All Things Digital is reporting that “several sources close to the situation” are saying that Apple CEO Steve Jobs “is definitely considering an appearance at its big iPad 2 event tomorrow.”
Bad idea.
You guys are trying to launch a new tablet, right? And you’re trying to instill confidence from consumers, stockholders and company employees in interim CEO Tim Cook, right? Steve Jobs would turn the iPad 2 announcement into the “Everyone Speculate About His Every Move!” announcement.
Imagine all the blog posts:
As you can see in this photo of Steve Jobs from 2005, his belt buckle is fastened at the fourth hole, but today it’s at the fifth hole! He’s losing a lot of weight!
Jobs walked across the stage today at an average speed of 2.3 miles per hour versus the 2.9 miles per hour he averaged back in 2002! Something’s wrong!
If Steve Jobs and Tim Cook went to a San Francisco Giant’s game together, who would sit in the aisle seat?! Is Jobs coming back to Apple tomorrow?!
Steve Jobs at the Apple announcement tomorrow would be like showing up at your dog sitter’s house right in the middle of your vacation, saying hi to your dog without petting it, and then heading back to the airport. The dog would go nuts. Same basic story if you have little kids instead of animals.
Bad, bad, bad idea.
More on TIME.com:
Apple’s Tim Cook Pits iPhone Against Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs