Is Steve Jobs seriously ill? [Archive]

Seasought

Mar 1, 2006, 03:34 PM

Given the perceived impression that he is sick at both the MacWorld expo and the recent event today, what are your thoughts? Coincidental, or signs of something more serious?

ScottB

Mar 1, 2006, 03:46 PM

Let's hope not. I didn't think he looked ill at either.
Edit: After seeing his last appearance, I see what you mean.

mad jew

Mar 1, 2006, 03:55 PM

The poll is quite swayed at this stage. I hope it's not wishful thinking... :o

EGT

Mar 1, 2006, 04:01 PM

Is he? Is it any of our business really? :confused:

I don't think he looked ill at either event. He had a cough but last time I checked, you can buy stuff for that. :p

Nice glass of hot whiskey, that's what ya need, Steve. :cool:

jeremy.king

Mar 1, 2006, 04:04 PM

Perhaps his cancer (http://www.macrumors.com/pages/2004/08/20040801214953.shtml) has returned???

p0intblank

Mar 1, 2006, 04:07 PM

He did sound raspy at yesterday's event... but it sounded like a cold. I don't know. I just hope it's nothing serious.

It's probably just a coincidence.

freeny

Mar 1, 2006, 04:11 PM

IJ Reilly

Mar 1, 2006, 04:37 PM

His voice has been rough since he first reappeared in public after the cancer treatment, nearly two years ago. It was more pronounced at MW-SF '05, but I don't think he's entirely well even now. I suspect it's not the cancer, which if it was conventional pancreatic cancer, would have killed him by now, but some residual affects of the treatment.

XIII

Mar 1, 2006, 04:39 PM

He better not be. :(

iGary

Mar 1, 2006, 04:39 PM

Go back to 1999 stuff - he was coughing then, too.

IJ Reilly

Mar 1, 2006, 05:01 PM

Go back to 1999 stuff - he was coughing then, too.

Not like at the 2005 MW. Everybody who was there noticed. His energy level seemed decidedly lower at the last two events I attended (the MW-SF keynotes this and last year). Last year was unsurprising. This year left me wondering what was up. Also, normally Steve comes back on stage after keynotes to have his picture taken with the new products. Not at MW this year. People waited. No Steve.

I'm not saying he's seriously ill, I just don't think he's entirely up to snuff. In part at least, I think this is why he sold Pixar.

zap2

Mar 1, 2006, 05:03 PM

did not see it yet, but i sure hope his note

achie25

Mar 1, 2006, 05:15 PM

boy this really is "macRUMORS"

Damien

Mar 1, 2006, 05:22 PM

Yeah, this is not something that we would or should know.

zap2

Mar 1, 2006, 05:31 PM

i'm not sure why some many people think we should not know if Steve's sick(unless Steve said he did not want people talking about his Health in which case, opps)

stoid

Mar 1, 2006, 05:32 PM

boy this really is "macRUMORS"

Oh, for pete's sake, not THIS again. Have you seen the front page of this website? "news and rumors" (you'll notice that 'news' is even listed first)

Don't be dense.

Project

Mar 1, 2006, 06:25 PM

Where can I watch yesterdays event?

dylan

Mar 2, 2006, 03:31 AM

Look at the front page...

mfacey

Mar 2, 2006, 03:50 AM

Wouldn't surprise me if steve is just majory stressed-out, causing fatigue and bad health. I think he just needs a haircut :rolleyes:

generik

Mar 2, 2006, 04:05 AM

rockthecasbah

Mar 2, 2006, 05:30 AM

Where can I watch yesterdays event?
you can get them at CNET, right here (http://reviews.cnet.com/Apple's_new_goodies/4661-10619_7-6455177.html?autoplay=true&tag=cnetfd.vid).

enjoy :)

kretzy

Mar 2, 2006, 05:54 AM

I just watched the CNET vids and Steve didn't seem his usual energetic self. But that could be for a number of reasons, most likely the flu or a cold. Hopefully nothing too serious.

IJ Reilly

Mar 2, 2006, 10:24 AM

Every living thing is sick from time to time, even dogs get sick too, same deal with humans, same deal with Steve.

Jeez, I don't care. Why not let this man live his life in peace? You guys are just like the parparazis :mad:

Concerns over Steve's health are perfectly legitimate. Imagine what would happen to Apple if he suddenly retired.

p0intblank

Mar 2, 2006, 03:14 PM

Every living thing is sick from time to time, even dogs get sick too, same deal with humans, same deal with Steve.

Jeez, I don't care. Why not let this man live his life in peace? You guys are just like the parparazis :mad:

We have a right to care... after all, he is the CEO of our favorite computer company.

As for not being energetic, maybe that's just because it was a small show and he felt he didn't have to be all "hey! new products!" like usual.

Maybe I'm just thinking too much... :confused:

maestro55

Mar 2, 2006, 04:14 PM

Concerns over Steve's health are perfectly legitimate. Imagine what would happen to Apple if he suddenly retired.

It would continue running with some changes. We would still get our computers, and we would hope for the same amount of innovation, and it is a pretty sure thing that it would happen.

As for Steve, I think he is just getting older. For a guy who has done so much, now would be a time to just focus on what he loves, which for Steve that is Apple and that is why he has still done his own keynotes, even though they appear to be taking a toll on him.

What about a poll choice for "Uncertain" ?

clayj

Mar 2, 2006, 04:16 PM

Of course people have a right to be concerned. It's not a coincidence that a lot of stupid things happened at Apple while Jobs was away. Not to mention that it's OK to be concerned when ANYONE is or may be ill.

And let's not forget that the man had CANCER. Sure, it appears to have been licked. But one of my uncles got lung cancer about 10 or 11 years ago, the likely result of 40 years of smoking... he had a third of a lung removed and chemo and he stopped smoking cold turkey, but it didn't stop the cancer from coming back 10 years later... and he passed away last summer. Another example: Mark Fields of the Carolina Panthers, who just missed a second season due to Hodgkin's Disease... he had it once, it was cured, and it came back.

If you've had cancer once, you're likely to get it again. That's just the way it works.

The best things you can do for Jobs are (1) pray (if you believe in prayer; if not, just send good thoughts his way, it can't hurt to do so) and (2) support cancer research.

IJ Reilly

Mar 2, 2006, 07:05 PM

It would continue running with some changes. We would still get our computers, and we would hope for the same amount of innovation, and it is a pretty sure thing that it would happen.

As for Steve, I think he is just getting older. For a guy who has done so much, now would be a time to just focus on what he loves, which for Steve that is Apple and that is why he has still done his own keynotes, even though they appear to be taking a toll on him.

What about a poll choice for "Uncertain" ?

I'd vote "uncertain."

Don't kid yourself about Apple without Steve Jobs, though. His influence on the culture of the company is probably without equal anywhere.

iGary

Mar 2, 2006, 07:21 PM

His influence on the culture of the company is probably without equal anywhere.

Truer words have never been typed.

brepublican

Mar 2, 2006, 07:28 PM

Truer words have never been typed.
Except those ones

IJ Reilly

Mar 2, 2006, 07:30 PM

Truer words have never been typed.

Oh sure they have, just not today. :)

swingerofbirch

Mar 2, 2006, 08:37 PM

I came here to post this exact question about whether Jobs is sick. He looked a bit thin to me at this recent presentation and still had that cough. He also was not "on fire" about any of the products, and maybe it's because Apple is making compromises in ways it never has before. Maybe the company's spun off too much for him.

Eventually he will retire. Who will take over? My personal vote at this point would be for Ives; Phil Schiller is probably the best butt boy I've ever seen, and I'm sure he's great, but I think he's a follower. Ives would do cool stuff, although you'd worry about someone like that not having the drive, being all creative.

Maybe 5 golden tickets shall be sent out to find the young person who would be willing to serve Apple without selling their secrets to nosy competitors.

IJ Reilly

Mar 3, 2006, 10:43 AM

Ives is an industrial designer, not a manager.

Schiller is the obvious choice at this point to succeed Jobs, but of course the decision would be made by the board. I can only hope that Steve is grooming a successor, or at least thinking about how a transition to new leadership could be made without traumatizing the company and panicking stockholders.

clayj

Mar 3, 2006, 10:48 AM

iGary

Mar 3, 2006, 10:50 AM

Not to be overly pedantic.

Better then being overly obsequious. :p

IJ Reilly

Mar 3, 2006, 10:55 AM

Not to be overly pedantic, but isn't the designer's last name "Ive" (singular)? I've seen several people say "Ives" in the past few days... methinks people are extending Jobs' terminal "s" onto Ive's name.

Pedantic or no, you're entirely correct. I know it's "Ive," but my brain f*rted responding to the comment where it was misspelled.

atari1356

Mar 3, 2006, 11:10 AM

Is a poll really necessary for this?

Voting on someone's health just seems in poor taste.

mad jew

Mar 3, 2006, 11:52 AM

Is a poll really necessary for this?

Isn't that how doctors work out whether to fix you? It's either a medical examination or a poll, I forget which...

narco

Mar 3, 2006, 11:56 AM

I didn't really notice anything different in the MW keynote, but it's definitely noticeable in the last event. It also could be that it was a much smaller crowd, so he really didn't have to be as energetic.

If he is sick, I'm sure a lot of the people who dislike the iPod hi-fi will probably say someone other than Steve made that product possible, he just had to introduce it. It does kind of appear that Steve didn't really want to do this keynote, and he definitely didn't seem as enthusiastic about the products either.

I've read in many places that Steve feels that Jonathan Ive is a younger version of himself. Sure, Ive is just a designer guy, but who's to say Steve isn't prepping him up on the business side? I mean, who better to learn from than Steve Jobs? It's probably better than attending college, and I'm sure Steve would agree on that one.

Fishes,
narco.

IJ Reilly

Mar 3, 2006, 12:42 PM

Could be. With Steve, simpatico is more important than technical expertise.

swingerofbirch

Mar 3, 2006, 04:16 PM

My apologies on getting Ive's name wrong. I haven't seen much of him lately. Remember in the good old days Apple would make what was essentially a super glossy infommercial for the introduction of a new product (I can remember original iPod, Albooks, white iBook, g4 iMac) and Ive would come with some beautiful bs about how organic the product was and how its form was a natural evolution of its function?

Anyhow, I miss that. I love being shmoozed, especially by someone with an accent.