Linked List: January 14, 2009

Wednesday, 14 January 2009

Brad Stone, reporting for The New York Times:

Two people who are familiar with Mr. Jobs’s current medical treatment said he was not suffering from a recurrence of cancer, but a condition that was preventing his body from absorbing food. Doctors have also advised him to cut down on stress, which may be making the problem worse, these people said.

That’s worth noting.

Text of Jobs’s Email Announcing Medical Leave ★

In its entirety:

Team,

I am sure all of you saw my letter last week sharing something very personal with the Apple community. Unfortunately, the curiosity over my personal health continues to be a distraction not only for me and my family, but everyone else at Apple as well. In addition, during the past week I have learned that my health-related issues are more complex than I originally thought.

In order to take myself out of the limelight and focus on my health, and to allow everyone at Apple to focus on delivering extraordinary products, I have decided to take a medical leave of absence until the end of June.

I have asked Tim Cook to be responsible for Apple’s day to day operations, and I know he and the rest of the executive management team will do a great job. As CEO, I plan to remain involved in major strategic decisions while I am out. Our board of directors fully supports this plan.

I look forward to seeing all of you this summer.

Steve

Godspeed, Steve Jobs.

Steve Jobs on Medical Leave Until June ★

The Associated Press:

Apple Inc.’s CEO Steve Jobs says he is taking a medical leave of absence until the end of June. Jobs told employees in an e-mail that his health issues are more complex than he thought. Last week, Jobs announced he had a hormone deficiency that had caused him to dramatically lose weight.

Apple’s chief operating officer, Tim Cook, will take over Jobs’ responsibilities while he is on leave.

Palm Pre Introduction Event at CES ★

My last bit of non-Macworld catch-up, I think. If you haven’t seen it yet, Palm’s introduction of the Pre is definitely worth watching. I’m impressed. Palm could be shaping back up into just the rival Apple needs.

I have more to say about the Pre, but the thing that struck me the most about it is that it’s a complete and utter break from all previous Palm software. No compatibility whatsoever — which, given just how decrepit the original Palm OS has become, is exactly what they needed to do. But credit to Palm for having the stones to do it.

Casino Profile Details Luxurious Lifestyle of Former Fry’s Executive ★

The San Jose Mercury News has obtained a Las Vegas Casino profile for Ausaf “Omar” Umar Siddiqui, the former Fry’s Electronics executive who’s in a bit of trouble for embezzling millions to pay for his gambling debts:

When “Mr. S” showed up in Las Vegas, bellboys, butlers and blackjack dealers made sure they were prepared for the high-rolling Fry’s Electronics executive flying in from San Jose with his long list of demands.

Fiji water, grouped in bottles of three. Golden raisins and warmed mixed nuts. Aramis cologne and badger hair shaving brush. Lint-free towels. Dom Perignon Rose champagne and Kurosawa Sake in the fridge. And never, under any circumstances, approach him from behind.

What the fuck.

Hackintosh Videos: Wired or Tired? ★

Another one from Jason Snell, this time regarding Apple’s legal department sending a complaint to Wired regarding “some articles and videos related to hacking PCs to run Mac OS X”. Wired’s Brian Chen reported on Twitter today that Apple was suing Wired, but he later retracted that — it appears to be a cease-and-desist request.

What apparently raised Apple’s ire was a video by Chen containing explicit step-by-step instructions for installing Mac OS X 10.5 on an MSI Wind notebook. Wired has pulled the video, but Gizmodo is hosting a copy.

Gallup: Bush Presidency Closes With 34% Approval, 61% Disapproval ★

In the post-WWII era, ahead of only Harry Truman and Richard Milhous Nixon. The most popular, of course, was Bill Clinton.

Obama’s Official Presidential Portrait Released ★

First presidential portrait with EXIF data? DF reader Charles Vestal reports that the EXIF data reveals:

Canon EOS 5D Mark II, taken 2009:01:13 17:38:39

No flash, 105.0mm focal length, 1/125 exp, f/10.0, ISO100

Quick turnaround.

Jackass of the Week: John Cox ★

John Cox:

The Pre’s big screen: 3.1 inches, with 320 × 480 pixels. That compares to the 3.5-inch iPhone screen, also at 320 × 480. Apple touts the 163 pixels per inch of the display; a Palm PR spokeswoman had no details of the Pre’s ppi number.

Mr. Cox, the Pythagorean Theorem is calling, and it wants to know if you’ve heard of it. You haven’t? … It says you should have learned about it in seventh grade, and it’s all rather simple, you could work it all out on a calculator in about 30 seconds or so… No? Nothing? Not ringing a bell? OK, well, the theorem says the answer is about 186 ppi, give or take a pixel per inch or two, and that it weeps for the state of the American education system.

(Alternative basic math solution: (3.5 / 3.1) × 163 = 184 ppi.)

Advertising Age Interview With Macworld’s Jason Snell ★

Great interview with Macworld chief Jason Snell:

I think the entire idea of a “replacement” for Steve Jobs is misguided. Let’s just all admit that Jobs is a unique sort of franchise player. He does a lot of things really well. If he were to reduce his role at Apple for whatever reason — I like to imagine that someday he’ll just buy a tropical island like a James Bond villain and retire — he will not be replaced by any one person, but by different people in different roles. Tim Cook appears to be the operations and management guy, the adult supervision. Jonathan Ive has a similar design taste to Jobs. Phil Schiller actually does a pretty good job as a demo guy — I think most tech companies would love having Phil Schiller be their keynote guy. Jonathan Ive is a brilliant designer — I don’t think he needs to be a CEO or good with a clicker on stage in front of thousands of people.

Couldn’t agree more. There is no reason why the CEO has to be Chief Showman.