Whether he leaves the company or not is a given. My beef is that I believe that Steve Jobs is dying, and the company isn't being forthright about it. I'm a nurse working in critical care for the last 17 years, and every single recent picture of him I've seen, I think to my self, "He's dying".
I could be wrong, but in 17 years of this business, I've never heard of anyone being cured of pancreatic cancer with a liver transplant. It sounds very much like a "Hail Mary" cure. To start, organ transplants are very rarely a cure for anything. What they are is a devil's bargain where they exchange the disease that's killing you quickly and get rid of your immune system instead.
But, cancer patients usually gain weight after they are in remission. So, my guess is that Steve still has cancer, and he has no immune system now.
So, I believe that Steve is dying. And, I don't think that the company is being forthright about it. I also believe that lack of transparency and honesty is terribly irresponsible since their stock price has been skyrocketing the last couple of years[1].
I don't think that the damage will be solely in the PR department. The company has created a mythology of Steve Jobs being not only the public face of AAPL, but the soul of the company as well.
Couple that with AAPL's notorious secrecy/lack of transparency and you're going to have big problems with Steve gone. AAPL was able to manage the antenna issues of the iPhone 4 while eating a bit of crow. But, when Steve is gone, then next antenna type problem they have is going to be read by the media as "Steve is gone! AAPL is going down the drain!" in the media.
He had pancreatic cancer in 2003. If he still "had" it, wouldn't he be pretty dead?
I dunno. We mythologize the guy, but, he's a human being. After being diagnosed with pancreatic cancer, a death sentence, and then learning that he had the super-rare kind that could be cured surgically, he... went on a special diet. He strikes me as maybe the kind of guy who doesn't want to be dying.
So put yourself in Apple's position. You've got Steve Jobs at the helm. Jobs can only make it in 2 days a week and can't make it to caf for lunch. But he doesn't want to be dying. What is the board going to tell him? It's not like "doctors" are the White Council of Middle Earth who will speak with one voice and say "the verdict is you are dying".
What you say about organ transplants and immune systems and a 55 year old guy with a history of cancer makes sense. And it made me kind of sad.
Meanwhile, the market priced Jobs health a long time ago.
"He had pancreatic cancer in 2003. If he still "had" it, wouldn't he be pretty dead?"
I wrote a long post and then deleted it.
I just don't think this is the place for speculation of any kind.
There are tons of stats and bits of info out there ( http://www.cancerhelp.org.uk/type/pancreatic-cancer/http://info.cancerresearchuk.org/cancerstats/types/pancreas/... ). It's a hugely sensitive area anyway (the realities are bleak, a friend of mine passed last winter only 3 weeks after diagnosis) and where it affects a man like Steve Jobs and we all have a huge lack of information... well I just don't think we should be wildly speculating. Whatever happens, happens... so it goes.
> I also believe that lack of transparency and honesty is
> terribly irresponsible since their stock price has been
> skyrocketing the last couple of years[1].
Skyrocketing because of the CEO health, or because of the performance of the company? Don't forget, Jobs was also on medical leave for the good part of said couple of years.
Of course I am biased there, because for me, as outsider, all stock market stuff looks to be driven by most stupid things.
I could be wrong, but in 17 years of this business, I've never heard of anyone being cured of pancreatic cancer with a liver transplant. It sounds very much like a "Hail Mary" cure. To start, organ transplants are very rarely a cure for anything. What they are is a devil's bargain where they exchange the disease that's killing you quickly and get rid of your immune system instead.
But, cancer patients usually gain weight after they are in remission. So, my guess is that Steve still has cancer, and he has no immune system now.
So, I believe that Steve is dying. And, I don't think that the company is being forthright about it. I also believe that lack of transparency and honesty is terribly irresponsible since their stock price has been skyrocketing the last couple of years[1].
I don't think that the damage will be solely in the PR department. The company has created a mythology of Steve Jobs being not only the public face of AAPL, but the soul of the company as well.
Couple that with AAPL's notorious secrecy/lack of transparency and you're going to have big problems with Steve gone. AAPL was able to manage the antenna issues of the iPhone 4 while eating a bit of crow. But, when Steve is gone, then next antenna type problem they have is going to be read by the media as "Steve is gone! AAPL is going down the drain!" in the media.
ref:
[1] http://www.google.com/finance?client=ob&q=NASDAQ:AAPL