Re:“I Have a Secret. My Father Is Steve Jobs”
by 3pt14159 on Thursday August 02, 2018 @09:55AM
(#17671371)
It's not so black and white.
He was erratic. Some things Jobs did were wonderful. In this situation I could see him detesting the way his relationships were poisoned with money and not wanting his daughter to rest on her laurels waiting for a payday.
Re:“I Have a Secret. My Father Is Steve Jobs”
by WalterSear on Thursday August 02, 2018 @11:03AM
(#17671981)
A search for 'nice things Steve Jobs did' is damning: watch how hard journalists struggle to find some small anecdotes of kindness to say about him. 'He came out and helped us fix my car in the driveway.' 'He gave his team inspiring speeches.' 'He protected the resources he needed from interdepartmental criticism.'
It's clear that he was a dickhead to anyone he could get away with it to, while expressing the infrequent, but still present, in
group-support, and the hyperbolic in-group praise, typical of a narcissist.
Re:“I Have a Secret. My Father Is Steve Jobs”
by rhapsodic on Thursday August 02, 2018 @10:21AM
(#17671570)
> In this situation I could see him detesting the way his relationships were poisoned with money and not wanting his daughter to rest on her laurels waiting for a payday.
That's your takeaway from this?
> “You’re not getting anything,” he said. “You understand?
> Nothing. You’re getting nothing.” Did he mean about the
> car, something else, bigger? I didn’t know. His voice
> hurt—sharp, in my chest.
Re:“I Have a Secret. My Father Is Steve Jobs”
by ubermonkey on Thursday August 02, 2018 @09:45AM
(#17671299)
My suspicion is that it's nearly impossible to find anybody with the kind of business success Jobs had that ISN'T a dick at least a good chunk of the time.
Gates was famously so, at least when he was leading MSFT. Ballmer, moreso. Ellison is a well known asshole. Etc.
It's especially true of founders, I reckon, because through grit and luck they find themselves atop a large heap of money and power, and it's very easy to forget how much of their success was due to luck -- and very easy to believe that it was all due to how exceptional and smart and visionary they were, or whatever.
So, yeah, probably a dick. Probably not somebody with a lot of close friends. I mean, would YOU be friends with a guy who was denying his own child like that?
Re:“I Have a Secret. My Father Is Steve Jobs”
by resiros on Thursday August 02, 2018 @10:09AM
(#17671475)
Being a dick in a professional setting is quite different from being it in a personal setting. I think it is okay to be ruthless in business, on the other hand, with your own daughter, that is something different.
Re:“I Have a Secret. My Father Is Steve Jobs”
by threatofrain on Thursday August 02, 2018 @10:30AM
(#17671662)
I scarcely imagine that a temperate man shows up to work and dials up the asshole to be successful, then dials it back down when he gets home. Moreso, I would imagine your personality follows you where you go, and sometimes by coincidence your personality is good for business.
Re:“I Have a Secret. My Father Is Steve Jobs”
by girvo on Thursday August 02, 2018 @09:25AM
(#17671202)
From what I’ve read, and even the biography, he was a dick pretty much all the time. But the brilliance that was (rightly or wrongly, I pass no judgement other than I lean towards the former) assigned to him meant people ignored it for the most part. Fascinating really.
Re:“I Have a Secret. My Father Is Steve Jobs”
by alberthartman on Thursday August 02, 2018 @01:57PM
(#17673744)
He was a person still in the process of evolving himself. He still had many flaws that he was unable to correct before he died. But from what I could tell he was making progress on those aspects right up until his death. Unfortunate. Still, he led a pretty good life everything considered.
Empty man consumed by his own emptiness, leaves shiny baubles behind.
He was not only an awful father, he was an awful person.
He was erratic. Some things Jobs did were wonderful. In this situation I could see him detesting the way his relationships were poisoned with money and not wanting his daughter to rest on her laurels waiting for a payday.
It's clear that he was a dickhead to anyone he could get away with it to, while expressing the infrequent, but still present, in group-support, and the hyperbolic in-group praise, typical of a narcissist.
He even died due to his own hubris.
That's your takeaway from this?
Gates was famously so, at least when he was leading MSFT. Ballmer, moreso. Ellison is a well known asshole. Etc.
It's especially true of founders, I reckon, because through grit and luck they find themselves atop a large heap of money and power, and it's very easy to forget how much of their success was due to luck -- and very easy to believe that it was all due to how exceptional and smart and visionary they were, or whatever.
So, yeah, probably a dick. Probably not somebody with a lot of close friends. I mean, would YOU be friends with a guy who was denying his own child like that?
From the Economist: "While [Elon Musk danced] with his first wife on their wedding day, he told her, “I am the alpha in this relationship.” [1]
[1] https://www.economist.com/business-books-quarterly/2015/07/0...
Jobs sucked.