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PowerFullMac

macrumors 601
Original poster
Oct 16, 2006
4,000
1
BBC News said:
It is with deep regret that I write about the passing of the Fake Steve Jobs.
The character, who allegedly had more than a passing resemblance to the Apple chief, was devised by Dan Lyons. Dan was the person who gave me some very sage advice on starting my first blog, which was "Don't do it, it's like a monkey on your back."
Well, it seems Dan is ditching the monkey that has been on his back for the last couple of years, despite the fact it resulted in a certain amount of notoriety, a modicum of fame and quite a bit of success. Oh and let's not forget the mini witch-hunt that was carried out to unmask the Fake Steve and find out who was behind the creation that captivated the technology world.
Eventually the blogosphere discovered that Forbes editor Dan Lyons conjured up the secret diary of Steve Jobs as a way to stay relevant and in a job. No more worries on that score, because the blog has propelled Dan into a new job with Newsweek.
Apparently Apple complained about their new signing. Dan did reveal that he understood Mr Jobs was not best pleased with the parody that portrayed him as egocentric and autocratic.
As well as moving onto pastures new, the real Dan Lyons will get the chance to shine through with a column under his own name. So it was those developments on the horizon that prompted the affable Dan to let the Fake Steve put down his weed and hippy mantras and call it a day.
He also admitted to getting a little tired of the Fake Steve and even when he thought about doing a similar diary with another character, it just wasn't convincing.
"I tried transitioning to other voices, like Jerry Yang, but it just didn't work," said Mr Lyons.
"It seems clear that people reading the blog wanted to read Fake Steve or nothing."
In his final blog, the Fake Steve writes "I'm sorry that the blog is fizzling out. I know you'll miss FSJ. So will I. But rest assured, Fake Steve is not really going away. He's just taken on a new form. As Jimi Hendrix once said, 'If I don't see you no more in this world, I'll meet you on the next one, but don't be late'."
But if you just can't face the future without the musings of the Fake Steve, then you won't have too long to wait because a book of his bon mots is out very soon and Dan is also working on a script to put his creation on the silver screen.
Namaste to all. Much love. Peace out.
The final poignant words of one Fake Steve Jobs. What will life be like without him?

The guy is gonna make a movie though! That I gotta see!

Must be proud that he made it onto the BBC site, too!
 

decksnap

macrumors 68040
Apr 11, 2003
3,075
84
Yeah he was good when he was writing about technology. Towards the end there it was all political, and annoying as hell.
 

carve

macrumors 6502a
Feb 25, 2006
644
3
I heard this. He was hilarious, although near the end the posts got less and less funny. His first couple of posts were the best.
 

Mitthrawnuruodo

Moderator emeritus
Mar 10, 2004
14,422
1,063
Bergen, Norway
I unsubscribed to the Fake Steve Jobs blog's RSS feed weeks ago... after he was outed and especially after he got the new job the whole thing just went downhill.

Let's hope they just let it RIP.
 

BlakTornado

Guest
Apr 24, 2007
944
0
Washington, OH
You do realize that it's real Steve Jobs next... D:

Sad to hear about FSJ... although I checked his blog last week and it looked quite truly dead (was a subscriber until he did that whole "I'm being sued, no I'm not!" thing to get attention in April. April fools or not, it wasn't amusing.)

Well, times change.
 

Wild-Bill

macrumors 68030
Jan 10, 2007
2,539
617
bleep
"FRUITY nutters from Apple have written to Newsweek demanding that the rag does not hire Dan Lyons, the bloke who dared to take the Michael out of the company Messiah Steve Jobs.

Lyons said that when Apple heard that he was moving to Newsweek, the outfit rang up his new bosses to complain about his hiring. He said Apple wanted him blacklisted for penning his Fake Steve Jobs column."

Doesn't surprise me. I'm glad to hear that Newsweek didn't give in to Apple's ridiculous request.
 

theBB

macrumors 68020
Jan 3, 2006
2,453
3
Yeah, early on it was a funny take on the people, culture and business of tech industry with some witty analysis thrown in every now and then. Recently though, most of his newer blog pieces stopped being funny. He actually became quite mean and insulting. He still had some gems, but it was not like the old days. I think he started running out of material and it is good that he got out before it was too late.
 
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