Steve Jobs a 'national treasure' [news.bbc.co.uk]

To some Steve Jobs is a national treasure and to others he is a visionary of the first order.

These are just some of the views being expressed in Silicon Valley about the Apple co-founder following the news he is taking a medical leave of absence from the company.

Let's hope he gets better... Rest up Steve!

How do you think this will affect Apple's vision in the next six months?

In my opinion, Steve Jobs IS Apple's vision. If he is truly taking a break, then I think they will fall behind in new product development.

You cannot teach the vision and drive that he has.

Jobs is a brilliant showman, business man and entrepreneur. He's known for his perfectionism.

I'm not sure how much technological "vision" he actually has. He may come off as the tech genius, but Wozniak was the original genius behind the early technology and Jobs was the showman/evangelist.

He for sure has the final say in what gets released, and maybe his decisions are what many call "visionary", but he's not coming up with the tech marvels that Apple has become famous for, just deciding which come to market and with what features.

Don't get me wrong, he will be sorely missed and their stock will tank of he dies, but the company will go on with others that he has hand picked.

Good for him, he needs it.

Apple shares slide [news.bbc.co.uk]

Shares in Apple have fallen by more than 4% after chief executive Steve Jobs said was taking medical leave until the end of June.

The Apple boss made the announcement after stock markets had closed on Wednesday, saying his health issues were more complex than he had thought.

The first thing has happened.

It's no surprise the shares have dropped. He is the leading figure at Apple and the face of Apple. 6 months is a long time but he is still going to be involved with major decisions. Lets hope he gets better soon.

What's a hormone imbalance?

Is this their way of saying that he's taking time off for psychiatric issues?

Is this their way of saying that he's taking time off for psychiatric issues?

No, it's not the same thing at all. There are plenty of hormone related problems (e.g., hypo- or hyper- thyroidism to name just two) and they have no bearing on mental health.

He must be extremely ill. This is sad news all around.

The frontman is rarely the brains, that's a simple rule in politics. A good frontman surrounds himself with the biggest brains so I think Apple will do just fine on the technology front without Steve. They'll need him back however to get maximum results at launch time.

Get well soon Steve, apple isn't the same without you.

for his sake I hope he gets better but for Apple it really doesn't matter whether he is there or not... the technology will probably even get better without him there as he's always way too focused on how pretty something is.

I wish him well. He really doesn't look good these days.

I've seen Steve Jobs on stage while he wasn't with Apple: he's got that special thing to fill the stage with thousands in the room watching -even questioning- him. He also likes to take risks while on stage -I'm sure they are calculated-, but it takes guts to do some of the things I've seen him do live with user input from the audience. (In a day and age where Bill Gates would get a BSOD during his -strictly scripted- presentations)

Steve taking a step back from the floodlight won't change Apple's vision, products or processes overnight. Stock market is -as always- overreacting and lacking any mature thinking or long term view.

I think it's a hormonal imbalance caused by pancreatic cancer. It's amazing he survived this long. Few do.

[technology.timesonline.co.uk...]