Comments on: Apple prepares for six months without Jobs

It's impossible to say Apple won't miss its iconic leader while he recuperates until June. But, for the most part, it should be business as usual in Cupertino; at least for now.

[nicmart]

And no matter what happens, Krazit will be on the sidelines brown-nosing and cheerleading for Apple.

For chrissakes, can't CNET put an evenhanded reporter on the Apple beat? It would be so much more interesting to read. As it stands, the site may as well just publish Apple press releases.

[AppleSuxLeo]

I agree...Apple gets way too much press. The Pre is so much more advanced than the iPhone it is being called the "God phone"

[JuggerNaut]

@AppleSuxLeo

Dude, Microsoft gets WAY more press than it deserves (both positive and negative). I mean, look around, the spin doctors are burning the midnight oil all over Windows 7 (Windows Vista the sequel).

[scott2400]

Hey nic and leo - you obviously LOVE Krazit - you read him religiously. Got much time on your hands?

[scott2400]

Hahahaha - The "God" phone?? As in, God, why did it take so long for Palm to come out with something that looks/acts just like the iPhone (only less so)? Or, God, why did they pick Sprint, one of the worst service providers around? You guys spend WAY too much time on this stuff - I mean, it's a PHONE. Or is this the extent of your intellectual capabilities?

[Vegaman_Dan]

I find it humorous to see people blasting away at Tom Krazit on any Apple related news claiming he's biased towards Apple on every piece, while yet others complain that he's being paid under the table by Microsoft to bash them as well.

He's pro and con on Apple topics. Sounds pretty objective to me, like a reporter should be. People will always disagree, but don't shoot the messenger here, folks.

[Perry_Clease]

Apple will be fine. Tim Cook ran things the last time around and during that time Apple was, and continues to be, a success.

[Penguinisto]

Yep.

Makes a perfect opportunity to pick up some stock today...

[Vegaman_Dan]

Penguinisto:

i'd wait a week or two at least. As of this morning, the price is still going down. Wait for it to stabliize a bit more and find the bottom price before you invest if you don't want to lose your money.

The stock was just downgraded by one of the leading analysts firms:

"RBC Capital Markets cut its rating on Apple's stock to "underperform" from "sector perform." RBC also cut its price target on the stock back to $70 US from $125 US."

SOURCE: http://www.cbc.ca/money/story/2009/01/15/applestock.html

That $70 price means there's still some room to go before this will become a stock to warrant buying again according to the experts. That may happen quickly though, so keep that checkbook handy. :)

[Penguinisto]

You may want to update your data - it's been climbing since 7:30am PST - before you typed your missive. Glad I set my orders early this morning, dude... ;)

ref: http://finance.yahoo.com/echarts?s=AAPL#chart1:symbol=aapl;range=5d;indicator=volume;charttype=line;crosshair=on;ohlcvalues=0;logscale=on;source=undefined

[joetesta70]

It's time for $TEVE JOB$ to reflect on his life and his mortality, the greedy $OB. He's done nothing significant philanthropically whereas Gates, Dell, Brin, etc have all given back.

[xfalcon900x]

Huh? Steve Jobs earns an annual salary of $1 from Apple so I wouldn't call that greedy. Speaking as a former employee of Apple I can say Steve is a man of morality and generosity. Did everybody forget about the tens of thousands of free iphones given away? and what about $250 rebate coupons for anybody just buying an iphone? Yeah Gates and Balmer would of totally done that with the zune or xbox.. psshh

[AppleProLeo]

@xfalcon900x

hahahha man I hope you're joking. I love Jobs but man Apple "giving" away iPhones to it's employees or $250 rebate in NOT something to compare to philanthropy. Apple will have made sure those iPhones they "gave away" to employees are tax deducted, the only thing they would lose out on will be that small extra sum of money you saw on your pay slip two months after you got your iPhone to cover the tax you were deducted for the free iPhone - in short Apple paid your tax on that free iPhone.

Beside though it was Jobs that made the call to give away the iPhone it sure hell did not come out of his pocket.

[solitare_pax]

Lets see - Steve Jobs has given us PIXAR to help lift our spirits when times are tough, and APPLE, to provide something for the second and third best companies of the world to try to measure up to.

Face it - Left to his own devices, Bill Gates would still be churning out MS-DOS if Apple hadn't kept on upping the ante and providing something for him to copy off and work against.

Now if the majority of IT guys would just get off their extended honeymoon with Windows 95, all would be right in the world.

[Penguinisto]

"2. So whenever you give to the poor, don't blow a trumpet before you like the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets so that they will be praised by people. I tell you with certainty, they have their full reward! 3. But when you give to the poor, don't let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, 4so that your giving may be done in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you."

Matthew 6:2-3
ref: http://isv.scripturetext.com/matthew/6.htm

[Vegaman_Dan]

Using $'s for S is rather... childish and invalidates any merit your comments may have had.

If you want to discuss things like an adult, please leave that sort of thing out.

Thanks.

[MSSlayer]

Gates is a fraud.

All of his "philanthropy" was simply for marketing reasons. His "gifts" almost always have hooks.

You can't lie, cheat, steal, and break the law on a daily basis and be anything but a scumbag.

[NintendoPurist]

@ MSSlayer

http://www.gmsp.org/

This paid my wife's way through college... Gates can have my marketing, he wrote a check for us to the tune of 80k+ in loans.

[Penguinisto]

I don't see Apple even slowing down in comparison to their competition while Jobs takes time off. It's obviously grown like crazy before while Jobs was undergoing cancer treatment, so I sincerely doubt that anything will really change now...

[sanenazok]

Yeah right which is why the stock took a beating on a rumor that he had an itch he couldn't scratch. It's already under $80 in after hours...basically wiping out 3 years of gains. Basically, this man *is* the company and there's no way around it. It's his fault that things are this way, but I still wish him the best. I don't invest in tech stocks. Financial sector all the way for me baby!

[Penguinisto]

So tell us how AAPL did back when Jobs was being treated for cancer...

[Vegaman_Dan]

Actually Apple stock went down during Steve's time off for his cancer treatment, but rebounded when he returned. Thanks for bringing that up.

There is a difference from the last time to this one- Apple was open and honest about Steve's condition that time. This time they have been very closed mouthed about it, keeping it secret from their own investors and leading them on. They first denied the health conditions existed, then dismissed them, then admitted belatedly that it might be a slight cold, then... this. It doens't do much for investor confidence when the company isn't being honest or open about the condition of their CEO when directly asked about it.

Apple's recent behavior has aienated a lot of people. Times have changed.

The stock is likely to go back up again. That's the nature of long term IT stocks. Who wouldn't want to go back in time and buy Microsoft stock when it was first offered? Google? All of the long term companies are going to be pretty solid in the end.


By the way, Pengunisto... you don't have to keep apologizing for Apple like this. Just let theim stand on their own without your help. You don't have to defend their actions or make escuses. Just let it go. Their actions speak for themselves far better than you or anyone else can. You are getting far too worked up over this. Take some time off and relax.

[Penguinisto]

@Dan: I'd love to see some evidence for that one... Jobs was out for nearly a year during that time.

And no, I'm not apologizing for Apple; Just pointing out simple but rather obvious truths that some folks tend to ignore in their rush to give witness to their fanboyism. ;)

[AppleSuxLeo]

That could be arranged to do to you , boy ;

[ckh1272]

The trolls come out at night!! The trolls come out at niiii-iiight!!

[FastGM3]

God Bless Steve Jobs! Granted Apple will survive. However, there is no denying what Jobs did to turn around Apple. Investors need to know Apple is on the right track! Thanks to Mr. Jobs they are surrounded by talent, and there is no reason to give up. Probably the biggest mistake Steve Jobs did was not bowing out gracefully a couple of years ago. I think if he had stepped down but remained on the board, the investors wouldn't over react as they are and will do as time goes by.

[CBSTV]

Judging by some of these foolish remarks, there are many ignorant and insensitive people in the world -- or at least they are attracted to this web page.

[Penguinisto]

It's all they have left (esp. with their idol MSFT faltering in recent times like it has...)

[Vegaman_Dan]

Penguinisto:

Good one! I love a good joke in the morning and boy, are you ever one. :)

[Penguinisto]

Hiya Dan!

Tell us again where MSFT's Windows marketshare is now compared to where it was three years ago, then get back to me. ;)

[ecotopian--2008]

The comments on this page show that some people are truly a waste of oxygen. Steve Jobs is a creative genius has changed the world again & again. I wonder what any of these ignorant haters have accomplished lately? CNet should moderate comments, because as it stands, they are defacing its web pages. Do we really need to know what every little moron with an attitude thinks?

[actualtiger]

Everything Jobs has done is derivative. The likes of Nokia, Ericsson, Motorola, NTT and Vodaphone put mobile phones into every pocket, Microsoft put a PC on every desk, Xerox did the most of the early work on WIMP interfaces, Kane Kramer invented the MP3 player decades before Jobs hired him and the first MP3 player was the MPMan from SaeHan Information Systems.

Jobs is a good appliance designer, a good motivator, and a good marketeer; but a genius, I think not and as for changing the world -- I don't think so.

[Speiler9]

@ Actualtiger - What is it that marks out the people in the lead in this world? The arrows in their back...

[Perry_Clease]

"Everything Jobs has done is derivative."

That applies to everyone

[armen2772]

i think before criticizing anybody like Jobs the readers of CNET should ask themselves 'what have I done in my life that changed the world?' or 'would I be remembered by what I have achieved?' . The honest answers are most of the cases are 'nothing!' and 'no I won't'. Just remember that!

[john55440]

If Jobs doesn't come back, Apple's biggest loss will be his Reality Distortion Field. That's something that no other (future) Apple CEO can duplicate. Jobs has the media eating out of his hands.

[ppgreat]

Apple will be fine. They are weathering the economic downturn better than most tech companies.

In the short term, the pipeline is primed for quad-core iMacs and Minis. Snow Leopard is right around the corner.

Tim Cook has run the company for many years now. Steve will still have input on every major decision. He just won't be in the office every day. Kind of like how Pixar was run if you remember.

[MaggieRed]

Some of you people are sick mofos. I don't think God will help you in the end.

[trouble001]

wow..i guess that's it for Apple. oh well

[MSSlayer]

Another reason why greedy morons on wall street shouldn't have any say in the operations of a company.

It is not like Steve Jobs personally designs all these devices and writes the software.

[Renegade Knight]

Maybe they will fix some design flaws. Like adding a second mouse button to systems. Or upgrade the buttonboard to a key board on their laptops. Here I thought Apple hated buttons and thats all the laptops have is buttons.

[Penguinisto]

Err, you may want to see this: http://www.apple.com/mightymouse/ it comes standard with the desktop non-Mini Macs nowadays.

[sylmarino]

Apple without Jobs would be a sad day for design and innovation.

[montex66]

It sure sounds like cnet wishes Steve Jobs would hurry up and die so they can write flowery eulogies about him.

[NeilFiertel]

How will Apple fare if Steve Jobs steps down? If they maintain the incredible customer service, technical help via telephone or in the Apple Store, they will keep growing just as their products will continue to more than compete with the crap supposedly in competition. Having had Macs since 1994 I can speak from some authority as I work on these machines twelve to fourteen hours a day. I have had one OSX crash in all that time. Period..I work on files that are up to four gigabytes open on the desktop...no problems, no worms, no virii and no hassle. I had one machine purchased used. I was cheated and the machine was DOA. I contacted Apple on a Saturday afternoon. I explained my problem. I told them it was likely out of warrantee. It was but was never registered so in spite of all of this I got over an hour of tech help. It was a hardware issue and the tech help arranged for me to bring it to the local Apple Store at a given hour where I was met by the concierge who carried the machine in..We are talking about a Quad G5...a monster. Apple said they would repair it for free...remember out of warrantee. Two weeks later they told me that in spite of their efforts it has some serious problem which was not worth repairing. They GAVE me a brand new in the box 8 core Mac Pro no questions asked...Can you believe this?? This is Apple and anyone who does not believe that such a reputation for great customer service ought to talk to me. By the way, being polite on the phone and thanking those that one talks to does not hurt. Mr. Jobs made this company turn around and rest assured that such customer relations is not a random act of kindness..It is company policy. Those that have a sport at attacking Apple products never owned them, I suggest. I would own nothing else. Mr. Jobs, get well and thanks for the great Apple service. I have no doubt that you indirectly did this for me.