Letter from Apple CEO Steve Jobs
Letter from Apple CEO Steve JobsDear Apple Community,
For the first time in a decade, I’m getting to spend the holiday season with my family, rather than intensely preparing for a Macworld keynote.
Unfortunately, my decision to have Phil deliver the Macworld keynote set off another flurry of rumors about my health, with some even publishing stories of me on my deathbed.
I’ve decided to share something very personal with the Apple community so that we can all relax and enjoy the show tomorrow.
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.
I have given more than my all to Apple for the past 11 years now. I will be the first one to step up and tell our Board of Directors if I can no longer continue to fulfill my duties as Apple’s CEO. I hope the Apple community will support me in my recovery and know that I will always put what is best for Apple first.
So now I’ve said more than I wanted to say, and all that I am going to say, about this.
Steve
the latest
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Bg wh crs.
That's impossible. No one can give more than their all, by definition that is the most anyone can give.
Glad to hear that Mr. Jobs has solved a mystery that must have been worrying him - but his last sentence was a tad annoying.
P.S. I urinate on every 10th iPod.
...err thats Steve Urinates on every 10th iPod, Im not sure who would make more money doing that.
From what I understand, Steve actually died about 2-3 weeks ago and Apple engineers uploaded his soul to the latest iMac. The iMac wrote this. There will be more details at MacWorld.
@#1 POSTED BY Godzilla
apparently you cared enough to jump up and post here. do you always do that when you don't care? wait! are you that old, stinky, bearded guy on the light rail that always jumps up and screams shit for no reason? small world.
Any bets as to what the new item will be at the Infinite Loop salad bar?
Actually, the REAL reason he has been losing so much weight is that he was distracted while he was driving and killed an old, jaywalking Gypsy woman.....
Isn't it kind of sad that Steve Jobs needs to get ill to be able to spend the holidays with his family? Clear example of work eating up life.
I'm sure being boss of Apple is really nice but sometimes you have to get your priorities in order.
Steve Jobs is sick because he's a vegan. Vegan's get sick easily because they don't build up their immune systems by eating crap like hot dogs. FACT!
Phlavor: [citation needed]
"That's all I'm going to say and I'm adding $20 to the baseline price of every Apple product to compensate myself for the trouble."
Jobso's letter to the "Apple Community" (read:Shareholders) dispells rumors and creates a new air of mystery. Glad Steve is still Steve.
I'm impressed that even while revealing a potentially life-threatening illness as the root cause for his withdrawal from the macworld keynote he manages to come off as patronizing.
> #3 POSTED BY NORMD:
> his last sentence was a tad annoying.
Yes, but if he hadn't ended the letter with that nice little "fuck you" at the end, I'd be worried that he was actually lying about his health and was losing his edge.
And one more thing...
Steve is going to have the last laugh this year when Snow Leopard comes out and Grand Central, OpenCL, etc. make computers running Windows 7 look like children's toys in speed.
You haven't seen gloat from Steve until you've seen this kind of gloat. It'll be beautiful for Apple fan-girls&boys and brutal for Windows people. Shit, Linux people will probably commit suicide.
You think you hate Mac people now? God, you'll hate them even more when it becomes completely idiotic not to be one.
Disclaimer: Yes, yes... I know Windows 7 will have "better" multi-processor support than Vista, but it's not being implemented like Grand Central which will be literally revolutionary in its approach (easy for 3rd party devs to actually incorporate it!) especially with the insane GPGPU from OpenCL compared to Windows 7's tepid approach.
And I know, Linux this and Linux that... but at this point I'm not trying to get GIMP running faster than any other PC on the planet, sorry. I'm rooting for Ubuntu and GIMP (needs something like smart objects, etc.), OpenOffice (better eps/pdf support) and stuff in the hopefully not too distant future, though.
If you think Steve and Apple are done "wowing" everyone with the iPod, iPhone, etc, etc. you are very mistaken. 2009 is going to be an incredible year for Apple and a brutal time for the Mac haters. And, I mean BRUTAL. Remember those obnoxious Apple ads showing the Intel guys going up in flames next to Mac's PowerPC speeds? Imagine our beloved Hodgman PC guy confused... walking and talking in very slow motion as the smug Mac guy quickly zooms past the screen with a bong in one hand and an iPod in the other... Ouch... The Linux Tron guy will smack into the wall and explode while looking on in bewildered amazement.
I love how all this is happening as once again everyone was just about ready to write the obituary for Apple and practically wrote one for Steve too.
Steve is too mean to die.
@#9 POSTED BY CODEREDUK
codereduk, we all know that bitch deserved it
Coxswain,
Patronising? How about: "stop discussing my health like it's a new product to be reviewed".
~ or ~
Steve Jobs: will it blend?
BTW, everyone who bought more AAPL on the dip would like to thank Steve for waiting this long before letting everyone know he's not dead.
I hope he bought Applecare.
Otherwise that treatment's going to be *expensive*.
a simple and straightforward treatment, here's my theory,
http://s450.photobucket.com/albums/qq228/woonsocket/?action=view¤t=new-davros.jpg
I think the last comment was fine. It may have been a tad catty, but when you consider that the stock price of Apple has been falling based on rumors and speculation about his health, it makes perfect sense. To that end I imagine the idea to write this was none too subtly suggested to him.
Nice, Norm!
Steveros!
His letter seems calculated to create as much buzz and speculation as possible, neh?
As far as I can tell from his rather obscure description of his weight loss (and what's publicly known his medical history), he has some sort of malabsorption syndrome and probably has a feeding tube.
What's surprising is that he lost so much weight, since this type of thing is a known complication of pancreatic surgery and one that's easy to avoid and treat. From what we know of his prior medical treatment (refusing surgery for a long time), I would guess he avoided simpler treatments (like oral pancreatic enzymes) until things got to this point.
Just a thought.
As I wrote you in 1996,
whatever your decisions, concerning Apple or anything else, we pray for you,
Steve Jobs.
I don't mind the, "that's all I'm going to say" comment because even a public figure deserves a little privacy.
But it's all weird to me. If I'd lost as much weight as he had, I'd still be enormous . . . no, what I mean to say is, if I'd started dropping as much weight as he was, I'd be all over my doctors to figure out why—especially if I had had pancreatic cancer. Oddly, he makes it sound more like an annoying cold that won't quit.
Perhaps Steve's just demoing teh Next Big Thing: using his Reality Distortion Field™ to cure life-threatening illnesses.
What strike me is just what incredibly bad writing that was.
I really don't understand the personality cult around Steve Jobs much in the same way I don't understand the obsessive PC/Mac wars. To me, this box I am typing on is a tool. A well made tool, but a tool. I'm not keeping a picture of Steve Job near my desk and lighting candles... But honestly the "Cult of Mac" is just creepy.
Hope he gets well, but I find it odd that this is even a point of national discussion...
Then, we're in a celebrity drenched culture.
If only there were some way to keep the doctor away.
Jack, is it any less weird than the cult of Ferrari or OpenSource?
Apple builds usable, relible, inspired products that help me better engage in practically every type of work or hobby that I persue, indoors.
I love the tools I get from Apple (among others), both hardware and software, but I don't want to see Steve Jobs' health issues on the front page of the newspapers any more than you do.
Media obsession is not the same thing as satified-customer loyalty.
It was very Forest Gump in that last line of Steve's letter.
BTW, didn't Forest 'own' some Apple stock? (yes).
Godspeed Steve. A two decade fanboy here and I'm not going anywhere.
IndyD
@#32 POSTED BY ARKIZZLE
You make a valid point, but I'm the kind of guy who has never loved computer conventions ever and find more loyalty/happiness in supporting local groups and stores. I'm a satisfied customer of Black & Decker products and my Dremel tool, but if the CEO of each of those companies publicly announced personal issues I'd feel awkward at best.
Seriously, hope he gets well but of all of the things happening in this world I can't get wound up about this.
"..I'm the kind of guy who has never loved computer conventions."
Me too. But I appreciate innovation, and as new things emerge, when I can afford to, I integrate them into my pipeline. New tools are great, new capability makes me more able.
I happen to think Steve Jobs adds an incredible amount to a company I rely on. If local stores and groups could do what Apple does, I'd be happy to trade.
I don't think your Dremel or B&D analogy is right though. They are indeed tools, but imagine you had ONE tool, that could do everything in a toolshop, plus all your communication, plus all your entertainment.. plus..
I use my Mac for music production, animation, video editing/compositing, writing, education, research, university, browsing, chatting, watching tv, listening to music, keeping in touch with my family in other countries..
Technology is not just a box, it's capability. I happen to think I'm more capable with this box, than other boxes, so I care for it's future.
Steve should have some privacy. We don't need to know about that, until it's important.
what i love about this letter is that there is no reason to question whether or not steve actually wrote it. as someone who's been listening to steve for decades, it sounds just like him, down to the last chilly signoff. he's notoriously private, and he probably resisted writing this until the very last minute.
@ #29, garyb50
Do you mean "strikes"? And your use of "incredibly" is bad writing, in itself. Do you really not believe it?
It should be a tyroide problem - this is caused by stress.