- Steve Jobs at MacWorld in 2005
Digital News Report- On December 16th, 2008, Apple announced that Steve Jobs would not be giving the keynote address at the Macworld Conference and Expo 2009. Instead, marketing vice-president Philip Schiller would be giving the speech. The announcement sent shockwaves through the Apple community and revived rumors of health problems for the beloved Apple Inc. CEO.
In 2004 he announced that he had a malignant tumor in his pancreas, which usually has a high mortality rate. However, Jobs insisted that his was a far less aggressive type known as islet cell neuroendocrine tumor. However, in an open letter to the Mac community earlier today, Jobs attempted to clear the air and blamed his absence at the keynote on, “a hormone imbalance that has been ‘robbing’ [him] of the proteins [his] body needs to be healthy.” Jobs has frequently declined to discuss his health problems.
He went on to state, “The remedy for this nutritional problem is relatively simple and straightforward, and I’ve already begun treatment. But, just like I didn’t lose this much weight and body mass in a week or a month, my doctors expect it will take me until late this Spring to regain it. I will continue as Apple’s CEO during my recovery.”
Apple released a statement saying that, “Steve Jobs is one of the most talented and effective CEOs in the world,” and that they are, “lucky to have Steve as its leader and CEO, and he deserves our complete and unwavering support during his recuperation.”
The MacWorld Conference and Expo is held annually in the United States and is dedicated to the Apple Macintosh platform. The Expo this year was the first one in a decade where Jobs did not give the keynote address. This year will be the last year that the company participates.