Is Steve Jobs really in charge?
In what reads like a strategic leak from Apple's (AAPL) Cupertino boardroom, the Wall Street Journal reports in its Saturday edition that Steve Jobs — half-way through a six-month medical leave — still "maintains [his] grip" on the company from his Palo Alto, Calif., home.
But the evidence the Journal offers doesn't go much beyond Jobs' January statement to Apple's staff that he planned "to stay involved in major strategic decisions while [he was] out."
Citing unnamed "people familiar with the matter," the Journal writes that Jobs …
- Regularly reviews products and product plans
- Was particularly involved in the user interface of iPhone OS 3.0
- Is involved in the development of future projects
As examples of future products that Jobs might be working on, the Journal mentions two: the new iPhone models expected this summer and a portable device that is "smaller than its current laptop computers but bigger than the iPhone or iPod touch."
But it's common knowledge in Silicon Valley that Apple is working on these devices, and it's not clear if the Journal's sources for this part of its story know anything about the level of Jobs' involvement in them.
The only other nugget of news in the Journal's account is buried near the bottom:
"Some of these people also say members of Apple's board of directors are monitoring the situation directly, communicating regularly with Mr. Jobs's physicians."
It's not surprising that the board would want to know how their CEO is doing — especially a CEO as closely identified with his company as Jobs — but direct communication with his physicians goes beyond the usual bounds of doctor-patient confidentiality. It suggests that the board of directors may have played a deeper role in Jobs' abrupt decision to take a medical leave than has hitherto been reported.
Apple has not yet returned a request for comment.
Jobs was treated for a rare form of operable pancreatic cancer in 2004 and announced afterward that the operation was a success. But concerns about his health resurfaced last June when he appeared in public looking markedly thinner. In January he said he had a hormone imbalance that was "relatively simple and straightforward" to treat, then announced 10 days later that he was taking six months off to focus on health problems that were "more complex" than he initially thought.
In the interim, COO Tim Cook has been running Apple's day-to-day operations — as he has been for some years now — and the company seems to be doing just fine. Its shares have risen 40% since Jobs announced his leave, closing before the Easter holiday at $119.57. Second quarter earnings are scheduled to be announced on April 22.
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Steve Jobs' bold-facing lieing about his health crippled Apple's stock price and cost billions of dollars in losses to the company's shareholders. You can't own stock in a company run by such a man. I'd rather invest with Bernie Madoff.
Steve Jobs is no longer in charge at Apple. The recent tiered price structure at iTunes is evidence of that leadership change. Last year Jobs fought the record companies tooth and nail to maintain a unified price for all single downloads. This year Apple made the price change before Amazon and WalMart.
Jobs is gone. Long live Apple!
When Steve announced his medical leave, my colleague David Goldes wrote a great article, The Third Post-Steve Jobs Era. For those who are interested, it's online at http://www.basexblog.com/2009/01/15/the-third-post-steve-jobs-era/
I don't think the comment about "open source" means to have an "identical model" to the software open source. It refers to the non-proprietary nature of open source development. It doesn't have to be individuals that contribute to the goal, but all pharmaceutical companies (big or small). If instead of having independent research labs, they were able to collaborate, for the good of humanity (instead of for dollars in profit), one wonders whether this could lead to better drugs, lower research costs and shorter development times.
An article with unknown sources of likely dubious quality saying nothing much at all. I'd love to know why The Times prints this stuff.
I think this is just the shorts at it again trying to bring this topic back into the news now that Apple stock is starting to really move.
What a great strategy, if it's true it means nothing. Yet, if it's not true, it puts pressure on the board to set things straight because the shareholders are being mislead and expectations are building. Before this there was little disappointment if Steve didn't come back, these folks are trying to build in some downside to the possibility he doesn't return when there was none before. His non-return was now clearly baked into the stock price.
Personally, it's time for Steve to retire. His 'puritan ideology' was great to build a long term vision, but now gets in the way of Apple selling more to the masses. I don't know how many people I've talked to that would love an iPhone if it only had a slide-out keyboard. Or, who would buy an Apple TV if it only incorporated a nice DVR. Steve sees these as compromises that sell-out the vision. In fact, this choices would sell a lot of product and bring the masses to the doorstep of the new vision and therefore help attain it. Apple will never lose the long term vision, but they just need to be slightly more pragmatic on the steps necessary to get there. Steve's retirement will help that side of the equation, while the love of breakthrough technology is already so deeply embedded within all Apple employees that there is nothing to worry about there. It's time for Steve to enjoy some time with his family and I hope he has a long and healthy retirement.
Stev-O is is the process of "becoming". He is slowly being turned into a cyborg, like the ultimate iPod, but with a historically collectable biological processor.
I note that this story gives Stev-o credit for iPhone OS 3.0. Sure. I am sure that was all the work of the divine being himself.
the 3.0 is VERY ace. If you haven't got it yet, you don't have the full iPhone. You are basically getting rolled for your phone bill.
Philip:
>>but direct communication with his physicians
>>goes beyond the usual bounds of
>>doctor-patient confidentiality
Remember, the board includes Art Levinson (of Genentech), who while not an MD, is a PhD in biochemistry and is well versed in health issues. If I knew Levinson personally and was sick, I would involve him as much as he was willing to be involved in my health care.
Srikanth, You don't have open source pharmaceuticals for the same reason you don't have open source framework in the nuclear engineering field… it doesn't make sense. It's helpful to offer open source software because anyone can start messing with software on their home desktop, but you can't just be like hey i'm gonna start making cancer drugs in my home lab… c'mon think about it.
So, the author here expects us to think that Steve, who completely turned this company around, makes a dollar a year and hasn't sold a share of stock since he's been back (meaning, he's in it for the love of the company and what Apple produces) sudden;y just goes home to rest and ignores everything that is going on. You have to be a complete idiot to question whether he is still involved in major decisions about Apple and it's products, etc.
ex ped: You misread the author. He's not saying that Jobs is not keeping an eye on things from home. He's questioning whether the story on the front page of today's Wall Street Journal has much news in it, or supports a headline that says "Jobs maintains grip on Apple."
Steve Jobs is nothing less than a 'God' in the tech industry. It will be a sad day on earth when he is usurped from the Apple throne. I wish the board of directors would allow someone in his blood-line to take control, effectively starting a dynasty to last the centuries.
Modern sanitation has much more to do with the eradication of disease. There is no denying modern medicine has helped, but look at all the increase in cancers and developmental disorders that can be directly attributed to no just modern medicine but pharmacology as a whole industry with the many unnecessary additives to food, drinks and other ingested substances. Balance is the key word.
So, it's Big Pharma that's the problem with Steve Jobs. The guy who refused modern therapy upon learning he had pancreatic cancer. I believe he decided on diet therapy until spmeone finally convinced him that the only proper scientific treatment was surgery. You don't think that 6 month delay altered his outcome do you?
And BTW, you'll live to be around 80 at present because of modern medicine. At the beginning of the 20th century the average American male lived to be 43. Your children haven't died from Scarlet Fever, the way one of Darwin's did, you don't know anyone with polio, you have never seen a case of smallpox, diptheria, pertussis, yellow fever and probably not malaria – if you live in the US or Europe. Why? Because of modern medicine, which Big Pharma is a part of.
What an amazing guy. I wish the medical community was so passionate about what they do, as much as Steve Jobs is about the products his team produces.
He would not be in this situation if they did their job. The technology they use in Finance, Childrens games etc, is still miles away from being used in the Pharma industry. What a shame.
Why can't Pharma industry be an opensource development like the Linux, Apache or other softwares, atleast for diseases like Cancer, Aids etc.
That WSJ article was an article about nothing.
This article is an article about article about nothing.