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Apple Inc. (APPL) has seen the brief leave of absence from it’s CEO, Steve Jobs. Founder, visionary, and the force behind Apple,  the CEO and Chairman of the company found himself victim to health issues; his temporary departure from Apple has been seen by many as both a good—and bad—sign. This episode has been viewed by a lot of people as two sides of a coin; that Apple does have a successor in mind, and that Apple lets their top staff run the company for a while for more experience. It also helps to know that Steve Jobs can and will take time off the hook to regain his health should it get any worse.

However, without Jobs in charge Apple has lost something that had proven to be quite decisive in terms of competitiveness; Jobs’s charisma. Steve’s charm is one of the reasons that Apple exists today. The company has been one of the noisiest since Jobs’s return to Apple in 1996, making one achievement after another. From the first iMac in 1998 to the iPhone 3G released last year, this company has seized the industry’s attention through highly anticipated announcements.

Now what’s the problem? After Steve Jobs took his leave, Apple has released new, totally exceptional products—but without the pomp. Just to compare, take a look at the “Let’s Rock” event that Apple hosted in September of last year. This event saw the introduction of iTunes 8 (and the Genius functionality), iPod Nano 4th Generation(”Nano-chromatic”), a new iPod Touch (2nd Generation), new earbuds, and new iPhone software. While it is quite a hefty list, it is, in comparison to products released in Q1 2008, relatively insignificant. The new Mac Mini and iPod Shuffle, for example, would already deserve their own “Special Event”. And with the new Safari 4, new iMac, Mac Pro refresh, these definitely can be grouped into an “anticipated” special event that introduces them.

Then why didn’t they?

Steve Jobs ain’t there to stir up the crowd. (Strictly my opinion…)

But then what else can it be? Tim Cook or Phil Schiller not up to it?