“Apple Inc. security officials met with police in Palo Alto, California, this week to notify them that Steve Jobs was close to death, a spokeswoman with the police department said,” Karen Gullo reports for Bloomberg.
“Following the meeting, the police devised a plan to put patrols in the area around the former Apple chief executive officer’s Palo Alto home once they heard from the company that he had died, according to Sandra Brown, the spokeswoman,” Gullo reports. “The Apple representatives told the police department there was ‘a possibility that it could happen this week,’ Brown said in a phone interview. ‘It’s common sense for us to work together. If you think about who he was and his contribution to the world, people might come out in masses.'”
Gullo reports, “Jobs lived in a home that was modest, for a person of his means, on a public street open to pedestrians and traffic. The extra patrols were necessary for safety reasons, Brown said.”
Read more in the full article here.
MacDailyNews Take: So, Tim Cook and the other Apple execs clearly knew of Jobs’ condition while they were charged with hosting the “Let’s Talk iPhone’ event. Therefore, we retract any judgements, and will not make any further, about Cook’s and the others’ performances. It was an anomaly. The next special event will give a much better picture of how Cook et al. will perform and how these events will feel going forward.
[Thanks to MacDailyNews Reader “Fred Mertz” and “Lynn Weiler” for the heads up.]
Let us not go down this road of investigation. Please.
this is bullshit. just let it be
Yes, now that it is obvious that everyone knew how bad Steve was, I feel as though their performance was excellent under the circumstances. And Jony Ives’ absence makes sense now too. Holding the event in spite of Steve’s condition shows that they are poised for the show to go on. Kudos to the lot of them.
Any clever attendee to the event, any, could realize that something was going wrong in the mood. Everybody was strangely serious and lacking of enthusiasm, even when they tried to smile, it was a fake joy. I noticed that syndrome from the very start of the session and I’ve mentioned twice here in other posts. So, MDN, try to stop getting in a hurry to criticize Apple & team.
By the way, Apple’s iPhone tag, iPhone 4S, certainly was a call made by Jobs, not Tim, stop criticizing him for that too; we all already know that nobody will ever fit Jobs’ shoes. Given the sad circumstances, I think it’s a proper name for the last version of the device in which Jobs certainly participated completely. So, better let’s spread out the S to remember Steve.
Thank you! Jobs called the order, not Tim. Its a perfect fit for the phone. It has SPEED!!
I just keep thinking about that “RESERVED” seat they kept showing during the 4s event. They made a point of filming it almost every time they panned the audience.
The chair was clearly a tribute to Steve.
It still gives me goosebumps. I hope they hold that reserved seat at every future event.
I thought this same exact thing too when I watched the keynote.
Seriously, I had that feeling also.
That would be excellent if they did that for every event going forward! I second that emotion!
Yes, that would be classy, understated — many usual watchers would not even notice or understand the meaning of that, but this would indicate they Apple always remember the person who created it.
Steve had two houses. The Palo Alto one and the big, secluded one that he was trying to tear down in order to build his dream home. He spent 20 years trying to tear it down, and was stymied by “historical preservation” busybodies who wouldn’t let him. He only got permission recently, and there wasn’t enough time to even start building his planned house.
Anyway, the house he lived in ,was a regular house on a regular tree lined street in palo alto.
I have walked by it many times. I knew it was Steve’s house every time. I would go by there when I was thinking a lot about Apple.
I never approached the house or stopped in front of it for long, nor otherwise disturbed him… I never even knew when he was there or when he wasn’t.
Like George Lucas’s house (at skywalker ranch, which I’ve also visited) these locations aren’t really national secrets and any number of unsavory people could know about them.
“historical preservation” Has its place Mr. Engineer
http://www.infrastructurist.com/2009/06/22/11-beautiful-train-stations-that-fell-to-the-wrecking-ball/
http://www.examiner.com/history-landmarks-travel-in-national/grand-central-station-new-york-city-is-a-rescued-landmark
In order a home to go on the historic register either the design of the home or the person who resided their need to be historically significant. From what I’ve researched Job’s house did not fall into either category.
Who know, given his penchant for design the house that Job’s would have built might have eventually been deemed architecturally significant.
You also need to acknowledge that many times those fighting for a “historical designation” are really just NIMBY or BANANA types
Mcarch, I totally agree.
I’m also getting tired of hearing some development is suspended because it is possible an endangered creature MIGHT live in the area, though no one has ever seen such creature there. If you own the land do what you want with it.
Couldn’t hold my tears.
I can see SJ telling them to go on and do their best!
It was clear to me the whole time that he was on their mind. I don’t recall them mentioning his name even once during the event. It would have probably broken the dam holding back the tears.
in watching the event again… You can tell at least Tim knew.
those pauses he had, may not have been Tim’s fault..
I’m with MDN though, if they knew… I’m letting the judgement go on the performance.
At the end he mentions a special guest (with a lump in his throat). You seriously think he was talking about the dudes from Epic Games? Come on guys… the special guest was Steve.
public record
http://www.whitepages.com/name/Steven-P-Jobs/Woodside-CA/6d05weq?site_id=10583
It took amazing courage and poise for Tim, Phil, and Scott to perform knowing what Steve was going through and that at any moment they could get the news of his passing. What a tough position to be in. Hat’s off to those men!
@MDN – Too late on the mea culpa. Way to jump on the bandwagon, letting yourself get jacked up over a product designation. It is as if the 3GS never happened…
Give the new guys a chance. Getting prepared for a terrible event and actually facing the reality of it are two different things. Stop expecting anyone to be Jobs and let them be themselves. Jobs said it himself – don’t try to live someone else’s life.
note the retraction is same day AT&T says iPhone 4S launch is most successful 1st day launch in history. Smart retraction MDN. By the way, Tim Cook and Phil and others – you did great. Keep up the great work.
“So, Tim Cook and the other Apple execs clearly knew of Jobs’ condition while they were charged with hosting the “Let’s Talk iPhone’ event”
Um. I think he was already passed away at that time. That’s the point, guys. The announcement (unspecific as it was), was the following day.
I don’t think so, Michael.
Believe what was reported.
Whats funny is, about a week ago, I thought I was a smartass, because I thought 4S (the name was all over the place) meant “Sprint’
*gulp!
Heroes all who performed in the face of that knowledge…
I agree with King Mei. MDN is very late to the game to make a retraction now. An apology would have been more in order anyway.
I think the whole event was shadowed by Steve’s illness and impending journey. I’m certain even the smaller, local venue was so they would be able to control the reaction if Steve passed before the presentation, or even during it, if the news got out. And it wouldn’t surprise me if they even chose to cancel it, had he gone the day before, which would have been much harder to do off-campus.
All the pundits who criticized Tim Cook and the rest of the staff’s performance should apologize and respect what they were going through and what they accomplished. And also respect the fact that the iPhone 4s (and other product releases) was all Steve – nothing that happened that day had anything to do with Tim Cook’s influence on the company’s direction.
Right. MDN lost it there, shouting debacle and disaster cries and not supporting the Apple team as needed. Plus, give them the benefit of the doubt even when it appears that mistakes have been made. Give the people the benefit of the doubt to be able to see what’s what and what matters beyond the FUD and disingenuous criticism. Instead, many supported the “other” side and fed the sharks that came in droves smelling blood in the water… Time to step back and reflect here.
I wonder if they would have gone forward with the event had Steve died on Monday?
Are you suggesting it was a huge coincidence that he just happened to pass away the day after the presentation? That’s one hell of a ‘one more thing’.
I’m not being funny. I honestly think that Jobs would have wanted to, and instructed this scenario to play out, beat by beat, as it did. 24 hours later, announce that I’ve passed away, call the iPhone 4S, bring out the iPhone 5 in the Summer the next year, etc. He wrote the screenplay to his own masterpiece life story, with that valiant climactic ending.