Joe Nocera: ‘It’s Time for Apple to Come Clean’

Joe Nocera, the NYT financial columnist who got the infamous “I think you’re a slime bucket” call from Steve Jobs back in July:

I can even understand why he doesn’t want to disclose details about his medical problems to the world — it’s very distasteful, and Mr. Jobs also believes strongly that it’s nobody’s business except his and his family’s.

But he’s wrong. There are certain people who simply don’t have the same privacy rights as others, whether they like it or not. Presidents. Celebrities. Sports figures. And, at least in terms of his health, Steve Jobs. His health has become a material fact for Apple shareholders. His vagueness about his health, his dissembling, his constantly changing story line — it is simply not an appropriate way to act when you are the most important person at one of the most high-profile companies in America. On the contrary: it is infuriating.

I disagree with Nocera, but his position represents that of the financial community. Just because Nocera’s “infuriated” by Jobs’s refusal doesn’t mean Jobs doesn’t have the right to privacy.

★ Thursday, 15 January 2009