THE APPLE press office has been having a hell of a job during the media silly season fighting off a persistent rumour that Steve Jobs is either dead or sick. The source of the rumours seems to be Mac fans who have noticed that whenever their glorious messiah takes to the podium be has seemed thinner and less energized. Jobs suffered from pancreatic cancer in 2004 and had made a recovery following an operation, so obviously everyone is concerned. Information Week trudged the path to Apple’s PR office to ask how he was. Apple does not usually comment on speculation, but much to Info Week’s surprise they got a response. The official line is “Steve’s health is robust and we have no idea where these rumours are coming from.”

So now you know. The reason Apple made a statement is because with all this talk of share scandals and possible delisting, the last thing they want are rumours of dead messiahs circulating.