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Steve Jobs Resigns As Apple CEO 1027

An anonymous reader writes "The title says it all, really; Steve Jobs has resigned as the CEO of Apple, and would like to become Chairman of the Board. Reasons are not specified, but his declining health of recent years is a likely candidate. He's named Tim Cook as his successor."
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Steve Jobs Resigns As Apple CEO

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  • by arcite ( 661011 ) on Wednesday August 24, 2011 @06:55PM (#37198194)
    Well on one hand, its better to do these things while everyone is still healthy and of sound mind. It's a sad day for sure, but on a positive note, Steve has set a high bar for Apple to maintain. Combine this news with the fact that Steve's official BIO has been pushed up to be released sooner than expected...it doesn't look good. Be well Steve!
    • Not this time... ;(
    • Re: (Score:3, Insightful)

      by ge7 ( 2194648 )
      He mostly set it in design. But realistically, he took the whole open platforms and devices to really bad direction with the closeness of iOS and maybe upcoming Macs. Would you really want that for computer world?
      • by bonch ( 38532 ) * on Wednesday August 24, 2011 @07:01PM (#37198334)

        Let's be blunt. Only nerds on tech sites worry about "closeness." They're a tiny niche that wants to keep their nerd playgrounds around. The vast majority simply wants good products that work.

        • Only nerds on tech sites worry about "closeness."

          Probably because PCs (yes, this includes Apple's line of computers, sorry fanbois) are so widespread and people still hold significant control over their own computation. If all computers were like the iPad, you can bet that more people would care about openness and all the things that gave rise to the PC revolution in the first place.

        • by mjwx ( 966435 ) on Wednesday August 24, 2011 @08:48PM (#37199836)

          Let's be blunt. Only nerds on tech sites worry about "closeness."

          Only aircraft engineers care about mechanical safety.

          That doesn't mean it's not important.

          The average technophobe doesn't worry about openness because they already have it and take it for granted, much like the average airline passenger takes for granted that the plane their flying on wont fall apart. What they dont know, nor want to know is that a lot of work goes on in the background by very dedicated people to ensure that everyone can enjoy the boon of openness or safe flights.

          Shove the average person into a world of "closedness" and they'll start caring about it quick smart.

          • I feel that the "mechanical safety is to aircraft engineers argument as openness is to average people" argument is a bit lacking. Most average people care about the safety of the aircraft that they fly in, not just aircraft engineers. The average person might not know how it works, why it works, or what it takes to fix it. The average person just wants it to work (which is the same argument a lot of people make about Macs / iProducts ... "they just work"). Shoot, you could almost argue that aircraft eng
        • is the internet. which is open.

          if you want closed, go back to Prodigy and Compuserve.

      • Functionality > philosophy

      • by ToasterMonkey ( 467067 ) on Wednesday August 24, 2011 @08:53PM (#37199876) Homepage

        He mostly set it in design. But realistically, he took the whole open platforms and devices to really bad direction with the closeness of iOS and maybe upcoming Macs. Would you really want that for computer world?

        What a silly question.

        Open systems need competition from closed systems just as closed systems need competition from open systems.

        A complete lack of direction cannot be the only way forward, and lack of diversity is not healthy. You need both.

        • by Sun ( 104778 )

          What a silly question.

          Open systems need competition from closed systems just as closed systems need competition from open systems.

          Open systems ensure competition even in a world with no closed systems. Of course, to keep things completely competitive you actually need open source, and open systems might not be enough, but closed systems don't enter into the equation.

          Shachar

    • Re: (Score:2, Insightful)

      by dreamchaser ( 49529 )

      Why exactly is the resignation of any CEO, of any company, 'sad' news? I don't wish him ill, but I don't see how this is sad at all. Times change, people change, employees (yes even CEO's) come and go. It's just business.

      • Re: (Score:3, Insightful)

        by Anonymous Coward

        I think it's probably seen as sad in this case because it's assumed that if Jobs has felt the need to resign, it is because his health is deteriorating. Probably terminally.

      • by sribe ( 304414 )

        Why exactly is the resignation of any CEO, of any company, 'sad' news? I don't wish him ill, but I don't see how this is sad at all. Times change, people change, employees (yes even CEO's) come and go. It's just business.

        Because in this case it means it his health is deteriorating.

      • by vux984 ( 928602 ) on Wednesday August 24, 2011 @07:09PM (#37198476)

        but I don't see how this is sad at all.

        The most probable reason for this particular change is that Steve's health is failing; and this announcment is a proxy for "Guys, I'm not going to be ok."

      • by arcite ( 661011 ) on Wednesday August 24, 2011 @07:09PM (#37198492)
        Steve Jobs is the embodiment of the American Dream, there are scant few individuals on this earth than can attest to the scale of success that he has achieved. Others can better write platitudes of the specifics than I; however it is always a sad day when a great leader is forced to step down, especially when they are at the height of their success. Such is the human condition I suppose.
        • by sg3000 ( 87992 ) <<sg_public> <at> <mac.com>> on Wednesday August 24, 2011 @07:44PM (#37199022)

          Steve Jobs is the embodiment of the American Dream, there are scant few individuals on this earth than can attest to the scale of success that he has achieved.

          Jobs is arguably the best business leader of our era.

          He co-founded the hugely successful Apple out of the proverbial garage, got fired from his own company, went off and started NeXT, bought Pixar from George Lucas and turned it into something big. At the same time, he came back to Apple, made a huge hit with the iMac, then the iPod, then the iPhone, and now the iPad. Now Apple one of the most successful companies around. I'm not sure if any other business leader's accomplishments could beat that story.

          What impresses me is, as others have said, he actually cared about the products his company made. He wanted to make a "dent in the universe" and he actually did. He didn't do it by managing to costs or other things that business schools tell people to do, but by putting products and the user experience first.

        • Do you want to resign at the top or the bottom? If popularity and public perception of you is important, you'd say the top. You'll want your successes to define you, not your failures. You'll want others to know you at your best, not at your worst.

          Alas, while Steve Jobs certainly knows all of this, I think his resignation may be more due to his health than any matter of perception. Being CEO is a stressful job, and having remained as CEO all this time was not really doing his already-unwell body any favors.

      • by MarcoAtWork ( 28889 ) on Wednesday August 24, 2011 @07:10PM (#37198506)

        do you really think he'd resign if his health was 100%? The fact that he's stepping down is definitely worrying, it's not likely he's stepping down to go work for another company or doing something else.

        And no, I don't know him in person, but I definitely respect him and his accomplishments, and wish him well, and I'm sure a lot of others are feeling the same way.

      • by Vancorps ( 746090 ) on Wednesday August 24, 2011 @07:10PM (#37198516)
        If Apple history is any indication, tough times are ahead for Apple as they've only been successful in the past under Jobs direction. That might be why it's considered sad news by some. Me, I'm more curious about how things will change with a different CEO.
      • by antifoidulus ( 807088 ) on Wednesday August 24, 2011 @07:16PM (#37198618) Homepage Journal
        Because unfortunately Steve was one of the few CEOs of big American Corps that actually gave 2 shits about the product that his company made. Outside of a few others(Google being chief among them), the modern American CEO couldn't really give a flying fuck about what the company actually makes(see Balmer, Fiorna). They are there to absorb as much money as they can while doing nothing but playing financial games with the company's balance sheets. Love him or hate him, you cannot deny that Steve was genuinely passionate about technology.
        • by medcalf ( 68293 ) on Wednesday August 24, 2011 @07:27PM (#37198796) Homepage
          I am pretty optimistic about Apple, though, in the immediate post-Jobs era. The reason is because Jobs didn't just drive the development of great products; he also developed great people. The entire top leadership of Apple, not least Tim Cook who will replace him, follows and contributes to Jobs' philosophy on product design, markets to jump into, how to use the company's resources to secure strategic future technologies, when and why to kill your baby. In other words, it's at least a good 5 or 10 years before Apple's management culture starts to change significantly, meaning that Apple will continue to drive in the direction they've been going since Jobs came back in the late 1990s. As someone who really likes that direction, towards a simplified and thus more broadly useful application of technology, that makes me content.
      • I wouldn't use OSX if you paid me (though I would if the only alternative were Windows), and I loathe the whole iPlayskool aesthetic and hype, BUT

        1) Steve Jobs is a human being and this does not bode well for his health, and
        2) In an economy which now rewards people with fortunes for manipulating other peoples' money and creating absolutely nothing useful, Jobs has been a true visionary with the guts to actually build things that people can use. He's a rare bird in these parts, possibly the last of a breed.

      • by bonch ( 38532 ) *

        Maybe because not only was he a hugely influential person in the computer age, he is also suffering from health issues?

      • by Bobartig ( 61456 ) on Wednesday August 24, 2011 @08:22PM (#37199522)

        It's not Carly Fiorina coming in and fucking up HP for a few years and leaving - Steve Jobs started the company, worked there ~10 years, left for a few, then came back and was CEO for 14 more. No other CEO on the planet is so closely associated with their company. As a pillar of the tech industry, his input drove the state of the art forward. It is a loss for the tech world when any big name leaves for good. By the way, this website is called Slashdot, and its a place for "News for Nerds," you know, people who generally care about technology.

    • by Anne_Nonymous ( 313852 ) on Wednesday August 24, 2011 @07:06PM (#37198426) Homepage Journal

      >>...it doesn't look good

      Don't worry. When he dies, Jobs will become more powerful than you could possibly imagine.

      • He already did the Obi-Wan Gandalf Jesus thing, remember, when he came back to Apple and saved their bacon after they fired him.

        Jobs proved once and for all that F. Scott Fitzgerald was full of shit when he said something to the effect of "There are no second acts in American success stories," but it's pretty clear there isn't going to be a third, at least not this time.

        • by vakuona ( 788200 )

          There has already been a third act, Apple 2. Act 2 was Pixar, you know, the little animation company. One could even argue that NeXT was another act, although that could be seen as part of the third act.

  • So... (Score:5, Funny)

    by NecroPuppy ( 222648 ) on Wednesday August 24, 2011 @06:55PM (#37198202) Homepage

    Will the Turtleneck of Power be passed on to Cook?

    Or will it instead be enshrined in a glass case at Apple HQ?

  • Take it easy... didn't want to work himself into an early grave.

  • by MrDoh! ( 71235 ) on Wednesday August 24, 2011 @06:56PM (#37198218) Homepage Journal

    is rumoured to have Flash, USB ports, AND a 3.5" floppy disk.

  • it usually takes weeks for news to get here, erm Slashdot may be turning a point multiple stories withing minutes of happening the last few days

  • by darthservo ( 942083 ) on Wednesday August 24, 2011 @06:57PM (#37198256)
    I felt a great disturbance...as if millions of fanboys suddenly cried out in terror...
    • I'll admit, this shocked me.
    • by interkin3tic ( 1469267 ) on Wednesday August 24, 2011 @08:39PM (#37199718)
      No exaggeration. This is one of the only tech news stories that I've actually heard about IRL instead of the internet. Someone actually looked at me on the sidewalk and said "Oh my God, Steve Jobs retired!"

      I said "FIRST PSOT!!!!" and was trying to think how to use HTML formatting to link to a relevant XKCD before I realized it was a conversation and not slashdot. But it's okay, I'm safely back in Mom's basement now.
  • by BBTaeKwonDo ( 1540945 ) on Wednesday August 24, 2011 @06:58PM (#37198266)
    We'll miss you, Mr. Jobs. Wish you good health.
    Sincerely,
    Apple fans everywhere
  • Apple will continue. They still have strong leadership, Jobs will be chairman, and progress will continue. It's not like they're suddenly going to stop making Macbooks, iPhones, and iPads.

    If I were into buying stocks, I'd watch to see whether APPL takes much of a dive, and get ready to buy.

  • The end of an era (Score:4, Insightful)

    by mailman-zero ( 730254 ) on Wednesday August 24, 2011 @07:00PM (#37198296) Homepage
    This is the end of an era. I can only hope that his health is not too bad, but I have my concerns.
  • by dreadlord76 ( 562584 ) on Wednesday August 24, 2011 @07:02PM (#37198358)
    Even though I don't qualify as an Apple Fanboy, Steve's impact on the world of computing is felt everyday by all of us.
    While Xerox PARC did the original GUI environment, and invented little things like the Mouse, Steve's vision with the Mac changed the computer world. It made computer accessible, influencing Windows and other OSs to make their system accessible to the masses.
    Apple, Next, Pixar, Mac, iPod, iPhone, iPads.
    I believe Steve made the world better.
    • by tmp31416 ( 1460143 ) on Wednesday August 24, 2011 @08:03PM (#37199274)

      not again...

      NO.

      Xerox PARC *DID NOT* "do" the original GUI environment. Doug Engelbart (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Douglas_Engelbart) did it at SRI.
      Xerox PARC *DID NOT* invent the mouse. Engelbart did it also at SRI.

      People overestimate PARC's importance, downright ignore Engelbart and underestimate Apple's contributions (when they don't say that Jobs & co. "stole" from Xerox)... this cheeses me off royally. /rant

  • by Kittenman ( 971447 ) on Wednesday August 24, 2011 @07:07PM (#37198438)
    Put your feet up, go fishing, read some books. Lord knows you've earned it. And nope, I'm not an Apple man - but I recognize hard work when I see it.
  • by account_deleted ( 4530225 ) on Wednesday August 24, 2011 @07:07PM (#37198446)
    Comment removed based on user account deletion
  • by QuatermassX ( 808146 ) on Wednesday August 24, 2011 @07:12PM (#37198558) Homepage

    I'm rather saddened by this news. Jobs' attention to detail and intolerance of crap amazes and inspires me.

    It's simple, really. We should all have such high standards, perhaps then the world would be full of more exquisite and useful things.

  • by recharged95 ( 782975 ) on Wednesday August 24, 2011 @08:06PM (#37199316) Journal

    We know why he resigned (health). Competition will continue as normal, Apple will do its thing as a company. Business as usual.

    The contributions, whether agreeable as successes or failures amounts to a wealth of experience that he has given to the tech community deserves recognition.

    I think all we can say is "thanks Steve, good luck, and live well, you deserve it."

  • by mbourgon ( 186257 ) on Wednesday August 24, 2011 @08:07PM (#37199328) Homepage

    End of an era. I started with an Apple ][+ and am typing this on my iPad 2. These definitely been ups and downs, and I still love the old NeXTStep OS.

        On the plus side, it looks like the short term (next 1-2 years) is taken care of.
    iPhone5-cross carrier
    iPad3
    The new paradigm machines due out later this year (not sure what this is besides an A5 ultralight/ultra cheap)
    AppleTV becomes a game console.

    Live well, Steve. You may have been pompous and arrogant, but you cared about the design.

  • by frostilicus2 ( 889524 ) on Wednesday August 24, 2011 @08:10PM (#37199364)

    Best CEO ever.

  • Not so fast... (Score:4, Informative)

    by rocket rancher ( 447670 ) <themovingfinger@gmail.com> on Wednesday August 24, 2011 @08:11PM (#37199392)
    Apple itself announced that Jobs has been elected chairman of the board.

A morsel of genuine history is a thing so rare as to be always valuable. -- Thomas Jefferson

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