"It's been said that no chief executive is as important to a company's stock price as [Steve] Jobs is to Apple's, and that seems to have been proven today," wrote VentureBeat Wednesday, after Apple announced Jobs will take a health-related leave of absence as CEO. VB says Apple's value lost about $6 billion as shares traded down yesterday. But Scobleizer says you are an idiot if you sell your Apple stock now: "Apple is fine and we'll all buy the next big thing that they do no matter who brings it to us." Maybe fine for now, says Silicon Alley Insider, but "Apple will gradually lose its lead--especially if it doesn't quickly put in place a plan to move forward without Steve." As MacRumors recaps: Jobs had surgery for pancreatic cancer in 2004, looked progressively thinner in public, and canceled his usual keynote at this month's MacWorld Expo, citing a tricky but treatable "hormone imbalance."

Now Jobs has sent fans a letter saying the hormone problems are "more complex that I originally thought" and that he will take a leave until June (full note at MacNN, Gadget Lab and elsewhere). Apple 2.0 has some medical experts suggesting the original cancer might be a culprit. Everyone is pulling for Steve: "Even the most unhinged of Apple bashers will have to admit that the world is a lot more exciting place when Apple is firing on all creative cylinders," says Pogue's Posts. Day-to-day management at Apple will go to COO Tim Cook, who Bloomberg suggests has been running the company for several years. Apple will have at least six months without Jobs on top, and the thing to watch will be how Apple's product cycle goes," says Between The Lines. And there's sure to be ongoing debate about Apple's responsibility to shareholders. Tech Check calls Apple's staggered disclosure Jobs' health situation "tantamount to fiduciary, ethical and financial whiplash."