Steve Jobs: Advocacy and Privacy

His health is a private issue and he has no obligation to share information regarding his illness with the public.

After he's gone, you ghouls can find out all you want to know after the fact, just like with other celebrities. It's none of your business what's happening with Steve Jobs now, if he doesn't feel like 'sharing'.

A Public Figure's Privacy Is Gone ... FACT. Besides there are many who care deelply about Steve Jobs so telling us a little more would have been a smart thing to do.

He has no obligation to divulge any of his personal life to the public. Perhaps he just wants to focus on himself which is perfectly acceptable when you are ill.

So let me throw this one back to you...Do you think you would be under any obligation to divulge personal feelings, fears, medical history, treatments, etc. to the public if you were Steve Jobs? Think about it. First & Foremost, he is a human being, who is suffering from an incurable disease. His family and close friends must also come to terms with this and the fact that he may die in the near future. Would you want the media and public constantly in your face? Answer = Hell no. So show some compassion and leave him alone!

What a ridiculous question -- Steve Jobs, and no one else for that matter, owes anyone the story of their personal struggles. If he wants to share that's up to him but serious illness and impending death are deeply personal, intimate times in someone's life that they have the right to choose with whom or what to share. Anyone who thinks he has an "obligation," has a screw loose.

He owes it to himself and his family to do whatever feels right for his health and sanity. He doesn't owe the public a damn thing. It wouldn't matter if he were an actor, an athlete or the president. He should be left alone with no questions regarding obligations to the public. Ridiculous...

No obligation whatsoever. He doesn't need to turn himself into a poster child for his ailment. And selfishly, I'd rather think of him as the innovator and extraordinary business person he's become rather than associate him with his illness.

It's private,so no.

He is ill, his only debt is to himself, to put all of his energy into his health status. He has already given so much, nothing else owed.

Steve Jobs owes nothing. He has earned respect from a society with which he shared his talent for many years and deserves his personal space if he chooses.

that is his business

I agree, he should be left alone. What if he were a public servant, like congressman or senator, should he divulge then?

You only have an obligation if your condition can harm those around you. He has cancer, not the plague, so it's his own business.

He should live as he wishes. He owes the world nothing. He's done more than many already. Health is personal and perhaps he doesn't want to be defined by cancer. I admire him for all that he has done and will do- his career isn't over.

Pancreatic cancer can be pretty horrible. Several of my family members have had it. I wouldn't want to talk about it, either.

No. He has no obligations to share private health information unless he chooses.

NO!.....Leave the poor man alone!

The man is dying. He doesn't owe anyone anything. He should spend his time how he chooses without any demand placed on him or his family.

The idea that someone battling cancer owes the world anything is offensive to me. How someone chooses to deal with an illness is entirely up to them.

No. It's his personal life. He has no obligation to do anything.

His personal life is his own business -- private. It's not for us to ask or demand explanations.