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Comment by altmanaltman | Hacker News Reader

Yes, Steve Jobs was such a fuck you to the establishment. He never had government contracts with NeXT. The article calls him a son of an immigrant five times as if that is a moral virtue for some reason. Dude was a pretty trash human being in reality but people keep seeing him as tech jesus. This article actually suggests Apple ask its customers to vote towards a particular political issue which is a hilarious take given Apple's size. They will not care if a Deamon from hell becomes the president, they will still negotiate and try to continue operations instead of becoming a political activist.

Author is projecting their own political outlook as the only correct one and is again turning Steve Jobs into tech jesus without acknowledging historical facts and realities of thing. Furthmore, Tim Cook deserves a lot of criticism but not having a spine cannot be one of them because his role isnt to rage against the machine.

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> He never had government contracts with NeXT.

https://www.wsj.com/tech/steve-jobs-apple-next-cia-161b65f9

"The Hidden Debt That Apple Owes to the CIA: Without CIA funding that helped keep NeXT afloat in the ’80s, Steve Jobs might not have made a triumphant return to Apple—and the iPhone might not have its foundational operating code."

Moreover Steve did not recognize nor ever speak of his bastard father. Similarly to how he hardly recognized his own bastard daughter. Steve only spoke of his adoptive parents.

> Furthmore, Tim Cook deserves a lot of criticism but not having a spine cannot be one of them because his role isnt to rage against the machine.

Isn't Cook the guy who literally gave a gold statue to a sitting US president? I probably couldn't come up with a more spineless move even if I tried. Doesn't require a "rage against the machine" mindset to not intentionally go out of your way to participate in open and public corruption of politicians. Or am I remembering the wrong person here?

> Or am I remembering the wrong person here?

No that was indeed Tim Cook (though it was 24 karat gold plaque not a statue).

Whatever his legacy is, that's a thing people are going to remember him for, Bending the knee to a President who should never have been President in the first place.

> a President who should never have been President in the first place.

According to whom? The American people seemed to think he should be president. The thinly veiled contempt for democracy and voters among those who hate Trump is funny considering how much time they spend talking about "defending democracy".

The Bending the Knee was his second term, he was a convicted felon then (which should have ruled him out in a sane system with sane voters, but so should basically just about everything he's done in his adult life).

He's their clown, they just made him the rest of the worlds problem.

Still they elected him, they can deal with the fall out, the rest of us just wish they'd go away and deal with their own shit.

Why do you think it is spineless? I thought it is masterfully manipulative.

And honestly, these things should be deeply insulting to anyone with half a neuron. FIFA's Peace Prize, for example; a toddler is capable of seeing through that.

The juxtaposition illustrates the mastery Tim displayed in his manipulation.

Look, I hate Trump as much as the next guy, but Cook's job, being the CEO, is playing politics. It is literally part of the job. Making sure your company is not going to get legislated out of existence is one of the things you must do as CEO.

I would not want that job. As a matter of fact, as I started up the ladder in the company I was working for I realized that politics (internal and external) are a big part of the job and I was just not suited nor qualified for it, so I quit. But that is what CEO's must do if they want their company to be successful.

Bowing to the king** is not a CEO's duty.

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