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Comment by selmnoo | Hacker News Reader

I would not so easily put so much stock or value in the way Steve Jobs did things as a parent or even as a human being. This is the guy who unfortunately refused to pay child support (while being more than able to) as well as refuse to acknowledge the existence of his daughter (ignoring all her contact efforts and so on). And then there's that whole thing with corruption at unholy levels and treating his employees and people in general like crap.

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This comment really shouldn't be at the top. The author appears to have read only the headline, and has taken the opportunity to turn the thread into a discussion of Steve Jobs.

The topic of the article was screen time for children. It quoted examples of many technologists who limit screen time. Steve Jobs was just "click bait".

At HN, we should be beyond merely commenting on headlines. I would far prefer the top comment to be a discussion of the merits of the article and the issues raised.

Indeed! I dropped my monocle into my bone china cup when I saw that this was the top comment. There are standards to maintain here at Hacker Towers.

Bully! snorts cocaine off of a silver plate held my a kangaroo servent-man

Did you read the article? Mentioning Jobs is just for catchy title. There are few quotes from other tech-related people who also limit smartphones and tablets for their children.

I don't think it's a designed to be a ringing endorsement of Jobs as a parent or person; rather his views on one aspect of parenting that could surprise many people.

I don't put that much stock or value in anything about Steve Jobs. After he died and lots of bio-type stuff started getting published, it quickly became obvious that he was a fairly avg businessman who succeeded only because he was lucky enough to surround himself with really smart people. Not to mention being in the right place at the right time.

All of the "amazing" ideas I've heard of that Apple implemented were things that Steve Jobs A) didn't come up with himself but also B) actively fought against (but eventually conceded on some only after those around him made strong cases). Probably the best of those examples is the existence of 3rd party apps on the iPhone. Wasn't Jobs' idea, and he had to be convinced it was a good idea worth pursuing. In retrospect, if you had to point to one single decision that made the iPhone the market leader that it is today, it would be the app ecosystem.

Steve Jobs was a deeply flawed human who did many bad things, but I don't think it's fair to conflate who he was in his fifties with who he was in his twenties. And ultimately, the article is not about him anyway.

Actually he (rather, his parenting style) is the subject of the article...

I'd say it's a framing device rather than the subject; it discusses other tech leaders who take similar approaches as well.

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