[bennyg]

Some platitudes and quotes can be removed from the person who said it and still be valid. I think if the quotes from this interview were attributed to some random dude in 1996, that they would be just as valid as coming from Jobs. For some reason people play the opposite of "appealing to authority" to disparage the knowledge because of who it came from. That's intellectually dishonest to me.

[selmnoo]

What? I did not say that Jobs was not a smart businessman, that's not what I'm contending. His quotes in this article are probably very valid and prescient, none of this is what I take issue with. I'm just saying he was a bad person who frequently did illegal and immoral things, and thus he shouldn't be the person we should look up to. Wozniak is a better role model figure for us all.

[bennyg]

Blue boxes were illegal too. I just think it's foolish to look at somebody's actions and apply that as reason to like/not like other actions.

[thirsteh]

Nobody is actually doing that. If anything, you're making the argument that because he did some good acts, his other actions can't be criticized.

[bennyg]

No, I'm saying it's foolish to criticize an action based on other actions. Criticize an action on its own merit. I think it's a slippery slope to start saying you won't look up to someone because one subset of actions of theirs is bad. If that's the case then nobody should look up to anybody for there are certainly reprehensible actions littered over everyone's past.

[thirsteh]

At no point has anyone said that X, Y or Z action was meaningless because he e.g. disowned his daughter for the first half of her life. Someone didn't understand how anyone could dislike Steve Jobs, a couple of reasons why were given, and now you are basically asserting that Steve Jobs is beyond criticism because all humans have skeletons in their closets. Do you see the problem?

Whether or not you should look up to Steve Jobs is up to you. Examine the facts about him and then decide whether he is a role model for you. He isn't an infallible role model to everyone by default just because he was successful or in the public eye, nor should he be.

[bennyg]

I never asserted that haha. I was basically replying to this line above:

    > I will absolutely never respect him for his streak of immoral/illegal acts.

That just seems foolish to me, since tons of other people garner respect despite worse immoral/illegal acts. That's it. There's nothing else to read into my statements.