“Much of the speculation about Steve Jobs’ rail-thin appearance at the unveiling of the new iPhone on Monday has tended to be all or nothing,” Phillip Elmer-Dewitt reports.
“Either his cancer has returned or he is recovering from a bout with a “common bug,” as his spokeswoman told the Wall Street Journal on Tuesday. ‘That’s all there is to it,’ she said,” Elmer-Dewitt reports. “(The talk may have unnerved investors a bit: Apple (AAPL) shares fell 4.1% on Thursday and another 2.4% by midday Friday.)”
“But this is not the first time Jobs’ appearance has raised concerns about his health, and the “common bug” doesn’t explain the weight loss that’s evident in a review of his keynote videos over the past few years,” Elmer-Dewitt reports.
“There’s another possibility, one that is consistent with both Jobs’ medical history and the changes in his appearance,” Elmer-Dewitt reports. “It stems directly from the type of cancer for which he was treated four years ago and the nature of that treatment.”
The operation that Steve Jobs underwent “radically rearranged his digestive organs and… permanently changed the nature of his health,” Elmer-Dewitt reports. Jobs’ “surgery was a variation on the Whipple procedure, or a pancreatoduodenectomy, the most common operation for pancreatic cancer. Nobody who has a Whipple is ever quite the same.”
Full article here.
Regardless of the status of Jobs’ health, for AAPL shareholders’ sake, we hope that Apple’s tech wizards down in the secret subterranean dungeon lab have that eerie-as-hell Westworld version of Jobs ready-to-go at a moment’s notice.
We know, we know… we’d rather have a fembot, too.
The last line on original article says it all… “Apple (AAPL) was invited to comment on this story, but has so far declined.”
“They have a responsibility to their investors… “
Apple made a statement regarding Steve’s health Monday afternoon when this buzz started. Apple is under no obligation to respond individually to the hundreds of separate inquiries from reporters milking this story.
“The shareholders don’t have a “right” to know about SJ’s health, unless it is affecting his ability to do his job”
Shareholders have a right to know anything that might materially affect the values of the shares they own. For many companies, the CEO could die tomorrow and the stock would stay unchanged (or go up in some cases). That’s not so with Steve. If he becomes incapacitated or dies the stock will plunge. If he has a terminal illness, it is information that the stockholders need to be told. If they’re not told, they have a valid cause of action against Apple for any money they lose.
JAYGEE,
How many fanbois have ever contemplated life without Jobs, much less Apple without Jobs. Any ideas who would head Apple once Jobs celestial self departs this planet, or are these thoughts too morbid or too disturbing for the anxious and insecure fanboi flock?
Perhaps Snow Leopard will be Steve’s magnus opus and Apple will offer it gratis in lasting memory. < insert favorite dirge or requiem here >
Apparently Apple will always be on the cusp of “Going out of Business” in many peoples eyes.
Worst cases: Apple without Steve Jobs.
1. Steve resigns. We are all sad to see him go. Apple stock plummets (Some of us buy more). Then some time later they release a very cool new (fill in the blank). We rejoice and say, “I’m buying at least 2 of those”. Apple stock goes up again.
2. Steve is no longer “with us”. We are all extremely sad to see him go. Apple stock plummets (Some of us buy more). Then some time later they release a very cool new (fill in the blank). We rejoice and say, “I’m buying at least 2 of those”. Apple stock goes up again.
The world goes on. Windows still sucks.
Other scenario: Steve Jobs is with us for years. Apple stock still takes a beating because of the vested interest in Microsoft that so many Mutual funds have. Slowly they start pulling out of Microsoft and the MS stock tanks (that could happen either way). Yay.
MDW: without
@ Uh, oh.
I think Apple will probably suffer (in the short term, but will survive in the long term), if Steve Jobs was no longer at Apple, but I’m sure Steve Jobs has planned a 20 year plan for Apple, and I’m sure he hasn’t kept that to himself.
Apple will survive without Steve Jobs, if people allow it to. What will kill Apple is people going around saying, “Apple is doomed, as Steve Jobs no longer runs it.
The operation that Steve Jobs underwent “radically rearranged his digestive organs and… permanently changed the nature of his health,”
IOW, Steve doesn’t have the guts he used to have….
“I’m sure Steve Jobs has planned a 20 year plan for Apple, and I’m sure he hasn’t kept that to himself.”
Why do you think that? Because you think paranoid control freaks are good at sharing information about how to continue without them?
Jobs is a vegetarian and a cancer survivor…
of course he looks like shit.
Either one of those maladies would, but both together?
I wish the media would get off it. What about all those fat bastards out there just waiting to drop dead… like Tim Russert… nobody says a word about them!
This “thin Steve” is a setup. Next Macworld he’s going to look utterly emaciated until the very end when he says “…one more thing” at which point he’ll rip off his shirt an show off his hard body and rippling pecs.
I think I need a cold shower. (Unrelated Note.)
What is clear is that Apple’s lawyers were wrong when they advised Apple’s board that there was no legal requirement to report Steve’s pancreatic cancer until after he was recovering from surgery. Steve Jobs and his influence on a company stock is unique and unprecedented. With the possible exception of Lee Iacocca vis a vis Chrysler Corporation in the 1980, no other CEO (and his health) is more relevant to the value of a company’s stock than Jobs is to Apple. If Jobs ever gets sick (or is sick), Apple has a legal obligation, in my opinion, to disclose that fact to investors considering whether or not to buy or sell Apple stock.
Apparently Jack Welch was pretty important to GE.
All you fools read the following. Apple cannot lie about Job’s illness or it will open itself up for lawsuit.Click on the following link and read the whole article.
http://www.cnbc.com/id/25096807
An alternate explanation is that you can’t keep giving up the ass to your loyal customer base (overpricing, endless processor switches, operating systems with No New Features) without picking up an emancipating disease or two along the way.
Alex,you’re a dumbass. Apple doesn’t lie about anything.
You sound like a little cry baby, panicky whimp.
Why isn´t anyone noticed that the Mac Os X Snow Leopard has ZFS? That is something far more important that the Steve has flu or something. AAPL should go up like rocket. It is the Microsoft killer and key to the big business.
Funny when I saw the video, had 2 reactions at opposite ends of the fence.
First, I thought he was showing a spare tire under his mock turtle neck, then I noticed his face seemed thin, this is consistent with getting older. Lets Face it Steve aint getting any younger.
@ Greg L –
What is clear is that key words here are “in my opinion”
However, what is crystal clear for any investor, is this, if Apple say that his Stevieness was no longer a part of Apple Inc. (due to pressure from hacks on the web and elsewhere) the shares would indeed take a dive.
What investors need to worry about is timing.
Would investors want an orderly, structured and professionally handled hand over, thus limiting dollar losses, or would investors want an madcap announcement, due to pressure from hacks on the web, provoking a hasty reaction from the market, causing unlimited dollar losses.
Apple are far to savvy to cause widespread financial hysteria, they will administer the choice, judgment and control of when anything should and eventually one day, it will be done, they have a bit of a stake in this as well.
–
Heck, if you want chaos, it’s your money, not mine, I just buy the OS and hardware.
“endless processor switches”
Motorola 68000 > PowerPC > Intel x86
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Macintosh_models_grouped_by_CPU_type
Yep, pretty endless.
There’s a serial troller on this thread and under a few of the other recent articles. Of course, many trolls have come and gone over the years. Since they are addicted to trolling and posters invariably keep feeding them, it must be life-changing circumstances that move them on (Sputnik, anyone?).
Ha, ha., Uh, Oh., Afib, Alternate Explanations, We have a Winner, Hey, Shado Control, Hey, Ampar!, Snow Job Leopard, Cognitive Dissonance Abounds, Mac OS X Leopard SP1 (Snow Job) and a few other names is the same lonely poster desperate for attention. His use of “fanboi” ad nauseum is an obvious clue. Like a drug addict, he’s only here because he gets a rush from angering Mac fans. He gets his fix when you respond.
You’ll see this phenomenom all over the web. These trolls usually have minimal or no interest in the topic. Why else would someone be insulting and arrogant when it’s entirely unnecessary and out of context to the post? They get a rush from the illusion of control. They are empowered by the cloak of anonymity since first-hand human contact and personal responsibility are unnecessary (and possibly difficult or painful).
And like baiting a hook and casting a line, they are also compulsively repetitive and predictable.
F$cking eh! Look at the picture from WWDC. He obviously had a small pot belly and his jeans were worn low. Lewinsky or Fergie lose 5 pounds and the become spokespersons for some diet program, and millions of cellulite and varicose afflicted women cry over their touching story.
Steve Jobs loses a little weight and it’s a f$cking disaster.
GET A F$CKING GRIP ALREADY! He announced his cancer before, and if he gets that ill again he will announce it.
just my $0.02
<i>This “thin Steve” is a setup. Next Macworld he’s going to look utterly emaciated until the very end when he says “…one more thing” at which point he’ll rip off his shirt an show off<i>
…a physique from Auschwitz.
Guess a cancer survivor with a vegan diet & a high-stress career is gonna look a bit rough.
bones: Just shut the fuck up, you insecure asshole.
It is an amazing thing, seeing a god die before your very eyes. The rabid Apple fanboi base just can’t handle the fact that Steve Jobs is slowly, but surely and visibly, perishing.
The terse message from Cupertino announcing obsolescence of PPC is a veiled reference to Jobs soon becoming history, too. Apple is quietly, but unmistakably, preparing the fanboi masses for Job’s impending departure from the land of mortals. Snow Leopard, the Memorial Edition – no new features, but metaphsycially advanced.
The dream of a thousand years of Steve Job’s beneficent reign is crumbling into dust. Not that such idiotic fantasy had any chance of being realized, it was the desperate attempt of fanbois to ignore simple reality. Notice the pleading of fanbois to censure any reference to Job’s mortality, the mere mention of Job’s declining health is enough to cause a torrent of pleas to stop the agony of dealing with the brutal truth.
Will Apple keep Job’s body in the foyer, displayed like the 20th century icon of Russian revolution, or will Apple take Job’s corpse on a Magical Mystery Tour of Apple stores worldwide. Can you imagine, “We haven’t seen such a turnout since iPhone was released.”, said one Apple genius, “Just look at the lines. Some people have been camped out for weeks.” One poor fanboi, tears streaming down his face, held up his black iPhone with the inscription “Steve Jobs 4-ever”, blubbering incoherently like some weird hybrid of Moof and Gollum.
Embrace, fanbois, Job’s flame of fame will eventually be extinguished… and there’s nothing you can do about it except attempting to out do each other in public displays of grief and lamentation. I can visualize Apple fanbois lasping into years of ostentatious mourning and posting ridiculously selfish expressions such as, “If only I had donated my own pancreas Steve would still be alive.” Yeah, Steve Jobs certainly would not have any need for that brain of yours, Abbie? Apple Inc. can’t afford such luxury of self-debasement and distraction.
I will miss Jobs, but I prefer to remember him quietly, with dignity and decorum; and reflect on his work with equal measures of gratitude and appreciation.
My only question is, “How deep is Apple’s bench?”
“Embrace, fanbois”
Wow. The diatribe from this sociopath just keeps getting creepier.
Does anyone else here get a hidden message of imminent demise from a sad and lonely troll? I hope he gets help in time.
“with dignity and decorum”
As I’m sure you will be remembered. Get help.