Saint Steve? The anti-Jobs backlash has begun

By Andy Goldberg Oct 11, 2011, 4:11 GMT

San Francisco - In the hours and days following the death of Apple co-founder Steve Jobs, tributes poured in from all over the world, grieving fans held vigils at Apple stores and social networks were flooded with teary accolades to the rock star of the tech world.

A cartoon making the rounds on the internet perhaps best summed up the mood. It showed Moses at the pearly gates of heaven, where God was introducing a new arrival.

'Moses, meet Steve,' said God. 'He's gonna upgrade your tablets.'

Just five days after his death, the beatification of Jobs is being increasingly questioned. That is not expected to hurt the sales of the iPhone 4S, introduced the day before he died.

But it has at least introduced an element of critical assessment into both his achievements and failings.

'His accomplishments were far-reaching and impossible to easily summarize,' noted the muck-stirring website Gawker.com. 'One thing he wasn't, though, was perfect. Indeed there were things Jobs did while at Apple that were deeply disturbing.'

The article described him as 'rude, dismissive, hostile, spiteful' and said that 'bullying, manipulation and fear ... followed him around.'

Anyone who has followed Jobs' career with even a modicum of interest knows what Gawker was referring to: the tales of his humiliation of employees, not to mention his reported refusal to acknowledge paternity of his daughter Lisa born out of wedlock when he was just 23.

He was widely criticized for authoritarian control over which programmes could appear in the App Store for iPhones and iPads, and his support of a so-called Worldwide Loyalty Team that hunts down anyone who leaks secret Apple information, including people not connected to the company.

Apple has also been widely criticized for its use of Chinese child labourers to make its products, and for grueling working conditions at many of its contract manufacturers.

Gawker's point was that Jobs may have been a great businessman but he shouldn't be celebrated or mourned as though he ended world hunger or eradicated poverty and disease.

One of Jobs' greatest critics wouldn't even honour his business achievements. Free Software Foundation's Richard Stallman eulogised Jobs as 'the pioneer of the computer as a jail made cool, designed to sever fools from their freedom.'

'We all deserve the end of Jobs' malign influence on people's computing,' said the high-tech renegade and father of the free software movement.

'Unfortunately, that influence continues despite his absence. We can only hope his successors, as they attempt to carry on his legacy, will be less effective.'

Even some Apple acolytes thought that the worship of Steve Jobs had gone a bit too far.

'Yes, Steve Jobs was a genius, and I love my mac and iPod,' said one Facebook comment. 'But his company brainwashes our society into thinking they always need the 'new and improved' and completely milks the market by coming out with little improvements on each model while not providing good support/upgrades for the older ones. I would have infinite respect for him and his company otherwise.'

Writing in Forbes, one contributor made a point of celebrating the gnarlier side of Jobs' persona as every bit as important to his success as the brilliant vision that marked his storied career.

'Steve Jobs was a jerk,' he wrote. 'Good for him. Jobs was like the Gestapo ... for the good of his company, his employees, his shareholders, his partners.'