Steve Jobs is the modern Gutenberg

A lot has happened over the last few weeks. HP appointed Meg Whitman CEO, Apple introduced another iPhone, and Steve Jobs shuffled off this mortal coil. Then there was the endless drama over WikiLeaks and its house-bound leader, Julian Assange, as well as the usual round of dramatic threats from Anonymous. As always, the residents of Cringeville have opinions about all of it. Here’s some of the best ones to hit my inbox.

First, though, a correction: My piece on Steve Jobs (“Steve Jobs: Like no other“) contains a small error in the following sentence:

…[S]tarting with the Apple I, Jobs presided over over the evolution of how we communicate with machines, from typing (Apple II) to clicking (the Macintosh) to handwriting (Newton) to touching-tapping-swiping (iPhone and iPad), and now with the iPhone 4S’s Siri Voice Assistant, to talking.

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In fact, the Newton came to be during that dark period of Apple history known as the Scully Era — which I knew but simply forgot. Jobs had nothing to do with the dingus and was instrumental in killing it. Thanks to Cringesters T. M. and J. C. for pointing that out.

But that’s not all the Cringe clan had to say about the late Apple founder. J. H. writes:

I liken Jobs to Gutenberg. Both enabled the masses to achieve things beyond anyone’s dream at the time.

Well… beyond anyone else’s dream, that is.

There’s been no word, however, on the old Steve Guttenberg.

In “WikiLeaks: Show us the money,” I smack Julian Assange around a bit for being such an egomaniac — though, admittedly, he has great hair. Most readers agreed with my assessment of the Chief WikiLeaker, but T. A. defended the audacious Aussie:

You say: “Given the unholy alliance between government and corporations and the crumbling edifice that used to be called the Fourth Estate, we need an incorruptible source for information.” I would say Assange pretty much qualifies as “an incorruptible source of information”. … To me, it means someone who allows the information to pass unchanged and unfiltered to the public. … I prefer to make up my own mind, even if it endangers some people I would rather not endanger.

Meanwhile, frequent correspondent G. W. believes I’m giving too much virtual ink to cyber criminals with my post about how the Anons are planning to spend Guy Fawkes Day (“Anonymous takes on Fox News“). G. W.’s plan:

November 5th is my birthday. I will be spending it with my mom. We are going to have hamburgers and bison hot dogs. Yum!

Happy birthday, G. W. But buffalo dogs? Seriously?

In “HP’s choice: Whitman to lead the witless,” I subject the former gubernatorial candidate to a bit of a roasting and end by asking for other CEO candidates at the troubled hardware giant. Regular correspondent R. M. generously nominates himself:

I’m 62, still considered good looking and pretty smart. I’ve already done 5 years in prison, so I have that out of my system. Plus, I’ll work relatively cheap. I can live nicely on 100k a year, as long as that includes a company car (nice 4 door sedan) and expenses. If I did nothing but play Warzone2100 on a Linux desktop, I couldn’t do worse than some of the preceding CEOs.

An excellent idea — first the big house, then the big chair. More chief executives should adopt that philosophy.

Finally, in “Apple’s Siri is AI with an attitude,” I talked about the iPhone 4S’s most notable feature, its voice-powered assistant, and asked readers what they would ask Siri, if you could.

Reader B. H. suggests Siri owes a debt of paternity to Twiki, the “ambuquad” robot featured in the short-lived TV show, “Buck Rogers in the 25th Century.” He then asks and answers his own question:

Siri, what is sarcasm?

What do I look like, the ****** dictionary?

He wasn’t the only Cringester who wanted Siri’s attention. Here are some other questions readers posed, which I’ve answered on Siri’s behalf.

C. A. asks, “How does one attain spiritual enlightenment?”

By reading InfoWorld, of course. Duh.

M. S. asks, “What is the meaning of 42?”

It means you’ve been reading too much Douglas Adams and now your brain is turning into a sentient puddle.

W. D. asks the obvious: “How long before Siri actually does replace Cringely?”

If I keep writing blog posts like this one, sooner rather than later.

What do you want to see covered in this space — besides a disembodied virtual Cringely? Post your topics of choice below or email them to me: cringe@infoworld.com.

This article, “Steve Jobs is the modern Gutenberg,” was originally published at InfoWorld.com. Follow the crazy twists and turns of the tech industry with Robert X. Cringely’s Notes from the Field blog, and subscribe to Cringely’s Notes from the Underground newsletter.