On the heels of its surprising $47m first-quarter profit, the board at Apple Computer Inc has been literally begging interim chief executive Steve Jobs to make his position a permanent one, but to no avail, according to reports. Jobs is still saying that he will help the struggling company through its financial turnaround and lead the search for a new CEO, but that’s all. Apple board member and Oracle Corp chief executive Larry Ellison said in an interview last week that Jobs was the best man for Apple and that the board had tried everything, including begging and bribery, to get him to stay on. Ellison also said that Apple had recently been considering an executive at Hewlett-Packard Co as a possible CEO, but refused to name the person.
