John Gruber is a Jerk

John Gruber is a Jerk

So the story goes that Dan Lyons, the guy who writes Fake Steve Jobs, has decided to stop. He made the mistake of talking about why he stopped in an interview:

The truth is simply this. I began hearing a few months ago that Steve Jobs was very sick. I wasn’t sure if these rumors were true or not. Then I saw how he looked at WWDC and it was like having the wind knocked out of me. I just couldn’t carry on. I hope and pray that he’s not sick. But for now I just can’t carry on with the Fake Steve character.

Rather than accept that it is possible and probable that Steve Jobs is sick, or at least that Lyons believes he is, Gruber over at Daring Fireball decides to attack Lyons as a two-faced Newsweek whore. Gruber accuses Lyons of a deceptive attempt to clear the way for new Apple freebies, implying that he’ll get less access to Apple products because of his bad behavior as Fake Steve Jobs.

I’m sure it had nothing to do with the fact that continuing the Fake Steve blog might have an adverse affect on the amount of access to new products Apple will grant to Lyons and Newsweek. Levy, at least while at Newsweek, was often seeded with new products a few weeks in advance of release, in the same rarified air as Walt Mossberg and David Pogue. Even with Fake Steve on ice, it’ll be interesting to see what kind of access Apple gives to Lyons at Newsweek.

Lyons used to be linked in Daring Fireball quite often, even without mention of lenses, typography or Stanley Kubrick. It’s a mystery to me why Gruber is attacking him now but something tells me it has to do with the possibility of a Steve Jobs illness. That possibility has initiated Gruber’s Apple apologist instincts and anyone who mentions it is getting the full brunt of his unfocused rage.

Of course, Lyon’s FSJ is a mini American masterpiece. A satire that mocks the self-obsessed aestheticism and infantile streaks of aggression from the faux bon vivants that seem to rule the day. My only critique would be that a focus on Steve Jobs becomes personal rather quickly and perhaps there are more deserving targets of satire. If Montesquieu has taught us anything, it may be best to reveal the target of your attack in implication only. Or in the title of your post.