Fake Steve Jobs R.I.P

By Davey Winder
Saturday, 12 July 2008 01:59

Networking

The Secret Diary of Steve Jobs has quite likely seen the last entry as former Forbes Magazine journalist Daniel Lyons announces the death of his cult online persona. But will a new blog under his own name have the same impact as the satirical postings of the Fake Steve Jobs?

Running for two years, the Fake Steve Jobs blog has become that rare thing: a bona fide Internet sensation. Written by Daniel Lyons, whose day job was as a journalist at Forbes Magazine, the blog took the form of a diary expressed through the voice of Steve Jobs. Not the real Steve Jobs, of course, but this hugely funny fake one instead.

It has been, without doubt, a must read for many in the IT industry at all levels. Up until last summer there was widespread speculation as to who the writer could be. Speculation of a type not seen since the whole Belle de Jour diary of a London call girl blog back in 2003 in fact.

Such was the interest and influence of The Secret Diary of Steve Jobs that both the real Steve Jobs and Bill Gates are said to have contributed to the guess who writes it debate within the IT industry.

While it is true that the Fake Steve Jobs blog was at its best before the New York Times outed Lyons as the author, even after his identity was revealed it remained essential satirical reading. The entries were often at once ridiculous and oh so accurate in their portrayals of the tech industry high and mighty including Jobs, Larry Ellison and Steve Ballmer.

An industry-wide guessing game as to the identity of "Fake Steve" ensued, with the real Jobs and Microsoft's Bill Gates weighing in.

So what has changed and why is the Fake Steve Jobs no more? Read on to find out...

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