What Everyone Is Too Polite...

... to Say About Steve Jobs

by Ryan Tate - October 7th, 2011 - Gawker

In the days after Steve Jobs' death, friends and colleagues have, in customary fashion, been sharing their fondest memories of the Apple co-founder. He's been hailed as "a genius" and "the greatest CEO of his generation" by pundits and tech journalists. But a great man's reputation can withstand a full accounting. And, truth be told, Jobs could be terrible to people, and his impact on the world was not uniformly positive.

For those who are impressed with Steve Jobs, this article should open some eyes. I doubt it will. America seems inflicted with hero worship of what used to be called scum. We tolerate behavior today that America used to revile. For a summary of revolting behavior Steve Jobs practiced all his life, some in the article and some not, here is a list.

He held everyone in contempt and considered them his inferiors.

While filthy rich he allowed his illegitimate daughter to go hungry, denying he was her father in legal filings, refusing child support of any amount - even while he named a computer after her and bragged about how beautiful she was.

He refused all his life to give charitable donations, for any purpose at all. Worth billions, he was contemptuous of anything that did not honor him.

He knowingly allowed for horrible working conditions in the factories that built his products. His only concern was wringing every penny of profit he could obtain out of subcontractor prices.

He was paranoid about anyone stealing any idea he could obtain yet was repeatedly guilty of stealing ideas from others and claiming them as his own. Having stolen the idea of 'windows' and the 'computer mouse' from Xerox, he sued to stop Microsoft from using the concepts under the bizarre legal hypothesis that they were his because he stole them first.

His current operating system is in fact a stolen version of Unix-Linux that he simply renamed. Only technical insiders realize this and even some of them act like his stolen improvements are something they should laud him for accomplishing.

He was totally opposed to the very concept of freedom that he claims his products allow. He personally implemented draconian restrictions on everyone over whom he could claim any power.

Steven Jobs was one of the most contemptible people to ever live. He was never as creative as he claimed. My question is simple. With his track record of evil, why are so many willing to give him so much adoration?