If there’s one thing we can all take away from Steve Jobs stepping down temporarily from Apple, it’s this: People love Apple like no other brand, and they are rightfully scared that an Apple without Steve Jobs is not really Apple at all. (we also know that CNBC’s Jim Goldman got pwnd, but that’s another story).
How sick is Steve Jobs? His message is ominous: “my health-related issues are more complex than I originally thought,” but Jobs left Apple before in 2004 for Pancreatic cancer surgery and came back strong. If he’s able, Steve Jobs will come back.
Frankly, I don’t want to know anything further about his health. Yes, it is very relevant to Apple’s stock price because there is no other person who can effectively lead that company. He’s a national treasure and can have his moments of crankiness and paranoia. I’d rather have that than just another vanilla tech exec who reads too many self help and management books.
All the press the last few days about Steve Jobs’ health is really just a tribute to the man and the company. What other top brand has this kind of customer loyalty? None. Apple is on the verge of becoming a for-profit religion among users despite its flaws, and they’ve transformed not one but three industry segments with their PC, music player and mobile phone products. But in the end, Steve Jobs is just a man, with all his failings.
As the news was breaking yesterday I jumped in my car and drove to a Mountain View studio where I joined the Charlie Rose show by satellite. Our interview is below. There isn’t much left to say, except that we all hope Jobs is back at his desk and crankier than ever as soon as possible. In the meantime, we should give the man the privacy any human being is entitled to.
Agreed. Let’s also take this as a cue to take better care of ourselves and get checkups more often than once a decade.
I think a good part of that is also taking good care of yourself as well… he is taking some time off to relax… good for him!
Jon
http://WoodMarvels.com – Create Unique Memories
People who think another executive can stand in for Jobs simply don’t understand the nature of corporations. It’s not about Jobs’ creativity or industrial design acumen. Other people provide him with inspiring designs. It’s not about Jobs’ manner of motivating people. Other executives can be hard asses too. It’s not about Jobs’ ability to see opportunities for new products. He’s had his share of losers. No. The thing that Jobs contributes is leadership. People will follow his orders. Maybe because they want to. Maybe because he’s rich and powerful. Maybe because they think he’s right and smart, whether or not it’s really true. Jobs can make or brake other people at Apple. That’s the difference. Other executives just run around in political circles. Jobs doesn’t do politics. Its never an anarchy. With Jobs, its always a monarchial dictatorship. It’s highly efficient. No one can replace him, ever.
AMEN!!
You said no one else can effectively lead Apple. That seems a tad outrageous. Maybe you meant “as effectively”?
I agree with Mgz. Jobs is an extraordinary leader, and someone as talented as he is has surely put some time and thought into grooming an acceptable replacement in his absence.
Arrington, giving people privacy? something smells.
I’d have thought you would kick Apple in the nuts for lying about this fiasco and getting caught with their nuts hanging out. I guess the fanboys would just turn it into a flame war. Sigh.
fuckin-a. get well soon Steve
Care of ourselves and get checkups more often than once a decade.
http://kisalt.net/d2
Whatever Steve’s condition, I hope he recovers swiftly. I also hope he can recover in as private a setting as possible.
I agree with nearly everything, except “… there is no other person who can effectively lead that company…”.
Certainly nobody can run it the same way, and probably not as well, but nobody can run it effectively?
Believe me, I want Steve back as soon as is practically possible. But I think we’ll find, sooner or later, that besides all the products and promotion, Steve also built a sound organization that can continue to work without him.
Ditto on that. Everyone is replaceable. I bet there’s someone out there that could do a BETTER job than Steve… (probably not a lot of ‘em, but still)
Thank you for providing some rational and compassionate thought. Something that is severely lacking. If Wall Street is so angry that Jobs doesn’t fully disclose his bill of health, then they shouldn’t invest in the company.
I bet some of those jerks would be whining about disclosure even IF Steve passed away next month. Shameless.
you meant “shameful”, didn’t you?
but why is everyone talking of “IF he …” he’s come back before, there’s a lot of innovation left to be done, the industry needs leaders like him now more than ever before, the other God out there understands this much, surely…
I hate to break it to you, Michael, but Yahoo has higher customer loyalty than Apple. Apple isn’t even in the top ten.
http://www.bran...rds/leaders.cfm
nope.
Well argued, Arrington.
Perfect illustration of the Reality Distortion Field that grips Mac cultists.
Yahoo better than Apple ??? Hell no
Not BETTER, Yahoo has more loyal customers, which is entirely reasonable. People who search with Yahoo certainly aren’t going to switch to Google by now–they already would have. People who use Yahoogroups sure as heck aren’t switching to Googlegroups. Flickr? The same. Yahoo Mail? Industry leader and is STILL growing even with GMail around. The Yahoo portal? Massive. People seem to like it.
The point is that it is entirely reasonable to see Yahoo as having higher customer loyalty than Apple. Loyalty is, after all, consumers sticking with the brand or identifying with it.
Apples and oranges (lol).
Yahoo is a web service, for God’s sake. Apple sells pricey physical stuff you touch and get immersed in.
So, in context of Consumer Products …
Jobs has done a great job of hiring and training management that can, and will, continue his legacy with our without him. He is a unique figurehead, but Apple can survive if he doesn’t return. But I do hope he does. He’s an interesting person and an inspiration to business.
There is a certain mean-spiritedness about people who “insisted” on knowing every detail of Steve Jobs’ health, especially those who “demanded” the info based on the argument that “Apple is a public company, and Steve Jobs’ health is relevant to the health of the company, therefore the prices of its stock, which I paid for.”
At one point, people need to put aside the selfish arrogance of “I own the shares, therefore I am owed the health info of the CEO” attitude, in relations to any public companies, not just Apple.
The ghoulish desire to know the medical history of a public figure is our celebrity-centric culture gone awry.
Steve Jobs was born on 2/24/1955, and Bill Gates on 10/28, the same year. It’s hard to name any other prominent figures in technology that have fundamentally transformed the modern world as we know it today.
Heard of “Ferengi”?
If you were to hook up some brain signal electrodes to the CEO’s brain and send those signals live to these trader types, they’d hedge on those readings too. And they’d get lawyers to put the thing in legalese into the Incorporation document, and if ordinary people like you and me do not object to it, it’ll be passed as law too. Look, stock prices are more important than even a few thousand lives. “Quick, how much is a life? At $10,000 a pick, a 1000 lives are about $10mn. Peanuts! I’ll make them up in a week. Sink them.”
Sorry it sounds “graphic”, but you’ve got to admire their cheek when they ask for $700bn to “save the economy” without even as much as putting out a rough sketch of where that loot is going.
Hire this guy for the data, that guy for the code, the other guy for the laws, and that guy for the organization. Leave the button-pressing to me. And treat me like I were a bad loud mouthed child. Or rather, I am. Nobody can fire me, get it?
The huge difference between people who make companies and people who acquire them. One is a family and the other is an expensive set of papers.
I hope that if/when Steve Jobs gets back to Apple, he sits down with Apple’s marketing/branding folks and thinks about how to fix the conundrum that his personal popularity has created. On the one hand, he deserves a tremendous amount of credit for miraculously saving Apple from the brink. On the other hand, Apples successful products are a direct result of some very talented people at Apple. Given the solid footing Jobs has put the company on, it will continue to thrive even without him at the helm. But the public (especially investor) perception that the company will fail without him is not good for Apple.
Steve Jobs is the man and I love apple so I hope he gets well and is back soon!
Amen Michael! Amen!
He will be back.
“Yes, it is very relevant to Apple’s stock price because there is no other person who can effectively lead that company.”
I call phoey on that.
There might not be a person who can lead Apple the way SJ does, that’s patently true about any individual, but there are candidates within Apple who could go a long way toward continuing the agenda.
Dumbass Mactards are like Jehovah’s Witnesses.
Yeah, thanks for that… I bet it is a real treat using Windows XP and IE6….
Mike, I actually believe it’s 4 industries he’s transformed :
- computer
- animation movies (PIXAR) – read ‘iCon’ for the full story
- music
- mobile telephony
best,
R.
Thanks to the App Store, get ready to add another one – software
It’s great to see Steve finally step up and admit to health issues. His presence at Apple is fundamental to their success, and that’s clear by the stock drop today.
I hope it’s nothing too serious, and I wish him nothing but the fastest and safest of recoveries.
Beautifully written, man… and I agree. I’m sick of everyone thinking they are somehow entitled to every last detail about this man and his health.
True, his health is private. But if you decide to not share, step down from a public company.
In addition to making his health the ultimate priority, Jobs need to find someone replace his extremely decisive position at Apple.
He has a very rigid, although successful, reputation at the company for making most of the groundbreaking marketing decisions.
Evan
http://www.beyondrace.com
Evan really nailed the question of the day. The real question is not, “what’s going on with Jobs?”, nor is it, “what’s going to happen to Apple without Jobs?” The most important question here is (well, two questions): 1. Who is Jobs going to christen as his successor, and 2. Who is running the company now?
Stock price smock price, the whole market is reeling right now. Apple will come back eventually, IF there is a healthy inspiring guy at the top.
- Curtis
http://ShipItOnTheSide.com – Build a software startup as a side job.
Corporate America has replaced religion in the past century. Apple is only an example.
Good interview. Fun to watch, informative and very sensitive to the situation.
It’s amazing how reliant Apple’s image and stock is wavered by the thought of Steve Jobs’ future with the company.
Wishing Steve the best.
Well written!
I’m really surprised by the unnecessary and fowl language by some of the comments near the top of this post (”Really” and “Ben Mappen”). I didn’t think there were Apple users with such lack of poise or lack of brains.
I think a lot of people have incredible respect for Apple’s turnaround and for the brains and vision of Steve Jobs and other staff he works with.
Writing a post about how people shouldn’t write about the very topic the post is about is like fighting a war saying that you’re doing it for peace. What’s the point? Just show good example yourself.
As for the brands list mentioned, Apple’s not even on it. Mike, where do you get this “brand loyalty” stuff, and the idea that Mr Jobs is to only one able to lead the company? Any reasoning behind these claims?
-R
P.S. JT – fowl language, for crying out loud, I feel for you…
Are we witnessing a kinder side of Young Arrington in 2009?
Elegantly handled.
I noticed in the video that Michael stated Steve was out for ‘6 or 7 months’ but according to http://www.maco...4/10/05.4.shtml, he was only out for roughly 2 months.
Not that this means anything in particular, but just to give an idea that things aren’t great for Steve. He has cancer surgery and was out for 2 months, and now he’s out for 6 for unknown reasons…
Just wanted to correct the facts.
At the end of the day, does anyone really need to know more than that Jobs is stepping away for a (specified) period of time for health reasons?
As most serious health-related situations are of indeterminate outcome anyway, it seems that the amount of conjecture on Wallstreet, in the blogs and elsewhere would have exactly the same impact as when there’s more “information” available.
Agreed. Leave the guy and his family alone.
One man cannot hold the destiny of a company or the many staffs at Apple. Steve Jobs has been a treasure for but things have to move on if he is there or not. I wish him the best.
@Jon Meyers — “Leave the guy and his family alone”
Absolutely. However, Arrington cannot help himself taking this opportunity to self-promote, with this unnecessary article and the Charlie Rose video.
I watched the show and could not stop asking myself who would benefit from this shameful display — certainly not Steve Jobs or his family.
Anthony – that reveals nothing more than your dislike for MA.
Charlie Rose was always going to interview ’someone’ regarding Apple/Steve Jobs in light of this week’s public announcement. Clearly Arrington was approached & he handled the responsibility of such a request tastefully. Period.
The question of “who would benefit” is quite separate and valid but could be asked of 50% of stories covered in the media today.
>>Gayle. You are missing all the points I made… which *really* shows your immaturity and narrow-mindedness.
Arrington could have shown more tact and discretion, but chose not to do so because of his known eagerness for self-promotion. Unfortunately, he is not alone.
Charlie Rose could have talked to dozens of other more tech-savvy knowledgeable, mature people: most probably they declined in the name of good taste.
Again, the humane, right thing to do [if you could understand this] is to say “I am sorry that Steve Jobs is going through this ordeal and I wish him a quick recovery and the best of luck” — Period. Yes, period.
BTW, anyone using the word “clearly” excludes anyone else opinions, which, in turn, shows a very narrow view of situations. And ignorance. Got it? Read this again…
Put simply, I disagreed with your initial post, Anthony. I neither misread nor failed to comprehend the spirit or gist of your written opinion. I just didn’t agree. (and still don’t)
If you believe that makes me “immature or narrow-minded”, then so be it. You are entitled to your opinion.
On my use of the word ‘clearly’, your stern admonishment struck me as a little puzzling; perhaps the word has different (and less neutral) connotations in your spot on the globe.
Either way – do you often become so lathered when one disagrees with you?
Just hope the guys OK.
I wonder what he thinks of the Bible, Salvation, Eternity, Heaven and Hell Now??
Think he will be Saved from his Unbelief ?
Found Michael’s post here and his comments on Charlie Rose very appropriate. Wish Steve Jobs a speedy and full recovery. Business needs more leaders like him period.
Mac mini said to get Ion innards
http://it.uk.go...ion-innards.htm
Sorry to say this, folks. But the man is dying.
Shift happens.
Mr. Arrington,
just a side note – your eye bags look very dark in this video. Be sure not to work so much, and sleep more! (no offense intentioned)
I always admired Steve Jobs for his way of thinking and working. Dedicated man to his work. His products revolutionized the the way of life. When you’re in problems funny stuff can relax you and give you a boost for future activities
Leave Steve Jobs alone!!
Leave Britney alone!!
Our Father, who art in Cupertino,
Hallowed be thy brain.
Thy Apples come,
Thy will be done,
This operating system is heaven.
Give us this day
our daily widget,
and update our iPhones,
as we update those who aren’t aware
of Apple’s superiority.
And lead us not into third party software developers,
but deliver us from the evils of Vista.
For thine is the kingdom,
and the power,
and the glory,
Forever and ever.
Amen.
I’m looking for a variant on the “Leave Britney alone” video but then about Steve Jobs and cant find it.
Does someone knows the link I really want to see it.
lol.
Apple seguirá creciendo, pero todo gracias a Steve Jobs y su tecnología