Will Apple die without Steve Jobs?

We were debating this at the office today. Several of my colleagues felt that with Steve taking a leave of absence that the stock (and in turn the company) will plummet. In my opinion it's not as dire as everyone might think.

First off, yes Steve is definitely the leader of Apple and it is his vision and creativity that have set the tone for the company. Had anyone else been put in his place I don't think that the company would be what it is today. In fact, if history is a teacher, those that tried after he left Apple showed that it cannot be done and only until he returned were they successful.

However, it is not vision alone that lets one be successful. If that were the case instead of typing this on a MacBook Air, I'd be using at NeXTBook Air and talking on an XTphone. When Steve returned I think it was the marriage of his vision, the resources of Apple and the great people there that have led to Apple's success.

If you look at any of the recent keynotes it's not Steve on the stage showing the next great thing, he invites the people who are helping to realize the vision of the products being debuted. It is this creative team that brings us fantastic and "magical" new devices, like the iPhone, iPad, MacBook Air, etc. Although Steve definitely leads the charge on these projects and has the overarching vision, I think his team is certainly capable of bringing to market such great hardware. That's not to say that it won't be a bit slower, but even with the absence of Steve I think they will continue to be market and innovation leaders.

So, in closing I do admit that Steve's medical leave will likely affect the company and there may be a short-term reduction in the stock price, etc., but I think in the long run Apple will be OK (that is provided they don't "Get some dickhead in there that thinks he mini-Steve", Guy Kawasaki in "Welcome to Macintosh"). They probably won't reach the $1,000/share some folks were predicting, but then again I think that was pretty ridiculous.

Get well Steve, we all hope to see you at the helm again soon.

C'mon, you think that Apple will die? Steve Jobs may be creative when it comes to hardware, but believe me, he cannot name products. He wanted the iMac to be called the MacMan. I'm so glad that someone changed the name before it went public.

Steve Wozniak is a talented guy & no doubt responsible for a lot of what it took to launch Apple- however, it is Steve Job's vision & leadership/showmanship (like it or not) that has propelled Apple to where it is today- a truly innovative company that produces exceptionally engineered & aesthetically superior products...Yes, Apple will suffer greatly without him at the helm, sorry to say. It has nothing to do with whether there are many talented people working there, it's just a fact that some people are capable of what Steve Jobs has done & that it's a unique capability. If he has to pull out for health reasons, it will be a very sad day for Apple, indeed. Best wishes, Steve Jobs!

No. Simple as.

Apple is well able to survive without him.

Im sure microsoft will bail them out again if anything happens

Steve Jobs is an icon but there are plenty of great people who still work at Apple and have completely changed the technology industry and who will continue to change it.

Apple is already stating to go down whithout any anouncments

Although Steve Jobs is taking medical leave, he will still be involved in the big decisions at Apple inc. He is just taking a break from the day to day running of the company. Apple should be fine without him running it day to day for a while.

I think Apple will be fine. Jory Ives is still there. The Wonderful Wizard of Woz is still there. It'll be the same without him, and he'll still be making the big decisions. They can get along just fine without him managing day-to-day business. And it's not like he's writing the patches for Mac OS. It'll be fine.

It won't die Tim Cook is doing a excellent job at meetings with Verizon, AT&T etc and apple seem to be doing just fine it's just the fact that many people enjoy Steve Jobs unveiling stuff and he will be missed greatly while he is on medical leave