I was searching tonight for some pop culture news. Kim Kardashian got married, but I couldn’t care less. Minka Kelly and Derek Jeter broke up – boring.
So, I turned to my old friend TMZ. Okay, Chaz Bono signs on for “Dancing with the Stars,” former NBA player charged with murder, and then I hit the supposed Steve Jobs post-resignation picture. Wow. The reason I say supposed is that the photo looks a bit fake to me, but if it is Steve, it is obvious he doesn’t have long to live.
Everyone knows Jobs has had pancreatic cancer for at least the last seven years. Obviously the guy has money to warrant the best medical treatment available, but that doesn’t always mean a cure.
I go way back with Apple. So far back that I had to opportunities to invest in it not once but twice when the stock was low and unfortunately didn’t. When I started work at the University of Tennessee, Memphis in 1987, the company was giving computers to the university. Giving them as in for free. I seriously doubt Apple gives anyone anything now (with maybe the except of schools).
But, Jobs left the company in the mid-‘90s and it went downhill fast. Meanwhile, Jobs was busy building up a little animation studio you may have heard of – Pixar. By 1996, Jobs was back at Apple at a time when it was at a three-year record low stock price. Jobs turned it around with the i-Everything and now we not only carry all our music around on a little device we bought from him while talking on our iPhones, we download the music from a site called iTunes, and do everything else on our iPads. To call Jobs a visionary would almost be an insult. Time and time again, people have said he may be the best CEO ever. Ever.
You are probably thinking, “But Libby, what are you getting at?” Well, the TMZ photo was obviously shocking. I mean we’ve seen Jobs thin over the years, no doubt, but this was a man literally dying before our eyes. If you want to see the photo, you can visit TMZ.
I felt obligated to see what people were saying about it. Out of the 10 pages of comments that I read, it seemed like about 75% of the people were asking TMZ to remove the photo out of respect for Jobs and his family. Many talked about how great Jobs was and all his wonderful accomplishments in the world of technology. Many said prayers and of course, there were a few trolls who had snide remarks.
But, the question is – should TMZ have printed this photo? I mean we’ve all become pretty desensitized to photos what with wardrobe malfunctions and celebrity mug shots, but does this photo cross the line of good taste. I mean, it almost looks posed, which again lends to the “Is it real?” question.
Did Jobs want his adoring public to see for ourselves what finally forced him to leave his beloved Apple or is TMZ just trying to cash in on a hot story?