Eagle-eyed Apple watchers may have grown a little misty-eyed this morning when they potentially came across an obituary of CEO Steve Jobs, published by Bloomberg - but don't fret - news of the death of Jobs has been grossly over-exaggerated.

What actually took place was a simple error, as Cult of Mac reports, Bloomberg updated its obituary for Jobs yesterday, only to accidentally send the story to all the organisation's subscribers.

"An incomplete story referencing Apple Inc. was inadvertently published by Bloomberg News at 4:27 p.m. New York time today. The item was never meant for publication and has been retracted," Bloomberg quickly warned.

That the obit was updated is also no cause for alarm - most major media outlets hold the obituaries for notable celebrities on file, presumably so they can all scramble to publish these faster than their competitors in order to secure web traffic - but these obits aren't usually published until someone, erm, well until someone dies, basically.

And while Jobs' known brush with cancer, combined with a recent illness got the gossip-mongers (including us) all in a tizzy in recent weeks, the publication of the obit does not in any way imply that there's a senior job going in Cupertino. (Though given recent iPhone and Mobile Me cafuffles there may well be a less senior job going for the right person...)

Returning to the obit, Steve's going to be fairly pleased, we guess. The Bloomberg write-up extends across 17-pages (not at all bad for such an incredibly private person). Oh and there's lots and lots of gushing praise for the man in the report, here's a two highlights, but you can read the whole thing here:

- "In terms of an inspirational leader, Steve Jobs is really the best I've ever met," Bill Gates.

- "Steve had these dreams of being one of the great people that has companies and makes products that change the world." Steve Wozniak.

And now we have you all thinking about Jobs, we though we may as well offer another re-run of his Stanford Commencement address. Enjoy: