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October 5, 2007

steve_jobs

The closest you’ll get to Steve Jobs

Posted Oct. 5, ’07, 5:13 PM PT by Dan Pourhadi
Category | Apple » Steve Jobs

fakesteve2.jpgAt Macworld San Francisco in 2006, I had a brief encounter with Steve Jobs…’s body guards. After the keynote I—like everyone else who sat in the first few rows (especially press)—moved to the front of the room to try to get some face time with the VIPs. Jobs usually makes a pass to shake hands, take praise, and do other important-people things.

I, unfortunately, got in the way when The Jobs decided he was through with us mere mortals, and was shoved against the stage by some very dedicated body guards hell-bent on getting the Mac Man through the doors without him having to even realize there were others in the room. That was the closest I got to Our Dear Leader, and it’s a moment I’ll never forget.

Well now you have a chance to get up close and personal with Steve-o, without worrying about the vicious elbow of a ruthless CEO-protecting killing machine.

One caveat: It’s, uh…Fake Steve. The Forbes editor who pretends to be Steve Jobs on “The Secret Diary of Steve Jobs” blog. But that’s close enough, right? He’s become somewhat of a nerd celebrity, and his fake insights on Apple and Steve’s mind are the best-ish you’ll find.

Dan Lyons, Fake Steve’s alter-ego, is going on a small tour to promote his upcoming book, “oPtion$: The Secret Life of Steve Jobs.” The tour, unfortunately, will be limited to the San Fran area. Because both Lyons and the publisher wanted the author to remain secret, they hadn’t planned a tour, but when he was callously exposed by the beans-spilling New York Times—those guys just can’t keep their big mouths shut about anything—they called up a few bookstores around the Bay and set up some talks.

I’m looking forward to the book itself. The tour press release lets us in on some of the deets:

The fictional work chronicles Jobs through the stock options backdating scandal in 2006, and it includes appearances by Bono, Al Gore, Hillary Clinton and Bill Gates (who appears in Jobs’ crucifixion nightmare).

Funny. I have nightmares like that all the time.

[via Macworld UK]


2 Comments

Thomas Unterburger said:

I got within four feet of Steve Jobs right before he took the stage for the pivotal MacWorld Boston 1997 Keynote. He was just standing off to the side, talking to some roadies.

Unfortunately, I was on my way to puke, having spent the previous night overindulging at an Apple-sponsored event that featured James Brown as the live entertainment. I made the tough choice between losing a chance to meet my personal hero or barfing on him, and kept on moving. I guess we've all been there. Sigh.

Had I worked it out differently, I wonder how that might have affected the scene in Pirates of Silicon Valley...

October 6, 2007 5:29 AM
GeorgeS said:

MacWorld SF 1999 I believe, I was going through the Moscone center in the company of some of the members of Metallica when Steve appeared to my left.
He was in the company of a couple of large suited gentlemen and stopped and stared at our small group as we walked by. I couldn't help but wonder...does he think he knows me from somewhere?
An hour later, we chance upon each other again and again, he stopped to look.
Then it dawned on me, it was the guys in Metallica, he thinks he knows them, not me.
Go figure.

October 16, 2007 12:19 PM

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