"I readily admit that there are some things that I don't have the faintest idea what i'm talking about." - Steve Jobs, 1997
He was a human being and made mistakes; can we please let this shit go already?
He was a human being and made mistakes; can we please let this shit go already?
This article isn't grinding an ax. Rather, it's an interesting investigation of a little examined aspect of computer history that happened to be kicked off by skepticism of a claim that actually turned out to be false.
Yes. In the real world, we call this "taking it with a grain of salt." Think about how many other interviews with other celebrities you've been concerned about fact-checking.
> Even when those claims are repeated as fact by secondary sources?
This is not and should never be Jobs' problem.
> This article isn't grinding an ax. Rather, it's an interesting investigation of a little examined aspect of computer history that happened to be kicked off by skepticism of a claim that actually turned out to be false.
It's concern trolling. It's pseudo-intellectualism analogous to people who bring up Ben Franklin's mistresses whenever someone brings up his inventions. And it's ridiculous that someone would write a fully-researched analysis of an off-handed comment whose clear intention was to praise an employee for his contributions.
No, we can't let that go. So long as these erroneous facts still get circulated then they deserve to be debunked, forcefully.
That doesn't mean there is any malice intended towards Jobs or his legacy, but facts are facts.
If you think that debunking Jobs' bullshit claims will inevitably have a deleterious effect on the historical perception of Jobs as a person, well that's on Jobs for being a bullshitter, not on anyone trying to ensure that people don't have a false view of history.