I won't speak to Jobs' health issues, but with respect to the insane amount of secrecy involving product launches, I really hope Apple keeps it this way...
...just makes it a whole lot more fun. We all need some intrigue in our lives, even if it's just from a company that sells plastic gizmos.
It's also what, for better or worse, keeps Apple playing as a niche luxury item rather than being able to tackle the corporate world. You can't tell a global IT department that they don't get to know when your next updates will ship or if you'll be able to fulfill orders on time.
When a publicly traded company is in question (in this case one of the most widely held and actively traded public companies), "fun" is not the proper justification. But I do agree with your wider point.
"“In this environment, where transparency is critical, the more information you give the marketplace the better,” said Charles Elson, director of the John L. Weinberg Center for Corporate Governance at the University of Delaware. “For a technology company that views itself as innovative, it’s a little odd that they are getting a reputation for lack of transparency.”
I would have liked more detail on why this is so. Why should a non-government organization have transparency one-inch beyond what is needed by its shareholders? Why is more transparency _always_ better? Seems like Apple is perfectly happy without having any.
What I don't understand is if Microsoft was this draconian and paranoid about controlling the spin on new products, people would be up in arms about how evil the company is. But, since it's Apple, people shrug, and say, "Yeah, but they build great products."
Probably the great products in "Yeah, but they build great products." is the key. And by this I don't want to imply neither that Apple build great products nor that Microsoft build bad products, but a LOT of poeple have this feeling, so...
Deliberately misleading the public about the health of the company's CEO (if this is the case) is not ok, but the process of using selective and isolated disinformation to track down leaks is quite brilliant in my mind.
Secrecy is a part of Apple's marketing mix, and a competitive advantage over much larger companies.
...just makes it a whole lot more fun. We all need some intrigue in our lives, even if it's just from a company that sells plastic gizmos.