Apple Inc (AAPL)

[NewHerb]

Bull... it wouldn't surprise me if the rumors are partially true. It would be very easy for Steve Jobs to make an appearance and show the flag in someway. Make an appearance at a store opening, benefit, or anything.

The man is so arrogant and controlling I doubt he'll show his face and probably doesn't wish to encourage reacting to any and all who wish to jerk him around. He has earned his eccentricities with incredibly good taste in gadget design and use.

But, lets not imply any unwarranted virtues to him or the company. In the last stock option dating mess, he was awfully close to the rot.

A Jobsless Apple will carry enough momentum to do well for a time. What scares me most is Microsoft has been hiring raw IQ for years and can't get away from brute force. Everything they do looks like it is a result of throwing mud on the wall and seeing if anything sticks and occasionally running over the landscape with a bulldozer and tiding up with a chainsaw. Jobs has some unique ability that a company like Microsoft with 90k really, really smart people can't match in producing 'lickably' neat products and services.

Some of us on this board can to a reasonable degree separate our love of the products from the company. At this point in history, both are doing well.