"Why is everybody obsessed with Steve? I think the answer is very simple," said Paul Saffo, a technology forecaster who teaches at Stanford University. "Apple has not yet convinced the world that Apple without Steve will continue with the same powerful vision."
Last month, the Cupertino, Calif., company announced that Jobs would not give the Macworld presentation, triggering speculation that he was gravely ill. At the time, Apple, which is pulling out of the trade show after this year, said his participation "doesn't make sense."
For The Record
Los Angeles Times Thursday, January 08, 2009 Home Edition Main News Part A Page 2 National Desk 1 inches; 36 words Type of Material: Correction
Steve Jobs: An article in Section A on Tuesday about the health of Apple Chief Executive Steve Jobs said Times staff writer Dawn C. Chmielewski was reporting from Los Angeles. She was reporting from San Francisco.
In his letter, Jobs made light of the "stories of me on my deathbed" and said he would remain CEO while he recuperated. He said he expected to regain his lost weight by late spring.
"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," Jobs wrote. "I hope the Apple community will support me in my recovery and know that I will always put what is best for Apple first."
Jobs began looking unusually thin and drawn in June, when he introduced the latest generation of iPhones. Investors called for him to come clean about his health.
In the absence of any reliable information from the company, the blogosphere filled in the blanks with wildly speculative reports that whipsawed the company's stock. Bloomberg, the financial news service, mistakenly published Jobs' obituary in August. And a false account on a CNN website claiming Jobs had suffered a heart attack caused Apple stock to plunge.
As recently as last week, the popular technology blog Gizmodo cited a single source who said Jobs' health was "rapidly declining." The account knocked Apple share prices down for part of a day.
Internet paparazzi have staked out Jobs' known Palo Alto haunts and broadcast information about his appearance. Self-described geek blogger Robert Scoble caused a stir last week, when he recounted his visit to a Palo Alto yogurt shop that Jobs patronizes. "They said he was in a couple of days ago and is in great health," Scoble wrote.
Patrick McGurn, special counsel at shareholder advisory firm RiskMetrics Group, faulted Apple for responding only when it was "clear there would be a feeding frenzy" at the trade show that would overshadow product news.
