Was Steve Jobs a great big Ay-hole?

October 26, 2011

Mac News

Since the recent passing of Steve Jobs due to cancer, there’s been a whole lot of  interesting facts unearthed in his memory, some of which depict him as, well… kind of an asshole.

Over at Digital Music News, some quotes were assembled from the recently-released biography from Simon & Schuster that were cherry-picked to cast El Steve in a not-so-flattering light. He’s described as a deadbeat dad, a megalomaniacal tightwad and even kind of sociopathic. Here’s a taste:

Apple’s famous designer, Jonathan Ive, was frustrated because Steve was constantly taking credit for his ideas.  It was a recurring problem, with incredibly talented executives complaining that Jobs took all the credit for Apple’s game-changing innovations.  ”I pay maniacal attention to where an idea comes from, and I even keep notebooks filled with my ideas,” Ive said.  ”So it hurts when he takes credit for one of my designs.”

Cold, for sure.

Most people who are reading this article on Macgasm (as well as the guy writing it) have never met Steve Jobs and didn’t know him. Biographies and the picture they draw — positive or negative — often fail to convey those details in the context of an entire life lived. Everyone knows Jobs wasn’t exactly the warmest, cuddliest guy around, but it’s not a bad idea to be as skeptical of those who want to demonize him as we are of those who want to deify him.

Source: Digital Music News

About Corey Tamas

Editor in Chief of MacGamer since 1998, worked for MacHome magazine, as games contributor for The Mac Bible, and co-hosts the iGame Radio Podcast.

View all posts by Corey Tamas
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I'm not surprised at all really. I mean I ams and always have been amazed and very intrigued by the man. I also always thought I could see a total asshole in him while watching interviews, etc...
Oh well, no matter the asshole or the sociopathic freak, he was the man at Apple who made a lot of things work. But Yeah John Ive has always been the man too!!