Big tech news of the week? Steve Jobs finally confirms that – yes – he’s got medical problems. And that he is taking a medical leave of absence from Apple to attend to it. To read the tech headlines, though, you would think we were on the verge of Armageddon.
On Wednesday, Apple issued a “media advisory” which states, from Jobs, that:
I am sure all of you saw my letter last week sharing something very personal with the Apple community. Unfortunately, the curiosity over my personal health continues to be a distraction not only for me and my family, but everyone else at Apple as well. In addition, during the past week I have learned that my health-related issues are more complex than I originally thought.
In order to take myself out of the limelight and focus on my health, and to allow everyone at Apple to focus on delivering extraordinary products, I have decided to take a medical leave of absence until the end of June.
This after months of smoke and mirrors to the press about Jobs condition. But can you blame Apple for that? The unfortunate fact is that this company is in a position where people’s outlook on the company is directly dependent on one man.
To prove that, just look at the stock value. The Apple announcement came out just before the close of trading. The stock price was $85.60 per share and that’s at 4:46pm. By the end of trading, at 5PM, the stock had dropped to $78.44. That’s about a 10% drop in stock value, representing (according to Venturebeat) about $6.4 billion. This is in the span of 14 minutes! And all because Steve Jobs is taking a leave of absence?!
It looks like the stock value rose to a closing value of $83.38 yesterday, so perhaps these traders are growing a brain. As Scoble says, and rightly so, you’re an idiot if you sell your Apple stock over this. Actually, you’re smart if you purchased yesterday morning because then you would have made some cash. 
Is Jobs Really The Hub Of It All?
An article over on Bits asks the question What if Steve Jobs Doesn’t Return To Work? This is a fair question and, quite frankly, I wouldn’t be surprised if it ends up being that way. The author says something very interesting:
But the essence of Steve Jobs — the obsessive visionary who involves himself in the smallest details of Apple’s products and advertising — has fostered what is in effect a corporate operating system that will need to be completely upgraded whenever a successor is named.
After all, however talented the executives at Apple, one skill they all need is an understanding of how to work with, and when appropriate, defer to, the whims of Steve Jobs.
My gut tells me that this is the way Apple is run internally. And, that seems unfortunate if true. Sounds a bit like a cult to me, actually. A strong organization can go on just fine without it’s founder. In fact, the founder is supposed to document everything and set up procedures so that it CAN run without him. If Apple executives are smart (and I assume they are), then no doubt this is the case. Which means that while the loss of Jobs would indicate a cultural shift within the company, it should not mean that the company begins to suffer.
In my view, this is a cultural shift that needs to happen. Apple should not be centered around one man.
And that includes public perception.
Time To Pipe Down, People
This focus on Steve Jobs is the result of him being a great marketer. However, step back for a moment. Apple is a large company. They make computers and gadgets. Is this going to change just because Jobs is out? No.
I am a Mac user. I own three Macs. Are each of these 3 Macs direct brain dumps from the mind of Steve Jobs? No, they are not. It takes a large team of smart people to design and build one of these machines. Just like any computer, even if not built by Apple.
My Mac will boot in the morning.
Whether it be Steve Jobs, Tim Cook, or some other person at Apple who makes product announcements, the only thing I care about is that they release cool stuff. And, speaking for myself, I don’t think Steve Jobs needs to be there for that to happen.
I wish Steve Jobs the best of luck with his health. He may need it. That said, Steve Jobs can be replaced. And looking ahead into the future of Apple, I think that replacement should happen for the sake of the company. Any company in a position to lose $6.4 billion over one man might need to re-think how it has itself structured. Just a little.
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Good point. Jobs has made himself the hub, and without him the wheels can’t turn properly. It’s time to reinvent the wheel; so that if the hub does pack up, there’s still other things keeping the wheels in motion.
Sounds like Jobs is a little bit of a control freak. But it has done Apple well and pulled them out of extinction. But yes Jobs needs to be a spoke in the wheel not the whole wheel. Should be interesting how it all plays out.
jobs is unbelievable person i think and i love him
Will refrain from commenting on that as I would probably be banned for it. lol
Wall Street hates uncertainty and will punish any company with any sort of uncertainty. Most of the time this punishment is irrational at first and then reality sets in later and the stock price comes back to some sort of rational price.
I wish Steve Jobs the best. He really is the genius behind Apple. I believe the company could succeed without Jobs but it would never be quite as good at producing innovative products.
It’s not the fact that Jobs is sick and unable to work as much as the seriously scary idea that there is no succession plan in place–or if there is, they’re being tight-lipped about it.
As David M said, uncertainty scares investors. Protracted illness with no plan to deal with top management has all the indicators of future chaos.