上周，史蒂夫•乔布斯宣布将CEO职务交由蒂姆•库克接管。围绕他的这一决定，最让人不解的是时机的选择。

    近几天，大部分评论都认为乔布斯肯定已经病入膏肓——这从他辞职信的措辞中可窥一斑。但跟一周前或一个月前相比，他的病情真的出现了明显的恶化吗？很明显，他还不到病危的地步。因为在过去两天，他大部分时间都呆在苹果公司（Apple）的总部。

    《旧金山观察家报》（San Francisco Examiner）专栏作家约翰•德沃夏克在他的专栏“第二种看法”（Second Opinion）中给出了更易理解、更合逻辑的解释。约翰•德沃夏克喜欢唱反调，1984年，他曾声称，未来没有人会愿意用鼠标来控制电脑。2007年，他又警告苹果要尽快“关闭”iPhone业务，否则将悔之莫及。

    他写道：“原因就在于蒂姆•库克。”文章摘要如下：

    众所周知，硅谷每家企业都希望聘请到库克。而对于库克而言，既然公司运营由他主持，那么代理CEO的头衔实际上已经不合时宜了。

    数月以来，乔布斯一直都在休假。事实上，除了头衔本身，宣布CEO职务交接不会带来任何改变，这一点不容忽视。

    苹果公司认为应该尽快让库克接任CEO。因为，万一库克对代理CEO的头衔感到厌烦怎么办？苹果不能冒这个险。更重要的是，对于库克而言，如果在担任代理CEO期间乔布斯不幸身亡，所产生的后果可能是他无法承受的。

    因为按惯例，在公司董事会主席或创始人去世后，现任CEO将继续留任；而作为代理CEO，在董事会主席或创始人或现任CEO发生意外后，只有在竞选中胜出，才能正式担任CEO。也就是说，如果乔布斯发生意外，库克可能无法自动“转正”。

    换句话说，库克也许会受到排挤而无法接任CEO职位。比如有居心叵测的人会跳出来说：“没错，他是代理CEO，让他接任之前，我们还是再考虑一下，说不定还有更合适的人选。”

    正如美国市场研究公司Investor Village旗下AAPL Sanity的一位评论员写道，瞎猫也能碰到死耗子！（如果不及时将库克扶正，CEO职位被他人攫取也并非绝无可能。）

    最新消息：上周三，苹果公司向美国证券交易委员会（SEC）提交了Form 8-K表格文件，为乔布斯的辞职事宜备案，其中包括以下条款：

    “董事会任命库克先生担任苹果公司首席执行官，并赠予库克先生1,000,000股受限股。其中一半受限股将于2016年8月24日兑现，另一半则于2021年8月24日兑现。但前提条件是，在兑现日期之前，库克先生必须一直为公司服务。”

    翻译：刘进龙/汪皓

    One of the mysteries surrounding Steve Jobs' decision to hand the CEO title over to Tim Cook is its timing.

    The assumption underlying most of the commentary these past two days is that Jobs must be really really sick -- which is understandable given the wording of his letter of resignation. But is he that much sicker this week than he was last week? Or last month? He's clearly not on his deathbed. By several accounts he spent much of the past two days at Apple (AAPL) headquarters.

    In his "Second Opinion" column for the San Francisco Examiner, John Dvorak -- a man whose penchant for contrariness led him to suggest in 1984 that nobody would want to use a mouse to control a computer and in 2007 that Apple "pull the plug" on the iPhone before it's too late -- offers a simpler, more logical explanation.

    "The reason," he wrote, "is Tim Cook." The key paragraphs:

    Everyone in Silicon Valley would love to hire this guy, and from his perspective, his title as "acting" chief executive gets old fast when you are actually running the company.

    Jobs has been on extended leave for months, so what's going to change with this announcement? Nothing, that's what — except the title itself. And this is what is important.

    Giving up the CEO title to Cook had to be done sooner than later. The company cannot take a chance that Cook might get be tired of being jerked around. More importantly, from Cook's perspective, he cannot afford to be the acting chief executive if Jobs actually dies while he is acting chief.

    The way these companies operate, they will keep a CEO if he or she is the actual CEO and the chairman/founder dies. If he or she is the acting CEO when the chairman/founder/CEO dies, then the job is up for grabs. Cook would not automatically become the CEO.

    In other words, Cook may get screwed out of the top spot when the weasels come out of the woodwork. "Yes, he's the acting CEO, but let's just look around before we give him the job — just in case.

    As one of the commentators on Investor Village's AAPL Sanity board wrote, even a broken clock is right twice a day.

    UPDATE: The Form 8-K that Apple filed with the SEC Wednesday to register Jobs' resignation includes this provision:

    "In connection with Mr. Cook's appointment as Chief Executive Officer, the Board awarded Mr. Cook 1,000,000 restricted stock units. Fifty percent of the restricted stock units are scheduled to vest on each of August 24, 2016 and August 24, 2021, subject to Mr. Cook's continued employment with Apple through each such date."