macnn

09/02/2008, 3:10pm, EDT

Tuesday, September 2nd

Lyons: Steve Jobs' health in serious question

Apple's CEO may in fact be seriously ill, says Dan Lyons, better known for his satirical Fake Steve Jobs character. Responding to suggestions that Jobs' medical problems have been overblown, Lyons claims to have learned that Jobs is suffering from some form of chronic condition, one which has not improved since his controversial WWDC appearance. "I can’t really get into this," says Lyons, "but people close to him have been saying for quite a while (before the appearance onstage) that he’s really sick. And someone who saw him last week says he still looks like [expletive]."

Jobs appeared unusually thin at WWDC, sparking rumors of revived cancer troubles despite a 2004 surgery for pancreatic tumors. Bloomberg's recent publishing gaffe, in which an incomplete obituary was released, has added to speculation. It is however common for news organizations to prepare obituaries for public figures, regardless of whether or not they are actually dying.

Apple has been reluctant to address the issue, saying that Jobs' health is a "private matter." Jobs is said to have told friends that he underwent a procedure in early 2008 to fix a problem responsible for some weight loss.


Filed under: Apple
Other story tags: Steve Jobs

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Lyons

7
09/02, 3:33pm, EDT

better not be talking out his ass, doesn't the SEC go after people who push rumors in order to manipulate stock prices?

i am not saying that Lyons is BSing... just that he should be careful what he says unless he really knows what he is talking about.

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Passive-Aggressive

7
09/02, 3:41pm, EDT

When you say you "can't really get into this" however you go into it anyway just enough to leave people hanging by an ominous thread, you've already gone into it. That's a very shady thing to do, truth or not.

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Pubic

3
09/02, 3:41pm, EDT

I believe health status is a private matter. However, for a publicly traded company like Apple whose success is attributed almost solely to Jobs, I believe Apple would be better served by disclosing his health status to ease stockholder's worries. Speculation almost always has a more detrimental effect than truth.

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Bloomberg!

1
09/02, 3:45pm, EDT

Are the SEC investigating the Bloomberg incident? I suppose when all else fails and you can't compete with a company's products you attack their share-price instead, using any available means. Is this Ballmer's underhanded way of saying "Cupertino, you have a problem!"...???

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The Chronic Condition Is

1
09/02, 3:55pm, EDT


The chronic condition is called Sarcoidosis.

Sarcoidosis can occur in almost any part of your body, although it usually affects some organs more than others. It usually starts in one of two places. The Lungs, and then the Lymph nodes, especially the lymph nodes in your chest cavity.


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I, too, suffer...

9
09/02, 3:58pm, EDT

from a "chronic condition". It will affect my digestive system and my general health for the rest of my life. Jobs' condition will affect him for the rest of his life as well. The difference is that my condition wasn't brought about by the great cancer boogieman (that, plus I'm not a billionaire CEO in the public eye).

From what I've read about Jobs' condition, it will leave him looking haggered and thin, but does not mean that he's dying. If he could learn to eat a little red meat, he might be better off :) I almost wish my condition could leave me as thin as him - I can't lose weight to save my life right now (which it could well do).

Just because he looks like he's dying, it doesn't mean he's dying. That's the joy of being in the spotlight, though.

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I, too, suffer...

0
09/02, 4:00pm, EDT

from a "chronic condition". It will affect my digestive system and my general health for the rest of my life. Jobs' condition will affect him for the rest of his life as well. The difference is that my condition wasn't brought about by the great cancer boogieman (that, plus I'm not a billionaire CEO in the public eye).

From what I've read about Jobs' condition, it will leave him looking haggered and thin, but does not mean that he's dying. If he could learn to eat a little red meat, he might be better off :) I almost wish my condition could leave me as thin as him - I can't lose weight to save my life right now (which it could well do).

Just because he looks like he's dying, it doesn't mean he's dying. His condition has the potential of being life-threatening, but then again, so does just managing to keep on living. That's the joy of being in the spotlight, though.

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dang it

-7
09/02, 4:02pm, EDT

dang it dan, couldn't you give some of us a day or two heads up on this "news" to sell our apple stock? believe it or not, regardless of how true/not it might be, it's going to hurt the stock.

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life

13
09/02, 4:03pm, EDT

is a terminal condition and results in death 100% of the time.

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September 9

2
09/02, 4:14pm, EDT

One open question - will Steve do the new product dance on September 9th? Typically it would be weird (but not unprecedented) if he skipped it. But given all this health stuff everyone will wonder, and if he does it, one eye will be new iPods and the other on his waistline.

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