Ever since his sickness and consequent declining health, i can confidently bet Jobs regretted forging Apple's image around himself or rather allowing Shareholders and Consumers to believe that Apple was run by a one-man army. I'm pretty sure Steve initially planned on sticking around as CEO a lot longer until he was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer. Don't read too much into Apple's dip in share; it was inevitable with Steve's resignation. Share prices will correct itself over the next few weeks. Instead think longterm and understand that his resignation can and most probably will trigger a negative chain of events for Apple in the forseeable future. Is the dip in shares the first domino piece in the line? Every product has its fair share of flaws including Apple's. Rival competitors, industry analysts, gadget guru's, technology experts and consumers are now left with the impression that all of the flaws, even the tiniest of them, that will most certainly be present in Apple's products launched following todays events can be blamed on the fact that Jobs did not oversee development of the said products. Apple's board now has the tough job of reinventing Apple's image, one that doesn't revolve around the man himself, Steve Jobs and ensuring that the next ingenius product that Apple bears isn't a problem child. What we will next witness is the true power of suggestion as word spreads of Jobs' resignation and everyone begins to question Apple's future. Even as i type this comment, i realize that i am in a small way contributing to the suggestion that Apple will wither away without Steve. If you ever read an article titled along the lines "What killed Apple?" or if someone asks you something similar in the distant future, then remember it was Pancreatic Cancer.
