Larry Ellison’s comments about Apple without Steve Jobs are causing quite a stir this morning. I agree with some of the things that Ellison said, like “He was brilliant, he was our Edison, he was our Picasso.”

I don’t think that anyone, including Tim Cook or the executive team at Apple would argue with those comparisons. Steve was an incredible man that had the ability to read what consumers wanted even before they knew they wanted it—that’s genius.

You also can’t argue with the history. As Ellison said, we’ve seen Apple with Jobs, we’ve seen Apple without Jobs. That’s true, but there is one big difference between this time and when Jobs was kicked out of Apple.

Steve worked hard to leave Apple in good hands. He molded the company, the products, the executive team and the vision he had for Apple. This time when Steve left Apple, he knew he was leaving and he wanted the company to survive and prosper in his absence.

If there was one man on this earth that couldn’t be replaced, it surely must have been Steve Jobs. To me, Apple doesn’t seem to be trying to replace Steve as much as they are trying to carry on the vision that Steve worked so hard to build. That’s what Steve wanted and that’s what we expect from Apple.