The Macworld 2009 confab opens on January 5 in San Francisco. Every year, it draws thousands of Macintosh faithful and it's been doing that since 1985. But this year is different. For the first time since he turned Apple around 12 years ago, Steve Jobs won't deliver the Macworld keynote speech.
As a result, the blogosphere has come to life with speculation that Steve Jobs is in bad health, citing unnamed sources claiming that Jobs is ailing. For a good summary, read this report in internetnews.com.
The reality is that Apple will always carry a risk related to Jobs health, given that he had been treated for pancreatic cancer a few years ago. It can't be any other way as Jobs is seen as so pivotal to the company's performance. Which means that investors will always to take that into account against the enormous upside in backing the company.
As Dan Frommer at Silicon Alley Insider says, Steve Jobs' health is everyone's business because he is Apple's most valuable asset and his health does affect the stock price. And it would be remiss of the media not to cover it.
"Apple has a talented management team, which will, in theory, help Apple continue to deliver quality products and financial results once Steve eventually retires," Frommer writes. "But like it or not, Steve is still Steve. Which means that even after Apple announces a succession plan, there will still be extreme interest and speculation about Steve's health from Apple fans, investors, and media. As there should be. Because it matters. And if Steve's health ever really does take a turn for the worse, will CNBC and AllThingsD will report it? Of course they will. They won't be doing their jobs if they don't."
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