Wozniak on Jobs and Apple

Steve Wozniak has spoken out for the first time in the media about his Apple co-founder Steve Jobs’ health and what it might mean for the Cupertino company.

Wozniak made himself available for an interview today with San Jose’s television channel NBC11, rendering what could be considered the ultimate insider’s picture of how Jobs’ absence could affect Apple. First and foremost, Wozniak responded to a question about Jobs’ health by saying, “What he says, we ought to accept.” This apparently referred to the firestorm of questions that came in the wake of announcements by both Jobs and Apple about his health and their plans.

One of the biggest questions on the minds of investors, of course, has been whether or not Apple could continue to turn out winning technical products without Jobs at the helm. Wozniak had the following to say: “The products coming out of Apple, out of tech companies, have a long tech pipeline…they work their way through for a year, year and a half…Those products are in the pipeline, they’re not going to be disturbed.” Wozniak obviously feels that Jobs’ six months leave of absence will not hurt the company greatly.

Perhaps most telling was Wozniak’s revelation of thoughts he had just this morning. Wozniak volunteered, “In the shower this morning I was thinking, well you know he sort of said he’s going to take a leave of absence. To me, you know, if that’s what he says then I’ll take it at face value. He wants a rest. The rest and peacefulness. What do you do when you rest? Sometimes your mind floats. A person like him is probably going to work out better concepts and products and ways the future could be and the way we live our lives better than any individual could. Probably a great, great thing for Apple.”

Wozniak seemed to be at peace with the leave of absence that Jobs is taking and with how  Apple will fare while he is out. His words make excellent sense. Placing too much emphasis on one man at a large operation like Apple may be missing the point. One needs to look at the company and the culture of quality and innovation that has grown up there. Apple will survive and prosper over the next six months and well into the future.

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