To answer the question: "wtf just happened."

If you have ever seen the TV show "House" [1] its the part where each doctor makes a different diagnosis and Dr. House keeps trying to fit all the pieces together to get to the real issue.

Clearly Color is in a state of transition, I know of no company with an absent CEO, and no COO, that are stable. The tech "press" is in a feeding frenzy trying to be the first to 'diagnose' the cause and the eventual effect. Apparently its a solid bullet point in one's blogume' to say "I broke the <company> story."

[1] The TV series House as written up by Wikipedia : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/House_(TV_series)

So...color has lupus?

Sarcoidosis

unless you're a magician played by Steve Valentine

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/You_Don%27t_Want_to_Know

In the upcoming House movie, they find out that every disease is Lupus.

I'm more interested in what this story says about HN? How often does HN get wrapped up in personal stories without hearing the other side? Or get wrapped up in virtually meaningless drama like this such that we have THREE such major "stories" throughout the day distracting from things of legitimate interest or value to "hackers" (or their bossses, etc).

I pay about as much attention to these stories as I do the stories that volley back and forth on peoples' blogs and the front page of HN.

Though I must say, three in one day was enough to troll me into both coming here and even commenting a smidgen of frustration/surprise.

Relevant > http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=4666978

This isn't the HN effect it's the future of news unfortunately.

(midnight) "Color to acquire Apple"

Someone on the board of Apple is a limited partner of investors in Color?

That timeline actually gives you a really good description of "what just happened", and for several values of "just." :D