I think this was the smartest way possible to phase out Steve Jobs without it impacting the AAPL stock too much. Last time he took a leave of absence, he announced that he'd be back in six months -- this time, he didn't mention a date at all. That seems like a clear sign to me.

I predict that Jobs won't come back to work but he will continue to offer advice and perhaps aide in negotiations with operators, media companies and the like. Then, after about a year or so, people having realized that the company does fine without Jobs, it'd be safe for Jobs to relinquish his position as CEO to Tim Cook. Jobs can then simply stay on as advisor.

Either that or it might simply be that Steve knew when he would return last time and doesn't this time. Besides that, I doubt that Jobs will completely step down from the helm of Apple until he absolutely has to. I'd imagine he will stay on as Chairman and CEO, but make Cook president and COO so he can take on more of the day-to-day responsibility.

Keep one eye on Steve's participation on the BoD at Disney. If that drops off, that could be an indicator as well.

Well called. I think this exercise is going to be vital to prove to the shareholders that Apple will be different without Jobs, but be just fine.

I'm guessing that the next CEO will be an iCEO just like Jobs was, untill they have a few runs on the board.

Publicly announced succession plans give you no upside and lots of downside. Just ask Brett Favre and Jay Leno.

Given their history of secrecy, I'm not surprised in the slightest.

They probably have, but like most things in Apple, it's kept "secret". One of the funds request that Apple provide such succession plan. The board says such plan made public would allow companies to try and recruit the successor.

Institutional investors love predictability. But the company needs to be nimble and avoid making unnecessary commitments.