Published Thursday, January 14, 8:37 AM
Updated Friday, January 15, 9:30 AM
Now that Macworld is over, the news has been released that Apple devotees have known for months but have not wanted to acknowledge -- Steve Jobs is seriously ill.
Steve Jobs, the Chief Executive Officer of Apple, announced yesterday that he was leaving his position on a medical leave until at least June.
In December, Apple announced that Jobs would not make his customary keynote speech at Macworld Expo, the independent tradeshow/love fest that had been originally developed around the Mac computer. For at least a year, rumors abounded that Jobs was seriously ill as his weight had plummeted. At the June 2008 announcement of the 2nd generation IPhone, Jobs looked absolutely gaunt.
When the December announcement came that Jobs would not make the keynote speech at Macworld, Apple's stock dropped, and just before Macworld opened, Apple made a new announcement that Job's doctors (who presumably were the best and had been working on Jobs for years) suddenly found he suffered from a hormonal problem that caused the weight loss. Apple's stock rebounded.
The Apple's products -- the Mac line of computers, the IPod line and the IPhone -- have engendered a cult like following. I have to admit, I was a member of this cult. In 1984, I was led into a room at the University of Chicago with 10 other members of the staff of the Computation Center and told to sign a non disclosure statement by an Apple executive.
On the table in front of us was something covered with a silken cloth. After the forms where signed, and when the interminable pep talk was over, the cloth was removed and the original Mac was revealed. I was in love, and stayed in love with that funky square box until my latest one died on November 11 2006 (like someone quitting smoking, I know the date).
And the cult? When tech reviewers like David Pogue of the New York Times and Rob Pegoraro of the Washington Post have given less than stellar reviews to Apple products they have had their mail boxes filled by Apple lovers criticizing their objectivity.
So why is it big news that Jobs is taking medical leave now?
First, it is hard to believe that after losing so much weight for so long, Jobs' highly paid doctors only discovered his problems after the uproar following the Macworld announcement.
Apple's Board of Directors, which represents the interests of the shareholders, has a obligation to ensure that the "chief man" is able to do the job, or must to spend the sums necessary to ensure he is able to do so. Secondly, the Board has an obligation to insure that all important news regarding the health of the company is made public so the shareholders can act in their best interest.
In my opinion, Jobs did not JUST discover the reason for his illness, and he, and perhaps the Apple Board of Directors, have not been totally forthcoming with information about his health.
**** Why is all this important?
Jobs IS Apple. He has spearheaded every major change Apple has made since his return to the company in 1997. He has driven the rise in the market share of Mac computers; he drove the design of the IPod family and the IPhone.
His iconic personality led to the development of the Mac/IPod/IPhone cult which allows Apple to sell its products at a premium which some analysts believe is unwarranted.
Apple will go on without Jobs until June, but there is no clear successor -- his management style insured that -- and it is hard for a cult to transfer its loyalty.
Secondly, although Apple has many brilliant technical people, in my opinion, there is no visionary like Jobs who can imagine a need for a product, imagine a product to fill that need, and design such a perfect product that people will pay a premium for it.
In my opinion, Apple will go on, but I seriously wonder if there will there be another revolutionary product from Apple like the Mac computer, the IPod or the IPhone.
********
Update: Friday, January 15
I wrote my entry on Thursday morning; on Friday, the major media hopped on the band wagon:
The Washington Post published an article today detailing the responsibilities that the Board of Directors has regarding Jobs' health as I discussed. This responsibility was defined in a 1976 US Supreme Court ruling.
CNET, the technology website of CBS, published a long analysis Friday on how Apple supposedly got to the point where Jobs had to take medical leave. CNET professes to have inside information, but misses the crucial 1976 Supreme Court ruling that the Board bore the legal responsibility to reveal information regarding the company if "there is a substantial likelihood that a reasonable shareholder would consider it important."
Fortune published Friday online a damning analysis of the way in which the major media outlets (the Wall Street Journal, New York Times, CNBC) had reported on Jobs' illness in the past and includes a link to Wednesday's now infamous out of control interview that CNBC's Steve Goldman had with Newsweek's Dan Lyons (the "Fake Steve Jobs)
As it is early, I expect many more will hop on this band wagon during the day, (However, I suggest you use Google if you want to follow it. As I wrote this, Yahoo had none of these links.)
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