when did steve jobs die? survey says ...

let me start by saying i'm not in any way a conspiracy theorist, nor am i a guy who likes to whack the bee hive just to see what happens (well, not more than once ... but i was a kid).  one guy shot kennedy.  americans walked on the moon.  that's the way it is.

but i do know that high tech is full of smoke and mirrors.  i've been involved with MANY demos, announcements and briefings that were either not wholly factual, or intentionally misleading.  you can read the pages here and you'll see that i'm a person filled with self-doubt, but there's one thing i'm certain of ... i'm one of the very best demoers in america.  i understand, breathe and can promote in a demo fashion better than anyone i know.  i've won every major demo award the valley offers.  i cut my teeth demoing for apple.  i learned by watching carnies and taking apple courses.

i don't follow apple (or steve) conversations online, so i may be missing a beat here, but i haven't heard anyone talking about the date of steve jobs death.  doesn't it strike you as odd that it's the day after a major product announcement?  isn't it strange that nothing was said about, or recorded by, SJ during the release?  haven't you noticed that absolutely no details have been published about it?

could it be coincidence?  sure.  hey, i've been dealt a royal flush on a video poker machine with no draws ... i know lightning can strike.

but i also know this "culture," this company, these people and the importance of these kinds of matters.

i'm the first to admit that a person's date of death truly doesn't matter, but the deeper workings here fascinate me.

i sent an email to my pals and wanted to record the thread here.  every person (save one) has worked at apple.  the large minority knew steve personally.

my initial email:


sirs,


i have a theory and would love to hear your comments.  what if ...


steve jobs didn't actually die yesterday, but instead died on something like the 3rd or the 4th?


doesn't the timing of his departure seem odd relative to the new product release?  and the fact that absolutely nothing was said about him there?


sure, sure, it could be that he actually died yesterday and that's what happened.  but there's not a whole lot of detail coming out.


i'm not saying this is what happened, but i am saying it seems pretty strange to me.


all comments encouraged,
b1


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cap'n happy


I say it's a compelling conspiracy theory.


But then, everyone thinks I'm an asshole and making up shit just to start an argument.


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non-apple southerner (and my favorite response)


I'm more of the opinion that he did die on the 5th.  But I'm going to go with they kept him "Alive" until then.  Today people die when we stop whatever mechanisms keeping the patient "Alive".


If it was some extremely painful end then there would have been much morphine involved and I'd consider the last bit not really living.  Could have been he was on a ventilator etc. and they pulled the plug only after the marketing announcement.



So I would say less that they didn't want to leak the news of his death but rather the family/friends would have wanted him to have still been here for his last release.  I think he would have probably wanted that as well (I would have if I were in his place).


Hope that helps fuel the conspiracy fire.





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former office-mate and juggler.  the person who got me into apple.


Interesting story on managing the goodbyes:


http://finance.yahoo.com/news/With-Time-Running-Short-Jobs-nytimes-175542823.html;_ylt=AkUB4mZvqDo4Hf9DiE_83JG7YWsA;_ylu=X3oDMTE2cTEybzdrBHBvcwMxMgRzZWMDdG9wU3RvcmllcwRzbGsDd2l0aHRpbWVydW5u?x=0&sec=topStories&pos=9&asset=&ccode=


He managed everything, so it would not be a stretch to believe that he
managed the news of his death to avoid overshadowing the next phone.


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mr. crypto

It's just as plausible that he's not yet dead and this is all timed to best-support launching the biography by Walter Isaacson. 


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a member of the original mac team

I believe that before the fact, this would be something that people (including Steve) gave great thought to, but after the fact, it doesn't seem to matter much.


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zed zed


I personally think this is crazy talk.  Everyone knows that Jobs died about a year ago.  Apple has cleverly used Keith Richards as a stand-in for Jobs at public events and now Keith has gained too much weight to continue the role.


Jeesh.