A couple of the larger media egos on the Apple beat got into a public spat on CNBC Wednesday, in the wake of Steve Jobs’ sudden decision to step aside from day-to-day operations in Cupertino.
Newsweek columnist Dan Lyons, who outed himself as the man behind the formerly wildly popular blog Fake Steve Jobs told CNBC’s Silicon Valley bureau chief, Jim Goldman, he’d been “played” and “punked” by his sources at Apple.
Goldman had previously reported, in the wake of Jobs’ decision to forgo the keynote address at Macworld 2009, that his sources had assured him the Apple CEO was fine and healthy and that the company’s decisions around Macworld had more to do with its long-term market strategy, and had not been guided by any concerns about Jobs’ health.
The clip is a bit of Kabuki theater that reminds one of nothing so much as children squabbling over a dying parent. It devolves, as so many of these things do, into a tempest of shouting and mewling. The conversation’s moderator sums it up nicely at the end, saying, “nobody can hear anything you guys are saying because you’re talking all over one another, and we’re out of time.”
Sad.
Via Cnet
4 responses to “‘Fake Steve Jobs’ Lashes Out on CNBC”
These guys are yakking as if they’ve never been sick in their own lives. How often have you gone to the doctor and haven’t gotten a reasonable diagnosis? Or the wrong diagnosis? It happens all the time. Is it bronchitis? Or just a virus? Or both? We all know that competent doctors miss the easy things all the time — how about the hard things like rare forms of pancreatic cancer?
And so what if Steve is losing weight? What if he feels pretty good . . . but damn, every time he steps on the scale, he’s lost a few ounces? Think he’s going to eat a hamburger?
Ever heard of the guys who are on calorie restriction diets and how they live longer than most other people? And how calorie restriction works on other mammals, too? There’s a reason you don’t overfeed the family dog.
It’s possible Apple and Jobs have been lying or downplaying the information . . . and just as possible that doctors helping a guy who survived a rare form of pancreatic cancer are learning as they go. But saying ten days between the two public notes from Jobs doesn’t add up because the first hormonal imbalance diagnosis came just last week . . . is ludicrous. These guys don’t know jack about the health issues facing Steve Jobs, and claiming that the time between announcements is fishy — it’s just sad. I mean, everyone talks out their ass sometimes, but come on, guys!
Stuffed shirts, talking heads. Blah blah blah. Wah Wah Wah.