Apple is a company that is very clearly in need of an world class succession plan. It needs to be public and it needs to be endorsed by Steve himself while he is still seen as healthy and in control. Apple needs it more than most because of Steve's rock star status.

If Jobs has to step down before this is in place, I don't think Apple will do very well, both when it comes to stock value and product lines.

Holy shit! That can't happen! Maybe if I buy an iPhone it won't happen!

You do realize that, on the day Apple announces such a plan, there will be a massive panic sell and the stock price will crash.

Everyone will assume that the public announcement of such a plan is a signal that Jobs is eyeing the door -- the guy isn't obligated to run Apple for the rest of his life and he certainly doesn't need the money.

If I were Apple I would create a world-class succession plan, inform the chosen successors and the board, and then lock the plan in that vault where they've been keeping the iPhone 3G.

So the people who could replace Steve are all Steve-mitations who go through the same motions, but don't actually fulfill the same role, at least if you judge by the people who come out to help with the Stevenotes. Example: Scott Forstall is crap on stage. Why? He has that stiff "I don't get to decide what I say / I am actually a tape recorder reading from Apple marketing copy" aura.

It's exactly the same problem as in that article a while ago about why Disney stopped innovating: when Walt and all the geniuses were gone, all the people who could have replaced them were instead off in places where they actually had an opportunity to do their own thing.

Walt Disney died in 1964. Disney hardly stopped innovating then.

If I were an Apple shareholder I would be very concerned to ensure that a healthy Apple is not dependent on any one person, not even Steve Jobs.