
Steve Jobs Resigns as Apple CEO (Official Letter) - hunterowens
http://blogs.wsj.com/deals/2011/08/24/steve-jobs-resigns-as-apple-ceo/
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Timothee
"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."

This makes it sound like it does have to do with his health unfortunately, and
not that he just feels that it's the right time to do it. (like Bill Gates did
with Microsoft)

On another note, even though in reality it's not just for the Board but, as
put in the letter, for "the Apple community", it feels odd to imagine that he
would need to write a formal letter of resignation.

~~~
buckwild
Interestingly, he still seems interested in serving on the board of directors.
This would make me think he is just tired of being CEO and it this play
doesn't have to do with his health.

~~~
awakeasleep
No one really 'beats' pancreatic cancer.

[http://www.pancreatic.org/site/c.htJYJ8MPIwE/b.891917/k.5123...](http://www.pancreatic.org/site/c.htJYJ8MPIwE/b.891917/k.5123/Prognosis_of_Pancreatic_Cancer.htm)

~~~
danudey
As cancer survivors tend to say, the only way you know if you've beaten cancer
is when you die of something else.

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dmerfield
Here’s to the crazy ones, the misfits, the rebels, the troublemakers, the
round pegs in square holes. The ones who see things differently.

~~~
Andys
Are you talking about the sort of people Apple likes to litigate against?

~~~
solutionyogi
He is referring to the Apple Ad.

<http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=USn5t5nQWU8>

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leeskye
"Beyond the products, beyond the profits, Jobs' greater gift was to inspire
untold numbers of current & future entrepreneurs to be the next Steve Jobs" -
Hunter Walk

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OpenAmazing
$76 billion dollars in the bank.

If Apple had announced they were going to spend it all to make Steve well
again, would would have protested?

Somewhere in here is a lesson on the price of immortality.

~~~
AngryParsley
No amount of riches would have saved the life of Prince Leopold, Duke of
Albany. At the time we didn't have the medical technology to treat hemophilia.
Likewise, if the technology existed to make Steve Jobs healthy, it would have
been used by now.

~~~
pavel_lishin
$76 billion dollars can buy a lot of R&D time.

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ac-slater
I'm grateful that Steve managed to sell America on tablets and smart phones
after so many failed attempts by others.

But as someone who likes to take things apart and tinker, I've haven't been a
big fan of Apple in recent years.

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mtgentry
Fuck all those WSJ assholes with their "SELL SELL SELL" comments.

~~~
tptacek
The market will fuck them just fine. Give it a week or two.

~~~
olefoo
Exactly. Given that Apple has performed well while Jobs was out on medical
leave for significant parts of the last three years, it seems as though Apple
can do well without him at the helm. And building an organization that can
survive after the leader departs is a real accomplishment.

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Zakuzaa
Never thought I could be so saddened by a Big Corp. CEO's resignation.

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eekfuh
The way he worded his reasoning, makes it sounds like a health issue. I
honestly hope that this is not the case.

~~~
jianshen
It's unfortunate but I don't think there can be any other reason. It takes a
lot to leave behind one of the most important things you've done in your life.

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ffffruit
A true pioneer of the computing industry - farewell.

His Standford graduation talk, always inspiring:
<http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D1R-jKKp3NA>

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sebkomianos
I really, and I mean REALLY, hope that his biography coming out on November 21
this year and his resignation today have nothing to do with his health.

In any way, thank you very much Steve, I guess you can leave your company
quite happy and satisfied. :)

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bobstobener
The Walt Disney of technology. I will miss him. Get well Steve.

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alexmr
The true test of Steve's legacy will be whether Apple can continue in the
image he molded for it well beyond his departure. Great CEO's are felt for a
long time after they leave.

~~~
charlieflowers
That's a nice sentiment, but I think Steve Jobs has already done more than
enough to establish himself as the Greatest Business Leader of All Time. No
hyperbole, I mean that quite literally and seriously.

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novodam
who knew that he would take that LDAP bug so seriously?

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click170
I'll be interested to see if 10 years from now Apple has stayed true in
hardware quality or if they sink to EMachines-like quality levels.

~~~
Timothee
It's true that the first time Steve Jobs left Apple, it didn't take long for
things to go badly for the company, but I feel that this time around (that is,
since 1997 when he came back as CEO), Steve Jobs surrounded himself with a
great team, making sure that this wouldn't happen again. The fact that Tim
Cook is taking over is a good example of that: someone from inside Apple who
has been around and key to Apple's success for many years.

I'm sure that all the people at the top are very conscious of his legacy and
would most likely often think "what would Steve do?".

~~~
kenjackson
Things were going downhill before Steve left the first time. This is a very
different scenario where they're at the top of their game.

~~~
Timothee
True. To be honest, I know of that part of Apple's history from what I've read
years after the facts. I still have the impression that, though it wasn't
going great when he left, his leaving accelerated the descent.

But my main point is that I feel that it was an important lesson for Steve
Jobs. In the 80s, he had picked an _experienced_ CEO that didn't know anything
about Apple. The current team is all about Apple and I would think Steve Jobs
learned that it's more beneficial to groom internal people to take the helm.

~~~
watmough
A large part of Apple's success is the NeXT heritage in the form of NextStep
that was the sapling that has grown into Tiger, Leopard, Snow Leopard and now
Lion.

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technostx
Steve Jobs is leaving at a good time. Apple is the best company in the world.
I hope he has his health and can enjoy being with his family and taking a
backseat role with Apple.

Enjoy the ride Steve. Thanks for being such an inspiration.

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rooshdi
I certainly hope this doesn't mean Steve's health is declining, but rather
that he and Apple feel the time is right to make a smooth transition towards
assigning Tim Cook as the new CEO. It definitely feels like Steve is sincere
in his belief that now is the right time for him to step down. I just hope he
still has the capacity to creatively inspire Apple in his new role as Chairman
as much as he always has.

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tylerneylon
Whatever happens next, this is the end of a great era for Apple.

~~~
ahsanhilal
Quite the opposite. It is only just the beginning...

~~~
sebkomianos
Jobs is an era himself, the moment he leaves Apple defines the end of that
era, no matter if the years coming turn out to be better for the company.

------
krishna2
I think the biggest thing is that everyone in Apple has a question they can
ask themselves, "What would Steve Jobs do?". And if they can honestly answer
the question and take decisions based on that, Apple with its lead and its
teams and its products will stay ahead for a while to come. [cross posted from
another thread]

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dm8
If he looks back on his company career, he will definitely feel satisfied. 4
products (mac, iPhone, iPod, iPad) that not only changed the world but also
became multi-billion dollar businesses. Not to mention countless other
products (iTunes, App Store, Safari, Final Cut Pro, Apple ][ etc. :)

~~~
flomo
Everyone will remember the industry pioneer, the man who saved a giant
corporation, and the man who revolutionized consumer electronics.

How many people will remember the guy who ran a software company with under
100 employees, who flew around the country hard-selling small engineering
teams on his developer tools? At any time, he could have retired himself to
pasture. But he never did.

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ck2
You know how the news people run the wonderful stories about people's lives
AFTER they are gone? Well I sure wish they'd do it while they are still
around.

As much as I am not an Apple (or Jobs) fan, I still recognize great
achievement when I see it.

Best wishes to him and his family.

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mkramlich
One silver lining to this: he's going out on top.

~~~
ahknight
He never did strike me as a bottom.

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franze
Steve really has a deep-seated need to one-up HP.

