Steve Jobs Health Worries Escalate 520
PolygamousRanchKid writes with this sad snippet from the San Francisco Chronicle: "We all know that Steve Jobs is sick. What's not known is how sick he is, and that's worrying investors of Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL) this morning, as well as everyone else. Jobs did have pancreatic cancer a few years ago, but he had a transplant and was able to come back to work. Last time, he gave some kind of time frame for returning to work. This time, he did not. Supposedly the National Enquirer is set to run pictures of Jobs with him looking frail and gaunt. Jobs was spotted leaving the Stanford Cancer Center in Palo Alto, California, according to RadarOnline.com."
who cares (Score:5, Insightful)
who cares? let the man live his own life
Leave Steve Jobs Alone (Score:2, Insightful)
Leave him alone!
-Android Fanboy
Seriously don't care... (Score:4, Insightful)
Re:Leave Steve Jobs Alone (Score:5, Insightful)
Stock (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:Seriously don't care... (Score:2, Insightful)
Why is the media following the National Enquirer? (Score:3, Insightful)
The National Enquirer talks about running photos of Steve, and the entire news media gets a hard on and starts running stories on this. Has the media degraded so far that we are now counting the National Enquirer as a reliable news source?
The only people who are escalating the health worries here are the media itself to push for circulation. It's not news, it's bullshit. Thanks for contributing to the bullshit, Timothy.
Re:He's probably dying (Score:5, Insightful)
Can't we just leave him alone? I mean, when he bashes on Google openly, let the press and everyone else fire full power. It's fair game.
But now? Doesn't he deserve some privacy or even just some respect? Not because of what he's done, be because of what he is living right now.
Re:who cares (Score:5, Insightful)
Consider the Source (Score:5, Insightful)
When the pictures come from The National Enquirer, you really need to consider the source. Also, the doctor making this prognosis was doing so based on the pictures. Didn't we all jump on the idiot in Congress a few years ago for diagnosing that woman in Florida using a short video clip?
Let's take this to a conspiracy level and say people are putting out this news to get the stock price to drop a bit so they can snap it up and wait for the retraction of the article and the stock goes back up, they make a pretty penny.
Re:He's probably dying (Score:4, Insightful)
I highly doubt his money helped him get a liver any faster.
It probably kept him alive long enough to reach the top of the list, though.
And anyone saying he hasn't done anything useful since they buttoned it up is not paying attention.
Re:Seriously don't care... (Score:5, Insightful)
Woz was the technical genius who put the parts together to make the new product simple enough to be useful to millions.
Jobs is the one who ensured millions understood why it was useful.
History is littered with people who thought you could be Apple by skimping on either of those talents.
Re:Why this matters (Score:4, Insightful)
Most likely the one who steps up will fail exactly because he's not Steve Jobs, no matter what he does. What Apple has done is to overcome the catch 22 of users and content because Jobs has a following of rabid fans and loyal developers big enough to kick start any market. It's like setting off a nuke, you need critical mass or you get a fizzle.
Jobs has the customers go "yeah" then the developers go "yeah" then the tech press goes "yeah" and the cheers runs in circles. The next guy will have the customers go "ummmmmm" then the developers go "ummmmmm" then the tech press goes "ummmmmmm" and the doubt runs in circles. Apple can spiral down just as quick as they've spiraled up.
Haven't you heard? (Score:4, Insightful)
Maybe he's just a guy with cancer who doesn't want to spend his last days dying in the public eye while they discuss how to best profit from his passing?
You forfeit your privacy rights when you sign that "rich AND famous" contract.
And a part of your human rights goes down the drain when you turn yourself into a brand.
You don't get to be in the spotlight and not take in some heat from the lights.
Think about it. Would Woz, in a similar situation, be facing the same privacy problems as Jobs? How about Paul Allen?
That is why I keep my wishes simple. I just want to be rich. Someone else can be famous. E.g. the getaway driver.
He can have all the fame in the world as long as I'm free to keep and use the money. In fact...
Re:who cares (Score:2, Insightful)
Re:who cares (Score:4, Insightful)
Re:who cares (Score:5, Insightful)
who cares?
The shareholders of his publicly-traded personality cult care.
Comment removed (Score:5, Insightful)
You present the Apple Hater meme, not reality. (Score:4, Insightful)
Because unlike with other CxOs Steve Jobs has purposely built a cult of personality around him that will seriously affect the stock.
That's bullshit. He's already left, the stock took a small dive but is higher than ever now. Most people at this point (except for Apple Haters) are pretty much assuming Jobs is not really coming back.
The fact is that Apple as entire markets that they drive, Jobs leaving will not affect the momentum of the company for many, many years to come - if ever. Rather that building "a cult of personality" Jobs built an approach to thinking about consumer electronics, and he's shared that with everyone at Apple - as much as anyone could share it.
You know who would have more impact leaving/being ill than Jobs right now? Ives. Because even with Jobs gone Ives will present a consistency of products such that at first glance you will not even realize Jobs was not involved.
Between momentum and a stable of people with considerable design and product skills, Apple will do just fine without Jobs.
The reason why Apple Haters are so insistent that Jobs will be back, is that they will have no-one to attribute success to without Jobs there, will have to actually admit Apple might have built a few products people like to use because they are well designed. To an Apple Hater this is the end times.
Re:who cares (Score:4, Insightful)
Re:You present the Apple Hater meme, not reality. (Score:2, Insightful)
That's rubbish. I hate Apple but that's because I hate Jobs and his fascist tendencies.
So in other words, I label you an Apple Hater, and you claim it's the guy that you say is the whole reason behind Apple's success is what you hate.
In other words, you are an Apple Hater by your own definition. Not to mention Drama Queen for throwing around the word "fascist".
I won't ever buy an Apple product because I will not go where I am not free to use the device as I like, develop with whatever tools I like and not have the capricious whim of Jobs decide how or what I can do.
A common trait of the Apple Hater is the willful ignorance of the reality of Apple gear - I'm an iOS developer, none of what you say is true. They long ago removed the restrictions to not use things like mono or the flash compilers for iPhone development, for example. Jobs doesn't decide what I do with my devices, at all - what's sad is that you are promoting the misunderstanding that is the case.
Re:You present the Apple Hater meme, not reality. (Score:3, Insightful)
Typical fanboy reaction - label anyone not slotting neatly into your worshipful little reality as a "hater", and deride it as a "meme".
GP got it exactly right. Steve hasn't resigned his post, he's taken an indefinite leave of absence. If he had quit, and Apple had appointed a successor, Apple would have had a bump in their share price, and gone on their way. He didn't. When the shareholders asked for a succession plan (i.e. whose going to run the show if Steve leaves?) they got nothing.
What Apple is doing now is *building* apprehension amongst their shareholders. Steve leaving might not make much of a difference to Apple's production qualities - but everyone's afraid it will because Apple's acting so cagey. The fear Apple's behaviour is generating is certainly going to effect it's stock price because stock, in the end, is really based on nothing more than fears and hopes.
Re:You present the Apple Hater meme, not reality. (Score:5, Insightful)
I understand what the word means. I used it precisely because of it's meaning.
I'm referring to the Job's role in maintaining the Apple cult. The view that there's one way to do it - Apple's way and no other. It is a totalitarian ideology. It permits no criticism and the cult members leap in to defend the cult against all opposing points of view.
That's a fascist world view.
As someone with a degree in Philosophy who has studied Politicial Science, I know perfectly well what the word 'fascist' means.
I like the way you try to define opposing views as not worthy of comment rather than thinking about them. Good little cult member.
Re:Private Lives (Score:4, Insightful)
The way Facebook is designed (and, for that matter, its popularity) means you can't. Or at least, probably shouldn't.
The main reason why is the photo sharing feature. On facebook or not, there's a good change that quite a few photos of you have been made public (yes, including that embarrassing one from last year when you had a bit too much to drink), tagged your name against it and it's there for all to see. There have been instances of people losing their jobs because of photos on facebook - well, you could (at least in theory) lose your job because of a photo of you someone else put up even though you've never used the damn site.
About the only thing you can do to try and prevent this is to sign up, make sure any photos of you are tagged and associated with your login then either remove those tags yourself or set your privacy settings so photos including you aren't public. Until the next time Facebook change their privacy defaults - which they'll do all they like because the users aren't the customers.
It's the electronic equivalent of graffiti on the bridge over the main road into town saying "kiwimate is a tosser!" except it comes with photographic evidence and it's much more likely to get distributed to anyone around the world than a bridge is.
Re:He's probably dying (Score:1, Insightful)
I hope you die painfully. And soon.
You really have no idea what Fascism is. And you're an ignorant, petty and jealous piece of shit.