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most reporters are ignorant.

they repeat what other ignorant reports say.

They are stock market manipulator douchebags. They do it all the time!

Jul 22, 08 - 01:11 pm Comment from: clinicaltechmaster

The big hedge funds AFTER HOURS dumped tons of shares and artifically depressed Apple's stock price. This was not day traders. This was market manipulation.

Jul 22, 08 - 01:13 pm Comment from: Cubert

"Steve's health is a private matter"

A very different statement made by Apple than what they said at WWDC.

Jul 22, 08 - 01:13 pm Comment from: ericdano

"Journalism".....the lost art.........very lost art.

Apple's stock was down $10 before the quarter's report started at 5:00 pm ET.

I'm fine everyone. I took the day off to swim around in my new money bin.

Steve Jobs might already be dead for all we know.

Jul 22, 08 - 01:30 pm Comment from: Cascadians

After answering umpteen idiotic similar questions, Apple can say it's a private matter. Saying he's OK doesn't shut off the speculation anyway.

Of course they could hold a conference with multiple charts and diagrams of every organ in CT scan 3D, animated, holographic, traveling through every blood vessel, with a panel of Dr commentary, and dissect every hiccup and bowel movement on international TV, as if that would quell the rabid jealous devious scavengers who want to take the polish off Apple's well-deserved success.

Apple might want to have its amusement with a Ross Perot - Ronald Reagan diagram-fest that gives so much info about every body system that med school students will fall asleep. Or they could float a new rumor, "Steve has sex with alien intergalactic monopoly goddess while undergoing surgery for splinx redaction reformation."

Whatever they do, it won't be good enough, will be twisted in multiple bizarre media contortions, and will cause the stock to plummet.

Meanwhile, Apple continues to launch and support excellent products, develop even better ones, and show strong sales.

Wow, incredible. I listen to the CC all the time, and Steve is never there. Everyone knows that.

Steve is quoted in the press release but that's it.

I see the AP is meeting its usual standards for accuracy...

The original Steve Jobs has been dead for decades. The company owns the name. There have been several "Steves" since then. He's just like Lassie...or VC Andrews.

The AP is to news what the radio station played in grocery stores and elevators is to music.

I live in Palo Alto and my wife saw Steve riding his bike with his family the other day. She did say he looked very skinny and maybe sick, but then again, he was riding a bike.

Jul 22, 08 - 01:51 pm Comment from: Ferf Muckmeyer

"Steve Jobs might already be dead for all we know."

Actually, if he was dead, I believe Apple would build an android in his image that would last for 6,000 years, thus eliminating any investor worries for "a few years". Of course, the android would be powered by OSX.

When Lance Armstrong returned to bicycle racing after months of surgery and chemotherapy for testicular and brain cancer, people were shocked by his appearance. He had lost 20 percent of his body mass.

Seven consecutive Tours de France wins later, those questions magically melted away.

An unfortunate side effect of pancreatic cancer and the treatment (including surgery) for it often leaves the survior robust, but with significantly decreased body mass. In addition, the survivor's metabolism and digestion changes permanently, making it a challenge for the person to regain weight that they had lost. In no way does this threaten the health of the person, but they emerge from the experience with reduced body mass.

It's sad that the media fails to investigate this medical fact, much less report it.

In addition, there is a federal law named HIPAA (the Health Insurance Privacy and Portability Act). Under HIPAA, an individual's right to the privacy of his or her medical information is protected. Each of us are under no obligation to disclose anything about our medical condition to anyone. If you read the healthcare trade publications as I do every day, a patient's medical privacy is a regularly reported topic.

In the light of the above, I find it odd that this is an issue at all.

With facts so transparent as these, I can only conclude that repeated reports and speculation on an individual's health aren't being raised by accident. Sad.

@Cooter

or... The Dread Pirate Roberts...

Jul 22, 08 - 02:04 pm Comment from: Ferf Muckmeyer

One last thing.

What if the truth was that he had a relapse and was terminal? The first thing I would think of would be how I felt bad for him and his family, friends and co-workers. The guy is a genius - he reinvented a company that may have completely disappeared ten years ago. But he is also human. Last time I checked, human beings are born, they live, and they DIE. Not to sound too morbid, but that's the hard truth about life. So at first, think about what his family and friends may be going through if this was indeed true.

Considering their size and their massive success, to think that a company like Apple does not have a succession plan is foolhardy to say the least. The future of the company is too important, and the vision that Steve (and others) have laid out are too powerful to just die with him. If anything, Apple is making a serious blunder not discussing a succession plan of any kind to ease investor worries REGARDLESS of Jobs' health. Maybe they aren't bound to do so, but that would be prudent for any company.

I hope and pray Steve is well. If he isn't, I wish him a speedy recovery.

Ferf

Steve Jobs took a private space craft to Kamino and was succesfully cloned. Don't worry everyone. Steve Jobs will be at the helm of Apple forever....

Bill Gates sneezed the day he left M$...not a word. There should be an investigation. McCain took a Tums after dinner yesterday...he is going to croak in office.

This is the trouble with our little cult... outsiders actually think the health of one (albeit significant) member affects the health of the entire organization.

Basically, I think they are trying to force Steve to stand up and declare "I am fine, please leave me alone" before they stop spreading FUD like cheese on pasta.

Give me monkey boy's cholesterol level!

As ever...

... buying opportunity.

Jul 22, 08 - 02:26 pm Comment from: 84 Mac Guy

The news media making up news. I'm shocked! I've never heard of such a thing.

Jul 22, 08 - 02:28 pm Comment from: BC Kelly

Well Folks

In a Nation where 50% of the population is 'over-weight'

And 1/3+ is just plain flat out obese

We can figure a 'skinny' person - even if that is the norm for most of the World, and has been for 1,000s of years - will be considered 'unhealthy'

Says more about our lazy-fat-ass population than it does about Steve



BC

and, yes, I'm skinny too

Steve Jobs might not be dead, but the Apple product line is.

Jul 22, 08 - 02:50 pm Comment from: mozart11

Address the subject folks. The fact is Jobs needs to address this. Publicly.

Apple has basically marketed it's products & company as an extension of Jobs himself. A public company in this situation can't then just say it's a private matter. Especially since Jobs looks like cancer is back and he is slowly dying. He has a fiduciary responsibility to the company.

Jobs/Apple made the situation of a Messiah as the Apple CEO. It's not a private matter.

Jul 22, 08 - 02:51 pm Comment from: ElderNorm

Apple today reached a major milestone. Apple's yearly income figures reached a number that was 21/2 times that of rival Microsoft.

Apple stock immediatly tanked and dropped 20 % on crys of so called investors. "Why not 3 times, why not 3 times....." was the chanting heard on the floor of the Wall Street Exchange.

Also rising in the back ground were the crys of "Clone Steve Jobs NOW. Clone Steve Jobs NOW."

Just another day cheating, er, working...... the market.



Just a thought.

en

Why don't we just start a new rumor right now…Steve has been busy perfecting the Fountain of Youth; a news release will follow announcing that Steve will live forever and will always be at the helm.

Jul 22, 08 - 03:02 pm Comment from: TexasAg03

Steve Jobs might already be dead for all we know.

He did die, but the iPhone brought him back...

That's the new product coming soon. That, and teleportation (see MadTV)...

RePlay,

You and your fanboi brethren would believe it.

Jul 22, 08 - 03:20 pm Comment from: Harvey

I've thought about it, and I don't think Steve Jobs' health affects Apple's future at all.

Apple feels like a small company, but it is really a huge corporation. There is no way that Steve can have a finger in every pot. He'd run out of fingers! It's simply not humanly possible for him to run the whole company as a benevolent absolute monarch.

Apple doesn't need a succession plan because they already have one and it is working right now. Each person on the level of management below Steve Jobs is capable of working without supervision. They all know what has made Apple so successful, and they aren't going to make any changes in it, whether it's corporate culture or product strategy.

Steve Jobs has functioned as a corporate figurehead and spokesperson. That has made it look like he's more essential than he is. He's gradually stepping back and letting the other guys shine, and I think that is a deliberate tact to make people realize he's not a god.

Steve Jobs' health is not Apple's health, and I think Apple realizes they have to make that clearer.

Jul 22, 08 - 03:28 pm Comment from: TenaciousDNA

RePlay: Steve Jobs has been busy perfecting the Fountain of Youth;

When perfected, the Fountain of Youth will be available as a subscription service ( estimated by Christmas 2008). It'll cost you $99 a year and will allow you to synch memories and knowledge gained from past lives.

Immortal Me: Endlessness for the rest of us.

Jul 22, 08 - 04:27 pm Comment from: An Optimist

Several years ago, Steve Jobs did participate in a few earnings conference calls. He has not done so in recent years.

Most reporters repeat what other reports say or repeated... either ignorant or not.

I'm alive and well. I am just watching my weight so I don't end up looking like Steve Ballmer.

Remember...There is no such thing as bad publicity. Steve knows this. Guys like Trump and the like know this. Apple is always in the news. A good problem to have.

Anyway, if Steve is really actually sick. You know what, it is his business. Don't like it. Tough. Invest in oil.

Media manipulators on the take. LOL

"Give me monkey boy's cholesterol level!"

If Ballmer suddenly keels over, you can expect Microsoft shares to jump ten dollars on that news.

-jcr

Jul 23, 08 - 11:04 am Comment from: doc

Speculation will continue to drive stock price down until it goes up, maybe around late August. I can hear it now:

"Apple growth has been spectacular, but can they keep it up?"
"Margins have been great, but can they keep it up?"
"If Jobs leaves the company, will Apple survive?"
"Will Apple survive if Jobs does not leave?"

"If Ballmer suddenly keels over, you can expect Microsoft shares to jump ten dollars on that news."

And that's the difference, Ballmer can keel over tomorrow and no-one will care. The Microsoft juggernaut keeps rolling. But if Steve does, Apple will be much more deeply affected.