If you admire Mr. Gates’s current life choices, so do I, we should probably leave it at that.
If you don’t admire Mr. Jobs in whole or in part, that’s entirely a personal affair, how can I argue with the shape of your soul?
If you want to argue with Mr. Jobs because you disagree with something he said about Mr. Gates, well, you missed your chance. He’s dead.
I am personally far more interested in the things either man said that were insightful or otherwise useful for you and I to move forward and accomplish the things we think are important. I’m not convinced that worrying about their foibles is on the road from where I am today to where I want to be tomorrow, so, I must beg to take your leave.
This is not about you personally but Steve Jobs is idolized by many entrepreneurs on HN and elsewhere. Look at this huge discussion here http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=3177729 about something that he said.
So I believe Jobs saying the equivalent of "Those that can , do technology and those that can't, do charity." sends a very wrong message to many budding entrepreneurs who may go on to become super rich in the future. An influential man's words live on beyond his grave and influence people. This is not about disparaging him as much as disagreeing with him on that particular opinion, which many people here seem unable to do.
http://folklore.org/ProjectView.py?project=Macintosh&cha... is full of things Mr. Jobs did and said that appear to be less than exemplary. The thought of disputing each and every one of them is daunting, to say the least. I am not an expert on role models, but since you bring up budding entrepreneurs who may go on to become super rich in the future, here is the entire text of what I would say at Startup School if Paul were to invite me to speak:
“Do not follow in the footsteps of Mr. Wozniak, Mr. Jobs, or Mr. Gates: Seek what they sought."
If you don’t admire Mr. Jobs in whole or in part, that’s entirely a personal affair, how can I argue with the shape of your soul?
If you want to argue with Mr. Jobs because you disagree with something he said about Mr. Gates, well, you missed your chance. He’s dead.
I am personally far more interested in the things either man said that were insightful or otherwise useful for you and I to move forward and accomplish the things we think are important. I’m not convinced that worrying about their foibles is on the road from where I am today to where I want to be tomorrow, so, I must beg to take your leave.