Let's talk about Steve's health

[Boz]

I've been watching past WWDCs recently and Steve is looking worse and worse. I think that the whole flu excuse is really a cover up for the shareholders. I'm seriously thinking that his cancer is back.

This makes me sad. I really hope I'm wrong but judging by his weakness and me myself losing my mom 2 years ago to cancer these are usually pretty clear signs that he might be struggling with cancer again.

What do you guys think?

In general, although I would be really sad if it happened, if it really is cancer and Steve Jobs dies, what happens to Apple?

I've listened to TWiT podcast where they were discussing this too and everybody was pretty much on the same page by saying that Apple is pretty much doomed as there is noone who Steve trained personally to take over Apple in the same way he did. We've already witnessed almost the end of Apple when Steve left.

What happens if Apple loses Steve? It doesn't seem too bright of a future.

Previous keynote:

Last Keynote:

Edited June 18, 2008 by Boz

[Hurmoth]

I don't know. I don't think there's anything wrong. He's probably under a lot of stress and this could be just stress related weight loss. I think it if was serious they would have announced it.

Better to have a few bad days on the stock market due to this than to have a complete meltdown when he dies unexpectedly.

[Blaine]

Hopefully he is still a long way from death (if he does have cancer again), because if he was nearly gone I don't think he would have even been at WWDC.

I wasn't concerned about his heath in the least bit before watching the keynote. Then as I was watching I remember thinking he looked really bad and thin.

But I thought it may have just been me. Then I read posts of others who said the same thing.

I am worried about him and sure hope he will be around for many more years.

I don't even want to think about watching a keynote without him in it.

Hopefully there will be a special event soon and he'll come back looking better than ever. I sure hope so... :cry:

[MMaster23]

I don't like linking to ArschTech but here it is: http://arstechnica.com/journals/apple.ars/...h-of-steve-jobs

About 2 weeks ago I saw an article that said Apple did the worst job on the whole cancer problem when it comes to being honest to the public and, more important, the shareholders.

If Jobs didn't made it back then, they would have allot of issues with their shareholders and, believe it or not, could have been sued for it.

An Apple without Jobs isn't Apple... which is bad .. the company shouldn't rely that much on one, albeit great, man.. bad from a business perspective.

Sure hope Jobs will get better. That photo is awefull...

[The2]

I was thinking the same thing. He looks worse every WWDC ... But he is getting old(er) too.

[+shift. MVC]

At first I thought you meant Steve as in Neobond...

[Boz]

Also pay attention that from keynote to keynote he is talking less and less.. he intros the keynote and then brings others to speak about other stuff more often now..

Remember, these keynotes were mostly him with only quick interruptions from guests.

He's obviously very weak.

Also.. it was obvious back in 2003/2004 that the cancer was very aggressive:

It turns out that doctors found the the tumor in October of 2003 during a routine scan. While a biopsy revealed that the cancer was a rare but treatable form, Jobs opted to try and treat the cancer with a special diet. Jobs is a long-time Buddhist and vegetarian, and though research has shown diet to be effective in reversing coronary disease and even slow prostate cancer, surgery is so effective for this type of cancer that most patients live 10 years or more after treatment. Jobs tried treating the cancer with the special diet for nine months until follow-up scans showed the tumor was growing. He then had the surgery in July 2004, when most of us found out about it, and after a relatively short recovery, was back at Apple.

[Lighthalzen]

I hope Steve will be OK too, I love him as much as I love Bill Gates :)

[crazzy88ss]

If Jobs died today, Apple has so many incredible projects lined up over the next ~2 years that they'll be fine for at least the next 5-8 years.

[sn00pie]

I'm sure without him they could continue to pump out good products but it wouldn't be the same.

If he were to die in the near future, it would really be devastating to Apple. I'd imagine there shares would drop to the floor and the company would have to try to build itself back up.

I hope he does not have cancer as I have had a personal experience with cancer taking a life in my family as well. The results are devastating to the family and I'm sure Steve's death would be devastating to the family of Apple workers and supporters.

Hopefully its not as bad as people say it is and its just age catching up to him. Just tell him to save energy and find a new guy to do the keynotes. :yes:

[instant.human]

oh my god... i didnt watch the keynote this time, only the live tickers and while reading your post, i only saw the top picture and all the time thought "man, he looks like always" but then i scrolled down and i was really shocked...

really, not because he is mister apple, i hope he is fine...

and, i am a little shocked about how you seem to deal with all that, if its something, at least.

i mean... "what happens to apple when steve dies"?! what happens to his wife? to his relatives?

and maybe, if all that was covered, maybe then we could ask for what happend to apple IF he died, which of course we all dont even dare to think about because it would be a loss of a human life and not just something the apple stocks would react to.

no offense here, just to make that clear but... man...

Edited June 18, 2008 by instant.human

[Chad]

I ran across this article the other day, talking about the type of surgery he had done a couple years back.

Another interesting read http://apple20.blogs.fortune.cnn.com/2008/...er-the-whipple/

Jobs isn't so much the idea-man as he is the guy who sees an idea and knows if it will work or not. He provided much-needed stability for a floundering Apple when he came back. Him leaving wouldn't affect Apple's bottom line as much as it would affect it's stock. They could continue to make money hand over fist but see a huge drop in stock because of some jittery brokers/investors.

[Cara Veteran]

Seriously, people should be sending these well wishes into Steve, I'm sure he'd appreciate hearing that the community is concerned for his health. :) He is a showman, he likes to know his 'fans' are out there guys. :) I know nothing of if he is sick again, as this information is never released by Steve or anyone who knows, but I know my own well wishes are with him as well!

That being said, Apple will remain Apple when that dark day comes that the pirate flag must be flown half mast... For the past few years, Steve has been setting up Apple with some of the most innovative and free thinking designers that he could get his hands on and I would say he has the best team this side of Google. :) Apple will move forward, though I feel the direction will be slightly changed from some of the visions that Steve has held for Apple throughout the years, it will still be Apple and the innovative products you have come to know and love will still all be there. :)

[Quillz]

Let's talk about Steve Ballmer's health. I hope his vocal cords are alright after all that enthusiasm he's displayed over the years.

[Srugie Veteran]

It's a real shame how much worse his looks between the two keynotes.

[sanctified Veteran]

Seriously, people should be sending these well wishes into Steve, I'm sure he'd appreciate hearing that the community is concerned for his health. :) He is a showman, he likes to know his 'fans' are out there guys. :) I know nothing of if he is sick again, as this information is never released by Steve or anyone who knows, but I know my own well wishes are with him as well!

That being said, Apple will remain Apple when that dark day comes that the pirate flag must be flown half mast... For the past few years, Steve has been setting up Apple with some of the most innovative and free thinking designers that he could get his hands on and I would say he has the best team this side of Google. :) Apple will move forward, though I feel the direction will be slightly changed from some of the visions that Steve has held for Apple throughout the years, it will still be Apple and the innovative products you have come to know and love will still all be there. :)

Im reading between lines that you are confirming that Steve's health its indeed declining.

[pdmcmahon]

Seriously, people should be sending these well wishes into Steve, I'm sure he'd appreciate hearing that the community is concerned for his health. :) He is a showman, he likes to know his 'fans' are out there guys. :) I know nothing of if he is sick again, as this information is never released by Steve or anyone who knows, but I know my own well wishes are with him as well!

That being said, Apple will remain Apple when that dark day comes that the pirate flag must be flown half mast... For the past few years, Steve has been setting up Apple with some of the most innovative and free thinking designers that he could get his hands on and I would say he has the best team this side of Google. :) Apple will move forward, though I feel the direction will be slightly changed from some of the visions that Steve has held for Apple throughout the years, it will still be Apple and the innovative products you have come to know and love will still all be there. :)

Cara, thank you for displaying a more mature insight into this. As much as I am huge fan of Steve and the greatness that is Apple, I truly hope for the well-being and long life of the man versus the CEO. Apple is a truly solid company and as you mentioned, he has been somewhat grooming Forstall, Ive or maybe Schiller to take the lead when the day comes for him to step aside. Let us not forget kids, Jobs is merely the front and in some ways, the lead salesman of this company, but there are many a talented designer behind the scenes and they will continue to build amazing products based on what we, the customer, dictate by our purchasing power and loyalty.

I heard a great quote from one of the higher up folks at my company, which has 24K employees. Basically, he said that "if I were to leave today, there might be a hiccup for 7 or 8 seconds, but then we would be right back at it and no one would notice"

Great companies are formed by teams of great people, not by one single person. If it was just Steve, then they wouldn't need the other 17,787 people.

[Kupo-Cheer]

I've gained a great deal of respect for Steve over the years (this from a person who has never owned an Apple product, but that doesn't matter). I hope everything is okay. I personally think this is a non-issue that the internet has blown out of proportion, but there is no denying the man has thinned down to an unhealthy level.

[rvbfan]

Maybe he discovered jogging?

Not being factitious or anything.

[sanctified Veteran]

Maybe he discovered jogging?

Not being factitious or anything.

I dont know, its easy to detect an unhealthy loss of weight. Steve looks worn down.

Maybe he discovered jogging?

Not being factitious or anything.

I dont know, its easy to detect an unhealthy loss of weight. Steve looks worn down.

[oldaccount1]

Watch the whole keynote. I think he looks fine. Yeah, a tad thin, but fine.

[»X«]

Its the jeans that make me laugh every time I see the keynote.

[Cara Veteran]

Im reading between lines that you are confirming that Steve's health its indeed declining.

Not at all. :) I bet Steve is annoyed that his weight drew more attention than most of WWDC. ;)

Cara, thank you for displaying a more mature insight into this. As much as I am huge fan of Steve and the greatness that is Apple, I truly hope for the well-being and long life of the man versus the CEO. Apple is a truly solid company and as you mentioned, he has been somewhat grooming Forstall, Ive or maybe Schiller to take the lead when the day comes for him to step aside. Let us not forget kids, Jobs is merely the front and in some ways, the lead salesman of this company, but there are many a talented designer behind the scenes and they will continue to build amazing products based on what we, the customer, dictate by our purchasing power and loyalty.

I heard a great quote from one of the higher up folks at my company, which has 24K employees. Basically, he said that "if I were to leave today, there might be a hiccup for 7 or 8 seconds, but then we would be right back at it and no one would notice"

Great companies are formed by teams of great people, not by one single person. If it was just Steve, then they wouldn't need the other 17,787 people.

People are right to remember the days when Steve was gone at Apple, however that was during the days of a company without a path, CEO's who thought the path to success was through becoming a PC instead of staying true to the Innovation that Apple was founded on. Now in the 21st Century, Apple's path and direction are very well defined and have a stable, proven, business model for the company to follow in any event. Investors would indeed freak out, I'd buy TONS of Apple stock when that happens so that when things turn around I could retire. ;)

I can honestly say that some of the designers I work with on a day to day basis are truly the best of the best in their respective fields, I often feel completely out of my league which tells me that Apple is not going anywhere! :)

I've gained a great deal of respect for Steve over the years (this from a person who has never owned an Apple product, but that doesn't matter). I hope everything is okay. I personally think this is a non-issue that the internet has blown out of proportion, but there is no denying the man has thinned down to an unhealthy level.

Agreed, people are making more of this than they should.

[StevoJD]

Well he is getting older, and at first I thought he just slimmed to avoid any health issues in the future, since he did look a tad overweight before.

If Steve really is ill, I can only wish the best for the guy. He's moved the technology industry forward, and to be honest computers wouldn't be what they are right now without him.