your typical Chairman. 

That being said, I work for a family run business where the founder is considered somewhat of a legend in the industry and even though he is still around (like a Chairman might be) it's just not the same. Those innovative founders seem to have a unique way of thinking about the business and things just feel "different" when they're not involved in day-to-day operations.

Hopefully enough of Jobs has rubbed off on Apple and someone can step up to continue with the incredible amount of innovation they have shown over the years.


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## dpeters11 (May 30, 2007)

I'm hoping the photo out on the Net isn't real. Please be photoshopped.


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## spartanstew (Nov 16, 2005)

Go Beavs said:


> Somehow I think Jobs may be a little different compared with your typical Chairman.


Not if he's dying.


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## Go Beavs (Nov 18, 2008)

spartanstew said:


> Not if he's dying.


Yeah, that does throw a wrench on the gears doesn't it...


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## dpeters11 (May 30, 2007)

Just saw a story that Jobs' father wants to meet him, though he says Steve would need to initiate contact, as he's afraid that it would be seen as wanting part of the fortune. For those that don't know, Steve was adopted and his father is Syrian. I hadn't realized they never had contact, he met his sister (Mona Simpson) when he was in his 20s.


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## Stewart Vernon (Jan 7, 2005)

dpeters11 said:


> Just saw a story that Jobs' father wants to meet him, though he says Steve would need to initiate contact, as he's afraid that it would be seen as wanting part of the fortune. For those that don't know, Steve was adopted and his father is Syrian. I hadn't realized they never had contact, he met his sister (Mona Simpson) when he was in his 20s.


These kinds of situations always have a big "YMMV" depending upon the reason for the initial separation.

I've known of cases where the father abandoned the family... and in such a case, I can't blame a kid for growing up in a loving adoptive family and not having an interest in his biological parent by then.

I know little of the situation here... but I would say I find it odd for the father to make a statement like that when apparently the son hasn't had contact or shown interest in doing so... it's like an attempt to put pressure on the son somehow.


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## djlong (Jul 8, 2002)

Being adopted myself, I have no trouble in seeing how an absent father might at least try one more time to have SOME kind of contact as Jobs is likely still very ill.

Staying away because you're afraid of what people might think sounds completely plausible to me.


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## Stewart Vernon (Jan 7, 2005)

djlong said:


> Being adopted myself, I have no trouble in seeing how an absent father might at least try one more time to have SOME kind of contact as Jobs is likely still very ill.
> 
> Staying away because you're afraid of what people might think sounds completely plausible to me.


I guess my feeling would be different depending on whether a reporter sought him out and asked OR he sought out a reporter to go public.

IF the reporter sought him, then it's a last attempt that might be sincere... but if he sought the reporter, I might view it more as an attempt to pressure his son.

Of course not knowing the full story or the family dynamic, rush judgments by outsiders like me might be way off base.


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## dpeters11 (May 30, 2007)

It's entirely possible a reporter sought him out. With Jobs in the news with his resignation, reporters may be trying to find some more about him, talk to family. We know he has kids, the most famous being Lisa, but he's always kept pretty quiet about his personal life/hobbies etc.

The Walter Isaacson biography has been bumped up to November, I will certainly be reading that.


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## Steve (Aug 22, 2006)

He was speaking at Salesforce.com's _Dreamforce 2011_ conference.


> "What Steve has done at Apple is certainly the best performance of a CEO for over fifty years, maybe a hundred years. But not only did he do it once, he did it twice. We've all benefited from the tremendous innovation at Apple," Schmidt said. [*more*]


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