Who will take on Job's job?

Steve Jobs has been the foundation of Apple's ever expanding horizons. He founded the company and since then has been the whole and soul of the organization. Since the release of the first Mac, Jobs has been a visionary, always providing the market with more than they ever expected.

Whether it be the Mac, the iPad, the iPhone or the iPod, Apple has repeatedly shown nothing but excellence. Jobs has been present at almost every product launch and has always enhanced Apple's goodwill in the market. Overtime, he has become the symbol of Apple itself.

It is no secret that Steve Jobs has been suffering from a series of ailments, may of which are known and unknown to public. He has already recovered from a serious bout of liver cancer and is now nearing his retirement age.

As Steve Jobs and Apple have been always synonymous with each other his retirement does raise some questions. Jobs has always liked to stun people with his decisions. He has already left the day to day operations to Tim Cook, and with his ill-health, it would be no wonder if he retires soon.

And what does the future hold for Apple? Who is going to be his legitimate heir? Does Apple have a scheme of motion in place?

Apple has had a history with Jobs. In the past, his outings have cost the company hard. He has even brought the company back from the brink of extinction in the early 90's.

It is speculated that Steve will leave a specialist management team in place that will execute operations flawlessly. Both Apple and Jobs have been silently and efficiently been planning his retirement since he got his first attack of Pancreatic Cancer.

The most probable heir to Steve's heritage is Jonathan Ive, Apple senior VP of Industrial Design. He is already a star at Apple and has made valuable contributions to Apple's all flagship products - the iMac, the iPod, the Macbook Pro and the iPhone.

So, Finally, will Jobs ever be replaced? The answer to that is definitely no, because one just can't replace living emends like him. But one can be sure that he will make a wise decision and the new Apple CEO, will perform as good as him if not better.

Steve Jobs' first official autobiography - iSteve: The Book of Jobs, rolls out next year. It is widely expected that he will reveal a retirement date. Although till then we can only make educated guesses.