Steve Jobs' resignation as Apple CEO is the news that many in the technology industry have dreaded for years. There is virtually no other company so linked to its boss: in the eyes of both consumers and many analysts and journalists, Apple, the world's wealthiest company, is effectively Steve Jobs.
However, in reality the changes within the company are likely to be minimal, having been quietly put into place over the last few years as Jobs' health faltered. In the short and medium term, it's very much business as usual, although questions do remain over where the next long term 'visionary' products such as the iPad will come from.
Tim Cook, who takes over as CEO, has actually been doing the job throughout Steve Jobs' periods of medical leave. And in fact, Jobs will carry on, remaining chairman of the board.
The biggest problem Apple now faces is the lack of a public figurehead. On every Apple press release, and at every new product introduction, it was Jobs, the man with the vision, the investors and press alike want to hear from.
The effect Jobs has on those around him, even at the firm's annual developer conference, is unlikely to be seen again.
Known within the industry as the "Jobs' distortion field", it is capable of whipping thousands of geeks and analysts into a whooping, shouting mess with the merest mention of a new product, or Jobs' trademark "one more thing" surprise new product.
However, in recent years, talk of Steve's health has overshadowed these events. Earlier this year I was in the audience at San Francisco's Moscone Center when Jobs revealed Apple's iCloud online storage. It was clear that it was about time to put the firm's secret succession plan into action.
However, even though we may have seen the last Jobs' keynote address, it would be extremely dangerous for the firm's many competitors to underestimate the phenomenal talent, tenacity and ability to instinctively know "what Steve would do" among the rest of Apple's executive team.
Jonathan Ive, the British design genius responsible for shaping the firms products, is one candidate for the new "face" of Apple, and Jobs has been careful to introduce Ive and his other executives at recent events.
It's difficult to imagine Apple without Jobs, but he is leaving behind a team moulded in his own image, and crucially, a team that now has something to prove. It is the end of an era for Apple, and for computing in general, but also the beginning of a new, post-Jobs Apple that can now move forward in earnest without the constant questions over Steve Jobs' health.
