[Don Scioli] "I sure hope Apple can continue to "think different" without him"
I think this is (perhaps rather obviously) a huge challenge for the people at Apple. Do they ask themselves, "What would Steve do?" Do they start doing things they've wanted to do, but never did or could do under Steve? How will the loss of Steve change Apple?
One interesting change I noticed was Apple's decision to start paying a dividend to share holders. If I have my dates correct, Apple started paying a stock dividend in 1987, right after Jobs was forced out. They stopped in 1995, right before Jobs came back in 1996. Now, they've started up again in 2012.
http://investor.apple.com/dividends.cfm
Perhaps there's no correlation.
Although several of Apple's top executives hold a great deal of Apple stock, which vests over a 10 year period. Paying dividends usually results in more interested buyers, which usually drives the stock price up. Having executive compensation based on stock price is good for shareholders. But it might not be good for the future of the company, it's products, it's people and it's consumers.
Either way, we will find out.
