Other than that, it was a pretty dull 32-minute speech. Markkula resigning or getting kicked off the Board, that's pretty big news. The Apple board is now a room full of huge egos. Well, two huge egos in the room, Jobs and Ellison. This is a good defense to throw at Justice Department investigators.
Nothing is clear on that point yet.
The immediate answer, the immediate result, is a good thing. Bill Gates has, in effect, blessed Apple, told consumers and the industry and Wall Street that he believes in Apple and that Microsoft will continue to support it, pretty much guaranteeing that Apple is going to be around for awhile longer. That's why Apple's stock has rebounded in the past 24 hours, and that obviously is a good thing. All of a sudden Apple is stable and viable. No, not exactly.