

Apple’s Culture of Secrecy  - markbao
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/07/26/business/26nocera.html?_r=1&oref=slogin&partner=rssnyt&emc=rss&pagewanted=all

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iamelgringo
If I had stock in Apple, I'd be selling it now. I've worked as an ER nurse for
15 years, and I know what sick looks like. Steve Jobs is ill:
[http://www.nytimes.com/imagepages/2008/07/26/business/26noce...](http://www.nytimes.com/imagepages/2008/07/26/business/26nocera_.inline1.ready.html).
If it's not cacer, it's something else, and it's bad. You don't loose that
much weight by doing pilates. His zygomatic arch and clavicles are very
pronounced. And, if you look at where his pectorals were 5 years ago as
opposed to where they are now, he's lost a lot of muscle mass. Men shouldn't
have droopy boobs.

I hate to say it, but in my experience people who try to beat cancers with
special diets usually die. Granted, chemo, radiation and surgery are terrible,
and if someone doesn't want to pursue that, I can certainly respect that
decision. But, to try and beat cancer with a diet as opposed to the best
medical science is madness in my opinion. If you want to beat cancer, go to
the experts.

I certainly respect Steve's decision to not talk about his health publicly.
But, I have a sneaky suspicion that if he was honest about his health, Apple's
stock would tank hard.

~~~
wheels
From what I gathered (my dad died from it a couple years back) generally with
pancreatic cancer, you're pretty much screwed anyway, special diet or
otherwise. And yeah, Steve's physique does look eerily familiar; based on the
usual fast development of pancreatic cancer and comparing what he looks like
to my dad's degeneration, I'd guess we're not talking about years, but months
or even weeks.

~~~
crocus
Though pancreatic cancer is usually rapidly fatal, he had an unusual form
that's treatable.

------
jonknee
> Mr. Jobs called me. “This is Steve Jobs,” he began. “You think I’m an
> arrogant [expletive] who thinks he’s above the law, and I think you’re a
> slime bucket who gets most of his facts wrong.”

I never get tired of personal accounts of dealing with Steve Jobs. Every story
I know has a few expletives and some awkward parts that only someone like SJ
could pull off.

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bprater
There are a few people I will be sad to see leave this planet, folks like Hugh
Hefner and Richard Branson, visionaries. Jobs is one of those people.

I'm not a fanboy, but I respect his ruthless passion.

~~~
davidw
I wouldn't be unhappy at all if Branson left the planet. As long as he comes
back again, on his spaceship:-)

(See: <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scaled_Composites_SpaceShipTwo> )

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bprater
The title might be more aptly written, "It's official -- Steve Jobs calls a
Times reporter and says that he does not have cancer."

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sdurkin
Steve Jobs might have cancer again, and all people care about is Apple's stock
price?

I know its logical. I know its rational. I know its the hackeresque response
to consider privacy vs. corporate governance. But please, try to have some
respect, try to have some compassion.

------
niels_olson
an islet cell neuroendocrine tumor is _not_ the kind of pancreatic cancer that
kills you in six months. The fast killers are _exocrine_ : the cells that
produce enzymes that digest protein. As you can imagine, since soft tissues
contain a lot of proteins, having too much of those enzymes is not so good.

This could have been any of a number of functional or nonfunctional
neuroendocrine tumors, but the prognosis really would be quite a bit better.

As I said in another comment, you can still have some pretty unpleasant
digestive issues, simply because it's a rather delicate digestive organ.
There's a common saying in surgery: eat when you can, sleep when you can, and
don't touch the pancreas. He could have a ductal obstruction, the pancreas
could have necrosed. All his beta cells may have failed, causing him to become
a rather old new-onset Type I diabetic (no, it's not the normal presentation
of DM I, but PETs aren't common.) He could have had a completely unrelated
pneumonia. I've heard some say he's still very actively managing his diet. If
a doctor or nutritionist or dietitian isn't cut in on that diet, then it's
probably riskier. Last I checked, this guy isn't risk averse.

He could have had any number of viral illnesses that would have taken a toll
on anyone, it could have been a nasty case of mononucleosis, and, given his
potentially partially compromised digestive system, the toll would be
especially heavy on him.

On the nasty end, maybe on a recent foreign trip he got cholera or
tuberculosis. Who knows. The differential is to wide to narrow it down, but
the pancreatic cancer thing is getting old. A PET =! pancreatic cancer.

Based on the report, I'd go with a pneumonia, or some other infectious process
that would have a substantial exogenous metabolic component, or a nasty GI
bug, which would affect absorption of nutrients. Neither of which is lethal if
treated, and the treatments are IV antibiotics, usually a fairly certain cure.

------
BRadmin
Good read all the way through.

A little philosophy, a little business, and a little personal.

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DenisM
The article is "Registration required". Ironic.

~~~
demallien
actually, the NY Times site generally hits you with the registration required
page once you have exceeded a certain number of page views within a certain
timeframe. I don't know what the exact figures are, but I have been caught out
reading a page, switching to another page which put me over the lmit, and then
not being able to reload the page that I had already viewed...

~~~
fauigerzigerk
The Financial Times does that as well. This illness is easily treated by
deleting cookies though. Maybe it works for the NY variety as well.

~~~
demallien
Maybe. Although, I have to say I don't find the nytimes interesting enough to
bother doing the experiment :-)

