Apple's Steve Jobs is not dead

Reports of Steve Jobs' death have been greatly exaggerated. The Apple boss is alive despite the appearance of a 17-page obituary on the internet yesterday.

The obituary was published by the financial news wire Bloomberg, but was quickly retracted.

It is common practice for news organisations to have obituaries of public figures and famous people written in advance; publishing them before their demise, however, is more unusual.

Jobs dropped out of college to start Apple and is estimated to be worth over $5bn (around £2.5bn) and there has been much speculation over his health recently.

In 2005 Jobs won a battle against pancreatic cancer, but at the launch of the hugely popular 3G iPhone earlier this summer, rumours about his health circulated on the web.

The obituary was lavish in its praise for Jobs. Former Microsoft boss Bill Gates is quoted as saying: "In terms of an inspirational leader, Steve Jobs is really the best I've ever met."

Jobs was also credited with changing the way consumers use computers, watch animated films and for his role in the digital revolution.

The obituary was published in full by Gawker Media and you can read it here.