Steve Jobs Discusses Health with Reporter

[jennyp]

gifted and all-too human

I wish he would retire so we could finally get two buttons on the trackpad on a MBP. I dont think the company would miss a beat without him. He is just a person.

I think you are so wrong. Steve Jobs showed his unquestionable skills when he turned Apple away from the brink and brought it to its new unimagined success, both in terms of profit and of a way forward. He really does have the vision thing. (It's quite possible that this might not make him particularly likeable at times!)

Not a super-hero but a gifted human, who I thought at the time looked suspiciously gaunt at WWDC 2008.

 

[fluidedge]

I'm sure SJ is a very good businessman, but i don't think he's a very nice guy. I bet he intimidates all his employees. Also there was the story about him firing someone for bringing him the wrong brand of water? And he apparently parks in the disabled spot at the offices.

He sounds like a jerk, great businessman you can't deny but an unpleasant person to be around. I think the sooner he goes and Jon Ive takes over the better!!

 

[mushudog]

I am disappointed

I've been reeding the board about this subject and I cannot believe my eyes.

All people care about is shares value, Apple future, %, right click, double click, should the issue be public or not and so forth.

Guys, no matter who SJ is and what he does, if he is a jerk or not. He is a human being obviously dealing with some health problems that might be deadly.

For one second stop and put yourself in his pants and think that you own all the world but have 6 month to live. What would you do?!

An after you've been thinking it over, than start talking about right clicks.

P.S. And one more thing - after a man dies, in six month few will remember him ( I saw this happening many times)

This is said-not only that the man is ill but the way people react to it- I hope he will win this fight whatever disease he's fighting

 

[Yixian]

He looks a little fatty on the picture to the left.

I don't remember ever seeing him look as fat as on the left, or as thin as on the right. Maybe he's lost a bit more weight than he'd like but those photos are hand picked from specific angles and lighting to make it look like he's taken some health free fall.

I never noticed him looking ill during the keynote.

 

[michelepri]

Steve Jobs deserves a lot more respect in the way the media goes about his health. I don't care about the financial implications, it's maybe about time that people working in finance learn that there are limits in life. Of course Steve Jobs has become greedy himself, and I am still angry about being ripped off from German telecoms using not so legal tricks, and I know Steve knows about those practices. Still, health is very important and I wish Steve the best.

 

[baslotto]

There's no such thing as a poor cancer survivor.

Poor people can't afford health care and die of "natural causes."

In America.

 

[Frixo Cool]

Steve done the right thing about that reporter. He's probably the coolest CEO ever and he's a great visionary. I hope he'll be well for years to come.

Steve, forget about slimebuckets and give us some more magic!

 

[davidjearly]

It's great to know that some fanboys think highly of huge corporations trying to intimidate the free press. You guys really are something.

Fanboys

Hmm, how can you miss the word "try"?

Wow! What a load of bollocky speculation! Read the goddamn "introduction" Jobs served the reporter.

Sigh … Reread my post...

You really have got some attitude, haven't you? Almost every thread I see that you have participated in ends up like this. It is clear that you enjoy conflict, but might you take it elsewhere?

To be honest, I'm sick of reading your posts.

And it is now so very clear why your username is what it is.

 

[japasneezemonk]

Wirelessly posted (Mozilla/5.0 (iPhone; U; CPU iPhone OS 2_0 like Mac OS X; en-us) AppleWebKit/525.18.1 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/3.1.1 Mobile/5A347 Safari/525.20)

what a bunch of douche's, it's always about the money. Nobody cares about Steve, only how much they can squeeze out of him.

 

[gifford]

As an Apple stockholder Steve's health is very much a public matter, considering how critical he has been to the success of Apple the past 10 years. If his health affects his abilities we (stockholders) have a right to know and the board has a responsibility to ensure the company can function with a replacement temporarily, or (it can happen) permanently.

Steve Jobs being so closely associated with "his" company cant hide the fact that he has had serious health issues more than once it turns out in the past few years.

As an apple shareholder myself, I think it is disgusting that anyone should consider anyones health a public matter. Particularly disgusting when it is fueled merely by financial gain.

Have some respect.

 

[Full of Win]

Any takers for all signing a card?

I dont want steve ditching me like this! Hopefully he'll outlive me!

How about we all send him an iCard instead. Oh...wait....never mind

 

[bobbleheadbob]

I just hope he stays healthy and that Apple continues to thrive and release innovative new products that we all enjoy.

He is a public figure, leading a Fortune 500 public company. So therefore, his health is not a completely private issue. However, I think the press should respect his personal life as much as possible. This latest release is a nice compromise between the two.

 

[pjac]

There's no such thing as a poor cancer survivor.

Poor people can't afford health care and die of "natural causes."

You must live in one of those poor backwards countries without universal health care.

Mind you, I shouldn't gloat, here in the UK the National Health Service (NHS) seems to lurch from crisis to crisis.

 

[Panu]

Steve's health is great

The fact that the conversation was off the record only means we won't find out the details. We can easily determine what the bottom line was, and that is that Steve Jobs is in excellent health for a 53-year-old man.

No one calls up a reporter to confirm rumors of damaging information. One calls up a reporter to refute rumors of damaging information. So Steve called the reporter to tell him he's in good health. The confidential part of the conversation can only have contained personal details that he disclosed to convince the reporter.

Hence, Steve is in excellent health. It's a bit premature to wear a black veil, hold a wake, or buy a headstone. What we should do is say, "Okay, so that's that," and go about our business.

Move along now, nothing to see here. Really.

 

[mavis]

And it is now so very clear why your username is what it is.

You have to admit, though - it is rather convenient when people label themselves so accurately. Saves us the trouble.

 

[pmpknetr21]

I wish he would retire so we could finally get two buttons on the trackpad on a MBP. I dont think the company would miss a beat without him. He is just a person.

Maybe you know this already and just prefer two buttons, but...

Sys Prefs>Trackpad>Two Fingers>Tick off Secondary Click.

The video on the right will show you what it looks like.

 

[Bickity]

Reporter? Who is he?

Is anyone questioning the reporters validity? Was it really Steve that called? Did anyone actually call? What is this reporters history? Just seems a little odd to me. This story is way out of control and I am questioning everything till Apple PR says something officially.

How can Apple be such a great marketing machine and yet PR matters are handled so poorly?

 

[skubish]

I wish he would retire so we could finally get two buttons on the trackpad on a MBP. I dont think the company would miss a beat without him. He is just a person.

I agree. He is an amazing CEO, but that's it. People need to realize that he is in his mid 50s and has had a bout with the most fatal cancer out there. He is not going to be around forever, its its ludicrous to think Apple won't survive without him.

You must be very young or forgot that Apple was on brink of going out of business before Steve came back. Many people and investors feel Steve is Apple. I don't think there is anyone in Apple who can give them the single minded direction Steve does. Companies make products customers will buy. Apple makes products that Steve wants.

To the reporter:
If it was going to be off the record I would have said no thanks and hung up. By knowing the info here is in a no win situation. He can't tell anyone. If the info leaks out, Steve will blame him.

As to Steve:
I feel that if he is able to do his job then he doesn't need to disclose his health issues.

 

[a cat *miaow*]

Correct. Where, in Mac OS X, is a right click necessary? The times are few and far between. Manipulating links in Safari is one of the few times I can think of.

Regardless, Apple has addressed right-clicking for the a masses: the Mighty Mouse has four "buttons" and if you have a post-2005 Apple laptop, put two fingers on the trackpad and click. You're also free to use any other mouse.

That's all I'll say, since this topic has been beaten to death over the past few decades. And personally, I like keystrokes and modifier keys whenever possible.

* OK, the Mac has this too in the Safari toolbar and in the dock. It's still bad design, but I can't think of an alternative.

I can't wait for the single-touch tablet with ctrl key..
why use one hand when you can use two!?

 

[maccompaq]

I personally like the one one button. Plus it is what makes apple computer apple. The only way I would want the second button was if I was booted into windows.

With my new Hackintosh, I am using a PS2 keyboard and a Logitech optical mouse plugged into a USB port. The right click button works in Leopard.

 

[Not FSJ]

\
I actually saw him in person at the apple store in Palo Alto Ca. a few weeks ago.
He did look very thin. Allot more so, than in the WWDC photos.

Did you take any photos of Steve Jobs?

Sounds like a jerk now.

That's why he has so real friends.

Steve didn't want to have to call this guy up and share the details with him, but he did it to shut him up for the sake of the company and the shareholders.

Exactly.

This was a very smart way for Steve to handle it. He confided in someone with a LEGAL basis to withhold information while also having the CREDIBILITY to report accurately the conclusion. A SPECIAL MASTER of sorts.

Right on.

The reporter is ethically bound to keep it off the record[QUOTE/]

So true.

If the reporter divulged something that was off the record then he's pretty much out of a job because no source would ever talk to him again.

Right on.

Wow! What a load of bollocky speculation! Read the goddamn "introduction" Jobs served the reporter. Pure intimidation tactics: Try to throw the reporter off his legs, surpirse him, and while you're at it, make it personal, first by pretending the reporter has a specific opinion, and then you go on to attack his integrity as a journalist. Politicians have been using those tactic for decades.

Further, Jobs apparently was very annoyed byt his particular reporter, otherwise why the hell would he phone him in person, secondly, by forcing the reporter to promise to go off-the-record, yet divulging information, the moment the reporter then talks about this or that, the reporter will be in an ethical dilemma, because he promised not to divulge any of it, no matter if he had gotten it more or less correct in the precious article. So you guys seriously think that Jobs phoned him for no other purpose than to chat with "another high powered person" and to divulge this in order to NOT shut him up?

You got it.

You're leaving out the part about what happened after the introduction. I can guarantee that the reporter was not complaining about getting Jobs on the line. Not just anyone gets that kind of personal attention from Jobs.
You call it dastardly intimidation of a "free" press. I call it "This is how Jobs deals with people."

This is how he deals with some people.

The reporter got the info on Thursday. Released it late Saturday?

So if he anticipated a pop in the stock on this news (which I expect a bit), he had all day Friday to load up shares while sitting on the story. Lucky him.

Editor decides when story runs.

I'm sure SJ is a very good businessman, but i don't think he's a very nice guy. I bet he intimidates all his employees. And he apparently parks in the disabled spot at the offices.

He sounds like a jerk, great businessman you can't deny but an unpleasant person to be around.

He is.

How about we all send him an iCard instead. Oh...wait....never mind

He does not accept postal at personal residence: it is forwarded to Cupertino.

 

[Full of Win]

You must be very young or forgot that Apple was on brink of going out of business before Steve came back. Many people and investors feel Steve is Apple. I don't think there is anyone in Apple who can give them the single minded direction Steve does. Companies make products customers will buy. Apple makes products that Steve wants.

To the reporter:
If it was going to be off the record I would have said no thanks and hung up. By knowing the info here is in a no win situation. He can't tell anyone. If the info leaks out, Steve will blame him.

As to Steve:
I feel that if he is able to do his job then he doesn't need to disclose his health issues.

Major issues over the next OS - yes
On the brink of going out of business - there is some debate on this, since I don't know the answer, I'll stop here.

 

[lfhdez]

dang...

Where's an iCard when you need one



~L

 

[OllyW]

With my new Hackintosh, I am using a PS2 keyboard and a Logitech optical mouse plugged into a USB port. The right click button works in Leopard.

That's nothing new, the right click has worked with OS X for years.

The mighty mouse has a right click button and you can do a two finger right click on the notebooks. I can't see what the fuss is any more.

 

[BigD58]

phew I was worried that's a big relief. Apple wouldn't be apple without Steve.