>To me it just says something about American society that we obsess over Jobs yet forget two great men, without whom, Jobs never would have done anything interesting.*

I have to disagree with this. You have absolutely no idea or proof what Steve Jobs would have done without Ritchie or McCarthy. Your entire line of reasoning is predicated on unprovable assumption. For all we know, Steve Jobs still would have been successful without Ritchie and McCarthy and that's why he's a more interesting figure. But that scenario is just as impossible to prove as yours.