Since Steve Jobs went on medical leave from Apple over 6+ months ago, many speculated the grand unveiling of the iPhone 3GS and iPhone OS 3.0 would see his triumphet return to the world of fruited gadgets. For many, their excitement and hope came to a screeching hault when it was Phil Schiller doing the majority of the big talking instead of the crowd favorite, Steve. With the next big event, the iPod announcement coming on September 9th, the rumor machine is again churning out so called stories of insiders saying that Steve will in fact be back and make an appearance at the show. While I am no doubt a fan of Steve’s stage presence and ability to build excitement and hype, Apple has been doing just fine without the iconic figure in the spotlight. Sure these upcoming events seem to be more fun and more spectacular when Steve is up on stage giving the announcements and revealing new products, but as many also speculated, once the initial scare propaganda and stomach pains of Steve-lessness passed, Apple continued on with business as usual. One could even argue that Apple is better without Mr. Jobs in the spotlight as the companies shareholders and stock price are much more steady and consistant — a stark contrast to just one year ago when controversy erupted over Steve’s health sending stock prices on a violent roller coaster ride up and down daily.
So it begs the quesiton, we all know that Apple is bigger than Steve jobs. As much as some may not want to accept it, Apple is prepping itself for the future without him. While I highly doubt he will leave voluntarily through his own wishes or of others in the near term, we are all humans and don’t live forever. Now that the world has seen Apple go through the symbolic action of losing the star player, recouped, and again conducting business as usual with just as much hype and excitement, the next time Steve leaves, either on his own terms or less fortunate natural ones, Apple as a company will carry on more smoothly with less intertuptions.
So while many are kicking up hype over Steve’s return, we can all ask ourselves, “Does it really matter?”
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