There is a photo floating around the Internet of Steve Jobs looking very ill. It’s shocking. You won’t find it here. I’m not posting it. Instead, I’m posting a picture of myself that was also snapped unexpectedly. See above.
This isn’t about journalism or ethics or taste. We have violated those precepts before to bring you a story, and we’d do it again. But this time it just feels gross.
When Gizmodo — of all sites — refuses to post something, it’s a sign you probably should steer clear.
Earlier today, Cult of Mac writer Nicole Martinelli linked to a TMZ piece showing a photo of what appeared to be a very weak, very sick Steve Jobs. The photo looks doctored to me, but TMZ is reporting them as factual photographs.
In her article, Martinelli wrote:
We’re holding out hope that they are fakes.
After the post went live and gained a few dozen comments, Cult of Mac editors replaced Martinelli’s byline with one reading “Staff Writer.”
A few moments later, the story was updated with this editor’s note:
We have pulled the TMZ photo.
We had posted it because we felt it had clear news value, but we understand they are upsetting pictures.
Apologies if we offended anyone.
This isn’t the first time Apple-centric sites[1. Although, at the time of this writing, I can only find this story repeated on Cult of Mac.] have published stories about Steve Jobs’ health.
This issue last came up in February, when I wrote:
Writing about rumors concerning Steve Jobs’ health is not only unprofessional, but it is disrespectful.
In my post, I called out Cult of Mac for this story, in which the site re-posted the “Jobs has weeks to live” rumor that was circulating at the time. In it, Leander Kahney wrote:
We don’t know whether the information is correct, but we certainly hope not. Best wishes Steve.
In February, I wrote that websites that publish such stories shouldn’t, out of respect for Steve Jobs and his family. I still believe that, but something new came to mind today:
Writers who post such stories doesn’t seem to care if what they publish is accurate or not.
Accuracy — truth in reporting — is the foundation on which all good journalism is based. If reporters do not share the truth, they are not truthfully sharing facts[2. Now, covering technology means covering rumors, at least in the Apple ecosystem. I get that. I understand that reporting on rumors is a tricky area, and can lead in passing of incorrect information. I think rumor-reporting deserves a pass.] with their readers.
The fact that the site retracted the photo is good, but the bit saying they believed it had “clear news value” goes to my point — Cult of Mac’s writing staff isn’t made up of people who care about doing real journalism. Everything about how the staff has behaved about Jobs’ health points to something else entirely — that traffic-grabbing is more important than respectful, accurate journalism.
As much as this type of things rubs me the wrong way, the way Cult of Mac disguised it really disgusts me.
While pulling the photo and the writer’s name is cowardly, the bit at the end — “We’re holding out hope that they are fakes” — is just revolting. It’s almost as if Martinelli was apologizing for writing the story in the first place. Of course, there’s another solution to that problem — passing on the damn story.
I really think that writers who pull the trigger on such stories don’t give a crap if what they are writing is accurate. I don’t care to read that sort of reporting, especially when the topic is so tasteless.
Cult of Mac has the same problem now as it did in February. I don’t regret removing the site from my RSS feed reader. I trust I’m not missing much.
Although Linux hasn’t been a slam-dunk success in every market—it remains a dud on the desktop—the operating system has had a profound impact on the technology industry and on enterprise computing. Columbia University professor Eben Moglen, one of the original authors of the GPL, took a moment at LinuxCon to discuss his views about the role Linux plays in society. He described Linux as the steel and coal of a 21st century industrial revolution. Linux and the Internet, he said, have together changed human civilization more than any other pair of inventions.
Linux runs a majority of the world’s super computers, many of the most popular websites, and a large number of mainstream consumer electronics products. If you search the Web with Google, interact with your friends on Facebook, look up a fact on Wikipedia, read a book on a Kindle, watch Netflix on a Boxee Box, or make a call with an Android phone, you are relying on Linux.
This is about the single most annoying thing that an app developer can do. I know that the iOS ecosystem revolves around positive reviews, but there has to be a better way to request reviews and ratings than this.
“Use of social media and electronic media obviously means that anybody with a laptop, anybody with a PDA, is a journalist,” says Roger Simon, Politico’s chief political columnist and another newcomer to news-by-tweet.
It means anyone can be a witness, not a journalist.
Apple isn’t going to stop making iPads or close up shop because Steve Jobs is leaving. But they may be showing a different face to the public and speaking to the public in a different voice. And if that happens, the cultural Apple may change substantially more than the technical Apple or the business Apple.
I disagree. I think Jobs has probably spent more time spreading his ideas on Apple’s culture and values than anything else.
Tim Cook, in an email to Apple employees:
I want you to be confident that Apple is not going to change. I cherish and celebrate Apple’s unique principles and values. Steve built a company and culture that is unlike any other in the world and we are going to stay true to that—it is in our DNA. We are going to continue to make the best products in the world that delight our customers and make our employees incredibly proud of what they do.
For my last Steve Jobs related linked item for the day, I present Nilay Patel’s epic overview of Apple products that were released during Jobs’ last 13 years as Apple CEO.
Following the resignation of Apple founder Steve Jobs, incoming CEO Tim Cook called a meeting of shareholders and members of the press Thursday morning to announce that he envisioned printers as the company’s future. “Laser, ink-jet, double-sided, color, black-and-white—the future of technology is in printers. I am absolutely convinced of that,” Cook explained to a packed auditorium as a montage of printers and people using printers played on a screen behind him. “What is the one thing people will always need? It’s obvious: printers. Printers with fax machines attached, printers that collate and staple, perhaps a printer that makes photocopies. Anything’s possible. It’s called innovation.”
Apple’s products are replete with Apple-like features and details, embedded in Apple-like apps, running on Apple-like devices, which come packaged in Apple-like boxes, are promoted in Apple-like ads, and sold in Apple-like stores. The company is a fractal design. Simplicity, elegance, beauty, cleverness, humility. Directness. Truth. Zoom out enough and you can see that the same things that define Apple’s products apply to Apple as a whole. The company itself is Apple-like. The same thought, care, and painstaking attention to detail that Steve Jobs brought to questions like “How should a computer work?”, “How should a phone work?”, “How should we buy music and apps in the digital age?” he also brought to the most important question: “How should a company that creates such things function?”
Jobs’s greatest creation isn’t any Apple product. It is Apple itself.
Yes, Steve Jobs is irreplaceable as CEO of Apple. But the company doesn’t need another Steve Jobs — it simply needs to stay on the path he has carved for it. With guys like Tim Cook and Phil Schiller at the helm, the Apple Steve Jobs has helped create over the last decade will remain intact.
Don’t forget, Jobs isn’t leaving Apple — he is changing roles, to Chairman of the Board. In this role, he will still be able to help shape and focus Apple’s vision, while letting the team of people he selected and train carry that vision out. This move is calculated and precise, just like almost everything the company dopes.
Yes, AAPL will probably take a hit (in fact, it already is), but longterm, Apple will continue to be a stable, growing company that releases great products and enjoys huge gains.
I have always said if there ever came a day when I could no longer meet my duties and expectations as Apple’s CEO, I would be the first to let you know. Unfortunately, that day has come.
I hereby resign as CEO of Apple. I would like to serve, if the Board sees fit, as Chairman of the Board, director and Apple employee.
As far as my successor goes, I strongly recommend that we execute our succession plan and name Tim Cook as CEO of Apple.
I believe Apple’s brightest and most innovative days are ahead of it. And I look forward to watching and contributing to its success in a new role.
I have made some of the best friends of my life at Apple, and I thank you all for the many years of being able to work alongside you.
The Board will have to approve Jobs’ request for Tim Cook to be named CEO, but according to the company’s press release, it seems this will happen:
“Steve’s extraordinary vision and leadership saved Apple and guided it to its position as the world’s most innovative and valuable technology company,” said Art Levinson, Chairman of Genentech, on behalf of Apple’s Board. “Steve has made countless contributions to Apple’s success, and he has attracted and inspired Apple’s immensely creative employees and world class executive team. In his new role as Chairman of the Board, Steve will continue to serve Apple with his unique insights, creativity and inspiration.”
“The Board has complete confidence that Tim is the right person to be our next CEO,” added Levinson. “Tim’s 13 years of service to Apple have been marked by outstanding performance, and he has demonstrated remarkable talent and sound judgment in everything he does.”