I don't know. His appearance and weight doesn't seem to have changed that much since January of this year, but if you compare this year to his keynote presentation in January 2007, he's definitely lost weight:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/42858400@N00/sets/72157605547771083/

Hopefully his weight loss is merely the result of a change in eating/diet/exercise/lifestyle habits, and not something scarier.

Until Jobs or Apple says otherwise, Jobs is entitled to a presumption of "innocence" = health! And we all should expect no less for and from ourselves!

Every time this kind of speculations came up, I wondered if it's someone trying to drive AAPL down sow that they can buy it for less? And think of how many people will be screwed so that a few could benefit!!!

Rumors are an ugly thing in general, but in case of Jobs, it could easily be a weapon for Stock manipulation! I doubt that Apple can do anything to dispel such rumors, and if they start on that road, it could be a bad thing!

But, even to assume the worst, and Jobs dies, like all of us, someday - I bet that by now Apple has a bunch of "disciples" in it that could run it post Jobs!

Sadly, none of us will live forever, including Steve Jobs! He was, and will always remain the Symbol for All Things Apple!

Lets all wish him WELL, and let's stop the rumors any way possible!


Go AAPL, and to Rumor-ists - GO F-CK YOURSELVES!

to fight the wrestlers on TV? Nope.

Its in the brain and he does not suffer from a brain cancer. People remember one of the US presidents suffered from skin cancer on the nose. Did he die of it. Nope.

Steve is doing good and he will continue to.

Remember death is the ultimate Karma and nothing can ever change it. Acceptance of the truth is the best way to live. Steve is the leader today but tomorrow it shall be someone else. Like a household is never broken up when the patriarch is gone the same way Apple Inc. shall continue. Steve alone does not make what we get to buy and use. He has a team and yes he is the able captain who shall be missed when he is gone.

I remember my first boss telling me "However good that you may be but you are not indispensable." Someday someone will replace Steve (like it or not) that is the fact.

To me Steve looked positively cachectic--heck you could even see prominent clavicles (collarbones) under his shirt. Sure, he could just be keeping himself rail thin, but I also wondered about the fact that he didn't do nearly as much of the demonstration as he usually does.

Now in my later 30s, over the past year, I returned to my old vegan/organic macrobiotic diet of my 20s. since then, i lost 35 unnecessary pounds and feel great. but, between the people telling me I look great, there are some who ask me, "are you ok?!" I would guess Steve's cancer scare moved him to reaffirm his stricter dietary habits, letting him unload any dead weight.

I second the question of jvoskuil. What kind of journalism is this? Answer: Poor, stupid, amateurish, unacceptable.

Only he'd cut out those damn f***, or at least get it down to one or two per day. Yes I KNOW they are lovely, lovely things: but you must live life to the order of Wall Street not yourself.

Seeing Jobs at the show, someone commented that he was sporting socks. Someone else laughed because they thought the comment meant that Jobs had stuffed his jeans with a sock. I pointed out that such an appearance was merely the result of the man being so incredibly gaunt. But that observation made me start to wonder about why Jobs kept leaving the stage during the presentation, rather than to just stand aside while others presented. To my recollection this is not something that he has done before. He actually "went behind the curtain" at least three times during the show for extended periods of time. Was he resting? Grabbing some oxygen? Or merely checking stock quotes? It's hard to know. But the weight loss and possibly lack of stamina are a concern.

If Jobs has any true love of Apple, he will start openly grooming a successor (or successors--can one normal human replace Steve Jobs?). This will be hard for him because it will require that he open up and relinquish growing amounts of control, which is something he quite simply is inept at doing. Without this though, a sudden loss of Steve Jobs has the potential to greatly damage Apple. That should give investors significant pause.

He actually "went behind the curtain" at least three times during the show for extended periods of time.

"Pay no attention to the figure behind the curtain!"

When someone's too skinny there's health probs? What about chubby?

I thought that Phil was huffing and puffing at the beginnging of his first appearance, probably from climbing the stairs ... He might need to meet Jenny Craig! ;-)

I talked to several doctors, and they said the procedure jobs went through can have that effect, and it sometimes takes several years to get "back to normal".