Steve Jobs Technological High School Center (Steve would NEVER have used that name!) is currently open, and apparently seeking applicants. Be mindful that there is a one in five chance that this is actually a horrible con, and that you'll immediately be shunted into an underground sweatshop where you'll sew exact replicas of out-of-production black turtle necks and Levi 501s. [Macenstein]

“This is Steve Jobs. You think I’m an arrogant [expletive] who thinks he’s above the law, and I think you’re a slime bucket who gets most of his facts wrong.”

What followed was Jobs setting the record straight and spilling the beans about his health.

After agreeing to an off-the-record conversation, Jobs proceeded to tell Nocera that he didn't have cancer. All he had, what made him look thinner than usual, was something else that wasn't threatening his life. Nocera revealed this in an NYT article today, arguing that, while Jobs is not obligated by law to disclose his personal health as CEO of Apple, he should do it, for the interest of investors.

Should he really?

For sure, Steve Jobs' health is extremely important to Wall Street. After all, Jobs' unique vision is credited as the main factor of Apple's success. At least, that's the legend. A legend created by writers and analysts, who love to embellish history and make heroes (and villains) ignoring many other factors and actual history.

The truth is that, while there's no doubt that Steve Jobs is The Man, people should also look at all the facts. With any complex system, like Apple's, there are many variables that have contributed to the company's success during these years, starting with luck but, above all, the talent of the rest of the directors (Schiller, Rubinstein, Ive, to name a few) and, specially, the amazing engineers working at Apple, along with the hard work and dedication of the rest of the employees.

But let's forget about the pure facts. Let's trash any logical analysis and assume that Steve is the only guy responsible for Apple's success.

Should he disclose his health then, for the sake of the shareholders?

He doesn't have to.

His health doesn't have to be a public matter because he is perceived as the Hero who resurrected Apple. Not only because that's not entirely true, and Apple is not Steve, but "Steve + A Whole Lot More," but because private health is something that only concerns the individual and his freedom, independently of his role in companies and societies.

You don't have to go far to see clear examples of this, and how not disclosing a medical condition didn't affect the course of anything (actually, quite the contrary). Take US presidents, for example. Was FDR less of a president because he hid his medical condition from the American public? What about John F. Kennedy, who never disclosed his Addison's disease, even when asked specifically about it?

The answer is clear. FDR and JFK were in much higher positions, with much greater power, and in extremely difficult situations. Situations that would have really changed the world. Yet, they didn't disclose their medical conditions. They didn't make people lose. On the contrary, they made people win. One won a war and the other took us to the Moon. And what's more, it wasn't—and it isn't—illegal for them to hide it: It's not a crime for a president to withhold information about his or her health. In fact, it's their right not to disclose it.

So, if people with a lot more responsibility than Jobs kept their medical life secret, why should the Apple CEO disclose all the details about his, especially when these details are not about a life-threatening illness? Because of the investors? Because of a journalist who wants to tell a BIG story? Nocera argues, like some analysts, that it would be a disaster for Apple's stock and that's why people should be kept in the loop.

I disagree. And I think that anyone who values their private life, the most intimate part of themselves, their own bodies, would agree too, no matter if you are a fanboy, a hateboy, a journalist or an investor.

What's more: The fact is that I don't believe investors would leave Apple if Jobs leaves. Watching the people there now, watching how the iPhone steamrolls the competition, the iPod and iTunes and the Mac keep growing, people will stay. Probably some speculators will sell at first. After all, we are all human and have emotional reactions. But, after a while, it would be just fine. And one day, if the company as a whole fails, then the company will die. But many companies have survived the loss of CEOs as talented as Jobs. IBM didn't die. Disney didn't die. Sony didn't die.

As brilliant as Steve Jobs is, Apple will survive after he leaves. Personally, I just hope that he'll stay for as long as he wants. He's good for the industry and the world, because what Apple does keeps pushing technology forward. Hopefully he'll leave because he wants to, to live a long life, and not because of any illness.

But if he leaves because of a fatal illness, I'm positive that he'll step down and the board will elect someone else. Like they did before. That will be business as usual. Just like business was normal when he was off for cancer surgery and treatment. Nothing happened, everything worked as expected.

Until that day, Steve Jobs has the right to keep his medical records private for as long as he wants. Like FDR. Like JFK. Like any single person in this country and in the world. It's our right, as humans, to do so, as recognized by the United Nations.

And common sense. [NYT]

Our tipster Joco explains:

Microsoft has midterm contracts with the state in Hungary for "way cheaper than from the store" Campus-licences. This costs billions (in HUF, 160HUF=1USD) for the state and makes students stuck in the Microsoft-world, not knowing Linux etc.

It's not quite as violent as the Bill Gates encounter, but it still doesn't feel good. You know, when someone eggs you. Ballmer is not a house.

[Index.hu]

Editor's note: nothing to be surprised about here. Even if he was using a MacBook for his presentation, who cares? Macs run Windows just like any other PC laptop, and also PowerPoint for Mac OS X. Probably Ballmer doesn't give a damn about what computer is running his presentation, as long as it runs Microsoft's software. —JD

The futuristic device makes the touch UI revolution look like something from the era of the Flinstones. The gesture controls work by implementing a large projection screen and a "highly advanced piece of motion capture technology." What exactly is going on behind the scenes is not clear, but you can be assured I shall be going along for a hands-on waiving session soon. With tiny projectors in the making, it can't be too long before the gesture controlled iPhone comes out. Steve, that would be the best keynote, ever...you can't stop us from dreaming. [New Launches]

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The first assignment for jet packing team Giz would be CES 2008. Picture the scene; the whole squad lands right into the main hall, everyone gasps in amazement, people flock from all over, reporters would leave Steve's keynote to come and see us, Mark would launch us all into the excellent elf dance, we'd blog the bejeezus out of CES and then we'd power up our astro packs and fly right back to Giz HQ. We would probably have a race along the way, which, naturally, we would live blog for your pleasure. It would be awesome. Hey, it would beat my flight into CES—the 12-hour wait at Minneapolis airport I have to sit through is going to be a killer. If anyone is around, come and say hello. If anyone has a jetpack that will fly me from London to Las Vegas, thus negating the 12-hour wait, drop me a line.

That's right, Steve gave Bill an iPhone as a gift, and who can blame him? Bill Clinton's great; he simply oozes charisma. Sure, he may have not known that oral sex constitutes sexual intercourse, but to hell with that—he has more character in the tip of his mischievous tongue than the current president does in his whole president shaped body. For that reason alone, we would gladly have Bill sign our iPhone. We would also gladly receive an iPhone from The Steve himself. Guys, if you're reading and struggling to get our Christmas present in check, the above should hold all the clues you need. [Bioffe]

Keep A Child Alive, a charity that campaigns to bring anti-retroviral drugs to African kids with AIDS will get the proceeds from the sale of the iPhone, once Mr Vulkan has flogged it on eBay. So if you see him, shake that man's hand and tell him he's Top Banana.

And if you want to donate to Keep A Child Alive, then you can do so here. Oh, and Steve, if you're reading this, then why don't you be a love and match the final eBay total?

First in line for an iPhone at Apple store Soho on Flickr [Flickr via Boing Boing]

The One Laptop Per Child project may have turned down Apple's offer of free Mac OS X for each machine in favour of making their own XO interface, but they're not averse to aping the way the Cupertino gang work. At least according to John Maeda, one of the grand poobahs at MIT who has been keeping an eye on the XO development process. "They're using the Steve Jobs method," says, John Maeda, an MIT design guru, "you don't use focus groups. You just do it right." Incidentally, the $100 laptop is now going for about $208 - that was the price when they did a deal with the Libyan authority (sic) back in October. – Ad Dugdale

The Face Of The $100 Laptop [Business Week]

Q: Steve, if you could have one thing happen to the Zune, what would it be?
A: Bang? No, boom. That's it, boom. – Jason Chen

YouTube [via Boing Boing]