Now Apple's credibility really is in the balance

If you're an Apple shareholder or employee, the good news is that Steve Jobs' health is not in any immediate danger.

Or so we're supposed to surmise from the cryptic note issued by Jobs early Monday on the state of his health--and the even more cryptic note put out by his employer.

At the unveiling of new MacBooks in October, Steve Jobs tersely addressed concerns about his health: "That's all we'll talk about with Steve's health today. Want to see (his blood pressure) higher? Just ask him more questions."

(Credit: James Martin/CNET News)

Here's the relevant text from Jobs' statement Monday:

As many of you know, I have been losing weight throughout 2008. The reason has been a mystery to me and my doctors. A few weeks ago, I decided that getting to the root cause of this and reversing it needed to become my #1 priority.

Fortunately, after further testing, my doctors think they have found the cause--a hormone imbalance that has been "robbing" me of the proteins my body needs to be healthy. Sophisticated blood tests have confirmed this diagnosis.

The remedy for this nutritional problem is relatively simple and straightforward, and I've already begun treatment. But, just like I didn't lose this much weight and body mass in a week or a month, my doctors expect it will take me until late this Spring to regain it. I will continue as Apple's CEO during my recovery.

OK, it's great to know that he's not facing a cancer recurrence, as some had speculated. Jobs is a tech icon and the industry would be much the poorer were he to retire from the scene. But this latest PR stunt is going to raise new questions. Not about the exact nature of Jobs' ailment but about the parsimonious way Apple has communicated with the public about the health of its CEO.

Until now, the mantra was "Steve's health is a private matter, Steve is our CEO." The impression Apple wanted to leave was that everything's just fine at the helm. That shaded the truth--and I'm being charitable here. At this point, how can you trust the official chronology offered up by Jobs and Apple? Even with Monday's statements, I can't call it communication so much as stonewalling.

True to form, Apple won't care a fig what outsiders may think. "Just keep on buying and don't bother us with the rest of it." Talk about a reality distortion field.

See also:
• Steve Jobs discloses hormone imbalance
• Health concerns force Apple's Jobs from Macworld
• Apple's last Macworld beginning of new era

Click here for more Macworld Expo coverage from CNET News.

[webdevtj]

The man has a right to privacy. He acknowledged there is a problem, confirmed that it has been on going for months, assured the public that he is working towards resolution with his doctors, and even gave a time frame for expected recovery. This was not a stonewall if you ask me. Jobs/Apple gave adequate information for shareholders. The real complaint behind this article, the media has nothing tangible to complain about or run scare stories on to shake the public and bring in more readers or cause Apples stock to drop based on media created fear.

[Seaspray0]

True, but he's also CEO for a publicly traded company. Although he did provide adequate information for stock holders, it doesn't leave a good impression when the company PR says one thing and it's revealed later that what they said isn't true.

[waytoougly]

There are plenty of publicly-traded companies with CEOs for which we know little to nothing. The only reason this is news is that the media considers the counterpart to Bill Gates is a news item. Jobs is as important to Apple as Gates is to Microsoft. With the departure of Gates, MS seems to be getting along just fine. The same can be said of Apple regardless of Jobs' health. This is not news, and Coop's right: nobody asked him!

[jjesusfreak01]

Gates set MS up as a company that could work well without him, as he made very few of the day to day decisions and didn't generally work directly on products. If Apple loses Jobs, they lose the chief design architect of their products, as well as their ceo.

[mandelbomb]

Steve is the Captain of the Apple ship and a great judge of the direction the ship should go, however its employees are the designer and engineers that make the products. As pointed out by Apple itself, there are a lot of talented people at Apple,not just Jobs.

[davidsmi]

When a company says one thing, then a few weeks says another, there is very little reasons to belive that either statement is true!

Apple stock is up - so people seem not to be worried about it.

[kool_skatkat]

I don't want a day to day doctor's report about Steve's health. Is Apple a one man show? What it says is that it was nothing sudden. It would be irresponsible to have a false alarm out there. Didn't Jobs him self say that "...death is the best invention of life"?

[catch23]

Yes, Apple is currently a one man show. Few can name anyone at Apple except Jobs.
He is credited ( rightly or wrongly) with single-handedly saving the company from oblivion.

If an individual is accredited with being the only reason a company is afloat, when that individual leaves, the company sinks.

[Seaspray0]

With one difference, catch23... Apple is floating very well right now. Even if he was credited for saving the company, his departure would not sink it. It would take years of bad management afterwards to do that.

[kool_skatkat]

Some people seem confused... there are two things that they have said:
One - Apple will no longer do Macworld (nothing to do with Steve)
Two - Phill will do the last Macworld (something to do with Steve)
No contradiction in my mind.

[ittesi259]

The fact that Apple's stock is tied so much to the health of its CEO is sad on the part of its shareholders....I highly doubt Dell's stock would have every dropped on health concerns with Michael Dell, nor would HP shareholders given a care in the world if Fiorna had breast cancer. This is ridiculous.

[smilin:)]

disclaimer: MS fanboy here

It's good news that Steve isn't having anything more serious. Honestly though the details of his health problems are really nobodys business.

The public and shareholders only need (and are privledged to) the answer to a single true/false question: Is Steve healthy enough to perform his duties as CEO. Right now the answer is: True. End of story.

The only reason Apple is waffling on what information to hand out is because they are trying to do the right thing by keeping this private and limited to the question I just mentioned. If Steve comes forth to provide more information then that is his prerogative and it has nothing to do with Apple. When he chooses to provide more information that Apple has then the media should just say thanks then ****. Apple must continue to keep everything else in line with general HR guidelines. They are not being dishonest or even less than honest at all.

All the little leaches in the media and blogosphere should give it a rest.

[polaris20]

Well I'm an Apple fanboy, and I agree with you, sir!

[stephen_123]

I expect better from CNET than this. 1) The note is simply not cryptic. 2) There is no publicity stunt. 3) Apple's communication has been totally consistent and much more extensive than a corporation would normally give about the health of it's CEO. 4) There is nothing strange about saying one thing when the doctors have one diagnosis and announcing the new diagnosis when the doctors have a new diagnosis. This is honesty and transparency not Stonewalling. 5) To suggest Apple doesn't care what their customers think is obviously absurd. Apples business strategy is all about caring what their customers think. 6) The last sentence ("Talk about a reality distortion field.") is a random, senseless, mean jab in an article about a mans health.

[iertry]

How is the note 'cryptic'? It's simple, he has a hormone imbalance which took them a while to diagnose. Now that they know the problem he is receiving treatment to correct the problem. Simple.

[rapier1]

How is it cryptic? Well, what hormone imbalance? If its a lipase issues then its probably actually related to the pancreatic cancer even if its not a re-occurrence of the cancer itself. What sort of treatment? What are the long term prospects. Look, in a perfect world Jobs' health wouldn't matter at all - but this isn't a perfect world and his health is of direct importance to shareholders. He really only has himself to blame for that - when you set yourself up as *the* driving force of a company and the font of genius then people are going to worry about your ability to perform. This current round of speculation may never have come up but the Macworld pullout was distressingly ham handed and this announcement only represents a continuation of the clumsy handling of the media and public.

[jeffthegeek]

rapier1 The note is not cryptic, the note outlined that that hormone imbalance is not related to pancreatic cancer the fact that they didn't tell us exactly what the imbalance is is besides the point. As for the treatment what makes you or anyone else think you have the right to know what treatment a doctor has prescribed?

The pull out of MacWorld had nothing to do with Steve, it had to do with the economic situation and is a wise course of action.

[rapier1]

Did you read the same note I did? The one I read didn't say anything about it not being related to the pancreatic cancer. They didn't outline anything except that he 'has a hormone imbalance' which could be anything from hyperthyroidism, to a pituitary tumor, to degeneration of the insulin producing cells in his pancreas (insulin is a hormone after all). His response is a non-response that doesn't actually provide any insight.

As for 'do we have a right' to know any of this? No. None of us have any right to know this information. However, we all have every right to speculate as much as we like. Since Jobs released this note in order to curb speculation it would have been helpful if he released enough information to actually do that. He didn't and that's a mistake.

[andyengle]

How is Apple's credibility in the balance? So their CEO has a health concern -- big deal. He's not the only employee there, and it doesn't sound like his condition is so drastic. They've built their reputation on quality computing software and hardware. I hardly think such a minor health issue ruins their brand.

[rapier1]

The problem is that Apple has not been forthright and transparent in their dealing with the press or public lately. They've had some very public missteps and that has hurt them. The way the entire Macworld pullout has been handled was seriously mismanaged and this is a continuation of that. First Apple says "Well Macworld is 3 weeks away and well, Steve ain't showing up. BTW, this is our last one and we've always been at war with Oceania". This leads to rampant speculation about Apple and Job's health. Instead of addressing it quickly they let it fester until they find it necessary to come out with a release that explains nothing, gives no detail, and will only provoke more speculation. It also puts them in a bad situation where if Steve isn't hale and hearty by May. They're usually better than that.

[aaydogan]

Typical shoddy reporting by cnet in search of a headline that just isn't there. I'm expecting (nay, hoping) cnet to be a casualty of 2008/2009 economic crisis. Hopefully it will be replaced by folks who can actually report on tech....

[montex66]

One question, Cnet: why didn't you post the entire statement released by Jobs and the statement by Apple's board of directors? Did you want to make it look like Apple was being "cryptic"? Pathetic. Anything for a hit, huh? Very poor journalism, cnet. I'm going to MDN from now on.

[Hep Cat]

So, after months of wild speculation, including Gizmodo's irresponsible and possibly fraudulent reporting last week, you're now upset that Apple has some forth and cleared the air? It isn't cryptic at all, except for those of you in the "technology press" who can't seem to understand that if there's something to tell you, Apple will do so. Otherwise, personal matters of company officers are off-limits.

Next week: Bill Gates: Did Asperger's Syndrome Force his Retirement?

[cincytee]

Pop! Pop! Pop!

-- Jerry Espenson,
Partner,
Crane, Poole & Schmidt

[fdunn3]

Let's just hope the best for Steve.

The details are not important.

I am an MS Fanboy but respect Steve, the Woz, and Bill Gates for what they have done for our current state of computing.*

*This is by no means an exhaustive list as so many more, whose names are obscure to most made major contributions.

[ade333]

wow, the fanboith hath commeth inth thith commenth fieldth. barf.

Steve's ailment is probably from all that benzene he breathed in that was being emmitted from his his macbook.

[fdunn3]

I can just hope that if you are in a similar situation that the whole world doesn't need specific details on your STD, Cirrhosis of the liver from binging, overdose from regretting your petty comments, or mental disorder which already seems obvious.

Care to turn over you health records so we can all see what obvious disorder you are suffering from?

[Ian721]

"Just keep on buying and don't bother us with the rest of it. "

Yes, and that's exactly what you and millions of other people will do. Because the fact is that people don't think this hurts Apple's credibility. And even if they do, they know it doesn't hurt their ability to build desirable products (none of which I have ever owned).

[DragonWizard]

Why don't we all just crawl up his backside and have us a good look around.. HOW DARE HE KEEP ANY PART OF HIS LIFE PRIVATE !!! Human beings are truly a wonder to behold, are they NOT ?? How many of you actually have Apple stock, anyway.. Everyone acts like they have a RIGHT to be told everything and even then they would call someone a liar.. Grow up and look after your own life and you will be much happier... I'm going to.. If he were to die I would be greatly sorrowful and would miss him as I do John Lennon, because he is an Icon of a way of life we all share.. I would however not look for someone to blame nor would I cry to everyone about it.. He is entitled to privacy when and if he chooses it. If you TRULY have feelings about this manner then HONOR HIS WISHES... enuf sed!!!

[professionaladventurer]

Apple shareholders are like all shareholders, moved by the lowest common denominator. The dumbest minds sway the market the most.

[johnbbbyrne]

You know, it's simply amazing to read this. There's absolutely ZERO reason for anyone not on Apple's Board of Directors to even receive this level of information. Shareholders aren't entitled to it....and CNET is last in line....

Steve went above and beyond with his letter, and true to form, CNET used it against him and Apple.

Blech

jb

[rapier1]

Its important to shareholders because the Apple Brand is the Steve Jobs Brand and many people are not convinced that Apple can continue to hold its position or grow without Steve Jobs leading the company. Prior history shows that to be a valid concern. So if something is affecting Jobs' health the investors get nervous. Sure, this is partly their own fault but at the same time Jobs has, without a doubt, encouraged this sort of thinking.

[Vegaman_Dan]

The stock price fluctuations clearly indicate that Apple's financial state is closely tied to Steve Jobs' health. When that condition is unknown or even suspect, the stock goes down. When Apple is ambiguous or tight lipped about it, the stock goes down again. When the news comes out that condition is a real one that he's taking steps to resolve it, the stock goes up.

It casts some serious question into what Apple can do if/when Mr. Jobs retires. Their future is very much dependant upon his continued good health. They will need to demonstrate that they can be independant of Steve for their success and dropping out of MacWorld and having Steve take a few steps back may be their way of starting that process.

[Norseman]

Go stand in your corner, Coop. Terrible piece!