At today’s iPad 2 press event, Apple CEO Steve Jobs took the stage, surprising attendees. Jobs, who has been on medical leave since early January, unsurprisingly received a standing ovation. He told the audience, “We’ve been working on this project for a while, and I just didn’t want to miss this.”
Apple and Jobs announced that he would be taking medical leave on January, with COO Tim Cook taking over the day to day operations for the company. While it’s been unclear what Jobs’ health issues are, his previous medical history includes Pancreatic cancer as well as a liver transplant. In 2004, Jobs contracted Pancreatic Cancer, which he beat. Then Jobs underwent a liver transplant in 2009, and also made a full recovery.
Jobs is usually a fixture at Apple product events and announcement but it was unclear if he would make it to this one considering the recent turn of events in his personal life. It was assumed that either Cook or Apple’s head of design Jonathan Ive would be presenting today but it’s great to see Jobs back in action and on stage.