Ever since his triumphant return to Apple in 1998, Steve Jobs has been synonymous with Apple. Business reporters have, for years, used Apple and Steve Jobs interchangeably to describe what's happening at the company.

The close association between Apple and its CEO has its share of positives and negatives for the company. Jobs is an incredible showman and very charismatic. His keynote addresses at events like Macworld Expo--which --and WWDC, have kept audiences in thrall and have generated huge buzz and mainstream media coverage for the company. That's certainly contributed to some of the successful launches enjoyed by the likes of the iMac, the iPod, and the iPhone.

On the other hand, Jobs has battled health problems in recent years, and when , investors have reacted negatively, such as when Jobs announced he was . In the Wall Street's mind, Steve Jobs Apple.

Jobs is still out of the picture, while , according to Apple executives. But he shouldn't be expected to return to the helm of Apple until early July, if the six-month time frame is accurate--that would explain why he's not expected to make an appearance at WWDC this year.

Instead, that as-yet mostly nameless "team of executives" will do the show.