Will Steve have to "do a Martha?"

It must be interesting being Steve Jobs. Still I imagine that even Steve has challenges.

They certainly involve issues that are well out of the average Joe's world.  Yet these are interesting times and I suspect one of the worries that might cross Steve's mind is what would happen if someone in the government really wanted to make an example out of him in the stock options backdating mess.  I don't know where the male federal equivalent of Martha Stewart's jail home away from home is, but I would be willing to bet that it doesn't have anything like the nice vegetarian fare of Cafe Macs.

I wonder if this might put a little extra pressure on Steve's keynote presentation next week.  Of course maybe Apple figures that with Nancy Heinen and Fred Anderson thrown to the wolves that Steve is off the hook. I have been told Steve descends into an intense period of concentration and focus prior to the keynote.  We were often told that there was no way that Steve would be available for anything with customers until after the keynote.  Not that he was very available then. 

There has been some talk recently that Steve's presentations haven't been up to his previous high standards.  I can imagine that things are little tense as preparations go forward for MacWorld.  I wouldn't want to be Steve's support team next week.

Someone asked me today about what I thought Steve knew about options backdating.  My comment was first that Steve's office was in sight of Fred Anderson's when Fred was there. Last time I was there, both offices also lots of glass in the walls.  Second I told the story that Steve once personally picked out the folding chairs that we used in a show for Apple federal.  My guess is someone who is that much of a micro-manager probably knew exactly what was going on at Apple with options.  Still I don't know that micromanaging makes him a candidate for a federal vacation.  My guess is that it is like anything else  in America, it depends on what side of the bed a federal might use as to whether or not they will chase Steve.  I know every Mac user and all the stock holders wish the federal government would focus on larger problems.

Almost all the business stories seems to speak of Apple standing behind Steve even in the very unlikely event that there are charges.  I personally think the bigger danger is that Steve takes his brilliance and goes home to play with his iPod prototypes.

This afternoon I even heard a rumour that Steve was taking a leave of absence. I doubt that will happen, but I guess anything is possible.  It's hard to say what drives billionaires.  After all even Bill Gates got to the point that he wanted to start giving away his money before and after death.  When does Steve think he has done enough and just get tired of the spotlight?

Or is the spotlight so integral to Steve's personality that he can't give it up.  I can't imagine that the buzz that you get from a few MacWorld type stage events lasts very long so it must be some be something else.  How many magazines covers and feature articles do you have before they stop meaning anything to you?

Steve can't be driven by respect from his peers since he has none, unless you count Larry Ellison at Oracle.  I doubt even Larry holds a candle to Steve.  I once had a boss who theorized that Steve was only working to please himself.  His thought was that Steve already knew he was cooler than anyone else, and kept driving himself only through an intense desire to please himself.

Whatever drives Steve, most of us mere mortals probably can't understand it.  His brilliance has resulted in some great products and a few duds along the way.  Next week will be exciting.  I doubt that we will figure out by then whether Steve is going to do a Martha or not, but we will find out what products he has up his sleeve.

I know couple of things.  Also  Steve Jobs, I probably wouldn't have a photo site.  I wouldn't be using a Mac or anything else to develop DVDs for my real estate career.   Steve has brought some magic into our lives.  That doesn't excuse him if perchance some laws have been broken, but it does give us a good reason to hope he stays in the clear and keeps his home in Palo Alto.

Of course without having worked at Apple, I might not be writing posts like " The ethical challenge for corporations," "The code of the CEO," and "Another year of great management."

So how many hours is it to the keynote?

Comments

[Olly Goddard]

Too Many!

[Bernie Kaplan]

I hear Apple thinks iLoad (www.iLoad.com), a device that puts CDs on an iPod without using a computer or Internet Connection, is the "AntiChrist". Supplier rumors abound about how Apple is trying to see that it never gets to market. I saw the gizmo live and think it's cool. A Graigslist posting was looking for PR representation at MacWorld, so I guess that we'll see iLoad (someplace) there...

[howard]

steve will not be doing a martha. many folks forget that martha did not go to the slam for trading on insider information; she went because she lied about trading on insider info. steve is was too smart to do the one thing that angers federal prosecutors more than anything (much more than the wrong side of the bed)--people who lie to them.