Never Settle! Secrets of an Innovator

Steve Jobs's commencement address at Stanford University in 2005 struck an unusually personal note.

The Man is the Brand

"The Macintosh Messiah" once thought to be a one-hit wonder has followed up with the iMac, the iBook, the iPod, the iPhone.

Jobs had been giving a keynote speech at Macworld every year to pump enthusiasm, usually unveiling new products at this time. Rumors of health troubles were triggered by his gaunt appearance at Macworld in July, 2008. In August, after a "routine update" of the obit file on Steve Jobs, Bloomberg News accidentally put it on the extenal wire. After a reported 30 seconds, it was removed, and later retracted. Jobs joked about this media moment in his September, 2008 product announcement, quoting Mark Twain.

In early January, 2009, following renewed speculation when he skipped Macworld, Jobs took the unusual—at least for him—step of discussing his weight loss, attributing it to a newly-diagnosed "hormone inbalance" and predicting a slow weight gain throughout the spring. Later in the month, he sent a letter to Apple employees saying that he would take a medical leave of absence. He will remain chair of Apple during his recovery and is scheduled to return to work at the end of June.

Updated by the editors of Live & Learn, January, 2009.