Steve Jobs: In the Aftermath of Grief

Steve Jobs used Apple to change our world. If he never came back to Apple, we never would have had iPod, iPhone or iPad. Ninety-nine-point-nine percent of the world probably never would have heard of Jonathan Ive, Scott Forstall or Tim Cook. Steve Jobs put these people on the map. He put Apple on the map.

In bold type, that's a big freaking deal.

And now that he's gone, swaths of people -- mainly the most bullish of AAPL bulls -- dilute, discount and forget just how big of a deal all of this is. They do the same to the argument I am making.

At day's end, this pushback does not make me angry. I understand it. As humans we do have a natural desire to have everything return to normal, or at least to a state we feel comfortable with.

Once the initial shock and horror subsides, we would rather not deal with the raw emotion an event like 9/11 triggers. Therefore, we retreat back to our old ways.

In a similar vein, albeit at a less "grand scheme of things" level of importance, many folks who love Apple and want the company's dominance and the stock's rise to continue forever, move on with life once their hearts allow their minds to slowly forget or maybe just view differently an emotional event such as the loss of a man we all felt like we knew in some way, shape or form.

At the end of the day, I guess this does not matter much. It's like a sports debate. Neither reach the magnitude of something as tragic as 9/11 or a loved one falling victim to cancer.

That said, plenty of people have some really important aspects of life hinging on Apple's future as a company and as a stock. Down payments. College educations. A child's wedding. That's some pretty important stuff.

I am not saying you have to agree with my assessment of an Apple without a once-in-a-generation person at the lead. I do think you have to take a critical and clearheaded view of the situation, particularly if you have considerable amounts of money dependent on the outcome of the debate.