Fake Steve Jobs:

Yes, there will be a backlash. Wait until you see what the mobile phone guys have planned. Like Nokia. God love those Finns, but they never met a button or a switch that they could resist. They’ll load their devices up with every possible feature and they’ll create a software interface that nobody can understand, and for reasons I don’t understand, weird people all over Europe (the artsy kind wearing too-small jackets and scarves wrapped around their necks) will embrace this clusterfuck of useless features and impossible operating design as a new breakthrough.

Not us, though. We’re going to keep driving toward even greater minimalism. My goal is to have zero buttons. Zero visible screws. Just nothing at all on the outside. Perfectly smooth surfaces. Remember the Pet Rock craze in the '70s? That was a huge inspiration for me. People spent a fortune buying those little rocks, just because everyone else around them was doing it too. Huge lesson in that and it led directly to the founding of Apple in 1977. My pet rock — I call him Frank, after Frank Gehry — still sits on the desk at my office. Kind of a reminder of what our company is all about.

Bruce Sterling

Yeah, it's incredible how much power [the real Steve] Jobs has, isn't it? Even when his company's on the ropes, if he says, "It'll be translucent, blob-shaped and in lickable candy-colors," people from Toledo to Taiwan just go for it. Whereas, if an iPod or iPhone's got no buttons, all of a sudden buttons are like leprosy. You can "backlash" the Reality Distortion Field, but you're better off not trying.

Projects Watch Designer Daniel Will-Harris

Minimalist designs like the iPhone are quite beautiful, but also, in a way, invisible. They become frames to the content. But fashions in design are always evolving, and what's cool now may look dated, or at least "not new" in a few years.

I see a time when devices have a standard core of electronics designed to be placed into a wide design of cases tailored to your specific needs and desires. These cases would be offered by the device manufacturer, and also by third-parties who are given the open specs for creating a case. Think software skins, but as hardware. You could get a custom device case that specifically is molded to your grip, or is shaped like your favorite pet pygmy hamster. Maybe you want your device to be made of waterproof soft orange silicone, or milled out of hard cold malachite.

Now with rapid prototyping machines [and other new techniques], mass production doesn't have to mean endless sameness, it can mean endless variety. Sure, there will always be those who want what Madonna is carrying (and knockoffs will be easier and cheaper than ever). But customization and personalization will let you make devices more uniquely your own.

Yves Behar, head of fuseproject design firm:

Rather than going with a trend—minimalism vs. a more showy design—we're gonna get much more diversity. Companies will have the opportunity to be unique. The hope here is that there is opportunity that is taken by tech companies to create their own direction, create their own ethos recognizable, one from the other. Wired Magazine created something like this from the start, a unique look. Whether you like fluorescent colors or not, it's that kind of individualism or uniqueness, eclecticism. Hopefully this is something we'll see happening more. Living in a trend-driven environment with everything being matchy matchy isn't very interesting.

When Levy went to Newsweek, I wondered if his famed Apple access would follow him. With Fake Steve, reading columns like this, it's a safe guess he may not want any additional access that may come with the weight of Newsweek. He's a horseman, but I hope he keeps that outside, mainstream perspective that our whole little world of gadget review is a ridiculous one. [Peter Kafka's Brain]

Third, it is made of cotton, rather than woven from the finest black carbon nanotubes harvested from the backs of cybernetic sheep. Available in small and medium sizes, the only reason we can think for this not coming in size L and above is so that no one buys one for Real Steve and he gets so pissed he shuts the company down. Only $20. [Indie Tech via Gear Fuse]

The only companies that join consortia are the ones who are too stupid or shitty to make a great product on their own. It's like, Hey, we've got forty spazzo companies that can't fuck their way out of a paper bag; let's put them all together and maybe they'll magically become some kind of big bad powerhouse.

There are, of course, numerous cons to the singular "hand of God" approach, but the problems with consortia that FSJ lays out are real. It's hard for everyone to agree, and rarely do all involved push for the "greater good" at their individual expense. It might be different this time around, but with so much at stake, martyrs for the Alliance probably won't exactly be lining up. And oh yeah, there's no phone to wrap our hands around yet. [FSJ via Daring Fireball]

[Yanko Design]

He's speaking very fast, and conversationally, so i'm not going to be able to get all this. Here' goes:
Fake Steve's blog started out as a learning experiment in blogging, and he figured he's use Steve to tell the stories he couldn't fit into the Forbes timeframe (months).

He wanted to make money, but he couldn't exactly solicit ads, because he was anon. So he had the idea to make a book.

He just plugged his book, asking people to buy it via amazon, and the Kepler's lady just gave him a dirty look, and a bit of scolding.

How does he channel Jobs? He figures the wackiest CEO life ever.

Then Forbes started writing about FSJ, without knowing that FSJ worked at Forbes. They offered a reward for his identity. ("...an iPod...hmm..I could use an iPod...") No one knew.

Then he confided he was doing FSJ to a fellow worker, who told him he had to stop it or risk losing his job. So FSJ made up a story about Apple going after him as an excuse to shut down the blog. "FSJ couldn't make fun of the FCC while they were trying to go after him." It wasn't true, but the press picked it up as so. No one from Apple has ever contacted FSJ.

He begged for a raise, from Forbes, but he was rejected. In the mean time, Wired started offering sponsorship. And then Forbes actually tried to hire FSJ as a columnist without knowing his identity. When they found out, he was pretty sure he was either getting a raise or get fired.

Dan is talking about how happy and surprised he is the book reviews have been positive.

Q&A: First question is mine. I ask if the uncovering of his ID was an Apple conspiracy via Google. Woz says its possible, grinning.

Now he's talking about VW, and how they were taunting each other over email. Owen is in the front row. They just smiled and said hello to each other.

What was his fav blog post? The iPhone launch day post was incredible. And he's talking about how Woz cut the line. (Woz denies it, saying how he actually was there the whole time and actually offered to let other go into the store first.)

Dan is talking about how ridiculous it is to stand in line for things like $600 phones, though we won't stand in line against the war in Iraq. "Funny, but Sad." So true, so true.

Did you write Fake Larry Ellison? "No I setup a friend of mine to write Larry Ellison. Two days into this vacation, where I promised I wouldn't work and went up to Maine I got busted for being FSJ." It ruined the trip.

People thought it was over at that point, that FSJ wouldn't blog anymore. But he was just busy dealing with the business of being outed.

What do you think of RSJ? "I really admire the guy. I wouldn't want to work for him, I wouldn't want to be a part of his family, but I'm glad he's here. I feel affection towards him, and i'm from boston, and if you're from boston and you like someone, you take the piss out of them."

How do you feel about the journalists? "Some of them are in the room." Looks over at Owen, drinks water.

Talks about Owen, and some of the stories that both VW and FSJ setup back and forth between each other as a great show.

When FSJ calls journos Filthy Hacks, he hopes people see it as Self loathing. What do CEOs think about reporters? "I know, they kind of hate us."

But some filthy hacks, he says, "I don't really like, but I'm not going to tell you who."

Another Q: Once you were outed, did it affecting your ability to report on tech? I don't think I can do it anymore without some bias. "If I was at the Times, I couldn't, but at Forbes, an opinionated pub, I can."

Owen Asking a Question!

How do you know when you're being Steve and Fake Steve on the blog. "I understand the question. Fake Steve is the Third Character, who is more obnoxious." For example, RSJ wouldn't pay attention to Scoble, but RSJ would.

Did you have any other help on the blog? No, except a couple of days of fake Larry. "I sometimes go back and tighten em up, but I leave em out there...with errors."

Do you purposely misquote people on FSJ? "Yes, so they write in for corrections."

The most commented post ever was the "What car should I buy?" post. Unexpectedly.

Q: Did you invent Frigtard?
"I thought I did, but I found other uses in google. I didn't want to say F-U-C-K in the early days. So I used Friggin and Tards and combined them. That's now been contributed to the Urban Dictionary. And so has "To Denton.""

So does it take anything to get into the state of mind? "It does, ask my wife."

Can you say namaste? "I don't really know how to say it." (Someone from audience teaches him, guy says, "It means peace to you")
Dan: "And not all that other stuff I added? I got that on Wikipedia."

Done.

It is Tuesday afternoon. I am barefoot, sitting on a cushion in the lotus position, gazing at a circuit board. This board, no bigger than a playing card, has taken years to create. It is the heart of the of the iPhone, the most important object my engineers have ever assembled. And it is wrong.

I do not know why, exactly. But it is wrong. By this i do not mean that the board does not function correctly. It functions perfectly. But it lacks beauty. My engineers argue that a circuit board need not be beautiful, since no one will ever see it.

"Yes," I say, "but I will know it is there. And I will know that it is not beautiful."

The main difference between today's RSJ and FSJ, aside from being totally fake, is that he retains all of that bombastic confidence the Young RSJ had. Nowadays, most of that gets veiled behind the corporate handlers. (Fortunate for shareholders, unfortunate for fanboys.) Can you imagine RSJ insulting Microsoft's taste on TV or putting a pirate flag on top of a dev building in 2007? FSJ is as refreshing and unapologetic as anyone with this strong a character should be.

This book's greatest virtue is that while reading through FSJ stock option turmoil, you feel like Lyons convincingly channels the mythological figure of RSJ as seamlessly as the lip of an iMac wraps around its screen. I'd tell myself that this is a Forbes editor, not the creator of the friggin' iPod at the top of any given page, and forgot about it within a few sentences. It's all about the dialog, which anyone who reads FSJ's blog would recognize. What's more amazing is that people in the position to know say that the voice of Fake Steve is spot on. I don't exactly believe that, but something certainly resonates here.

The difference between the blog and the book is the narrative twisting through pre-iPhone days, across the options scandal, and through an insane ending. FSJ travels through Apple's boardrooms and secret labs, which could have been a straight forward formula for Options. But Lyons goes further, weaving Apple lore through this work. He does a chapter on the obsessively planned Keynotes at Macworld and WWDC, and what happens when a cop pulls over Jobs for speeding (recall his AMG sports car is plateless, SJ carefree of possible fines). Larry Ellison provides a foil and companion by way of drug binges at his friend's zen gardens, a man obsessed with pussy like Jobs is with building "perfect things that restore a sense of child-like wonder in people." FSJ also tells of what really happened when RSJ journeyed to India on a soul search. None of this lore is new, most of it based on facts and assumptions about the RSJ reported in many books, spun wildly. But it's never been told first person before. Even if the mysterious Jobs one day tells his story in an autobiography, I'm not sure it could be this good. That's the fun of making shit up, I suppose.

Lyons is a relative late comer to Apple culture. He learned what he knows through all the Jobs and Apple books out there, drawing on his fiction writing background and ability. I wonder how he feels about Jobs. Does he despise his personality? Does he think the dictatorship is a necessary evil for creating beautiful objects that save the world from Microtards? You won't likely be able to figure out what Lyons, removed from FSJ, thinks with all of his biting words shrouded in fiction. The only thing that is clear is that the man is obsessed with playing Jobs in blog and book. And he's too good at satisfying those who'd like to learn more about the man behind the company. All we get these days are the PR approved essays on music, or how the apps are coming to the iPhone, or soundbite quotes on how awesome he thinks the new iPods are. Glimpses of decisions like the BSOD PC icons in Leopard remind me of a company and person who put forth strong feelings about where they stood in the world without much reservation. I like that stuff. [FSJ and Options on Amazon]

Despite being in love with other gadget sites, and hating fellow-Gawker blog Valleywag, Fake Steve Jobs has always been very decent to me. He returns my emails, and is timely and cordial about it. I bought some T-Shirts, and a mug. I like his work, like we all do. This week, after some site sent him an email with a image that would log its downloader's IP, Fake Steve is kind of on the run, and lashing out against Valleywag (who didn't pull the nasty email trick, BTW) and others who are seeking his identity. He seems, to me, scared and offended. I don't blame him. I'd want to remain anonymous after saying all those things about so many people, even in character.

But I'm not sure how much longer that can happen. I mean, someone at blogger knows who he is. If not someone at blogger, someone who hosts his email. Certainly, the Wired.com EIC who cut the sponsor checks for the blog does. This can't stay a secret. Many commenters on FSJ's blog and on other Mac sites repeatedly make the comment that everyone on the internet should claim they are FSJ, just as the plot went in Spartacus. That would work, except FSJ is exceptionally smart, and the majority of the commenters on the internet leave very stupid comments. No one would believe it.

So what will happen to Fake Steve when the people he's called Goatberg, Sodomite, and worse, know his identity. If he's a tech writer, isn't that going to be pretty painful to have to deal with people at Microsoft, Apple and publications like the WSJ? Very awkward. And um, what is Real Steve thinking about right now? Is he enjoying the rise and fall?

Fake Steve, here's hoping for the best, whatever that might be. In your words, Namaste.

It is fake—not for obvious reasons, like "Steven P. Jobs" being in focus while the surface onto which it has been stamped is not—but because we actually have the real picture. Which shows that the image above has been retouched—intensely— after the jump.

Looking at the photo posted by FSJ and other blogs, you don't have to be Gizmodo's local pixel pusher and expert barman to see the Photoshop job. Anyone with two eyes and even more margaritas in their bloodstream than me will be able to see that the name "Steven P. Jobs" is in focus while the rest of the picture, specifically the corner in which it is placed, is not. Somehow, Steve is moving but his name is staying in focus, frozen in space and time.

Maybe his RDF is so strong than one of his many powers is that His Name always stays perfectly visible and sharp. But then again, if that's true, we just can't imagine His Steveness holding something as naff as a leather Windows machine with his full name stamped on it. We just can't. Or can we?

Actually, the truth is that he may have a ThinkPad Reserve, but the photo shown by FSJ has been manipulated to hide the Real Truth!

This image proves beyond any doubt that the photo posted by FSJ was obviously doctored. It also proves that 1) Steve is a Monty Python fan (understandably), 2) Steve doesn't use iPods or iTunes, preferring vinyl LPs on his Technics turntable and 3) Steve's admiration for Johnny Cash is pure façade: he is a super-disco man all the way. This last bit is further confirmed by his obsession with shiny surfaces and mirrors. Now we can only hope that Steve gives us more boom, bass lines and some Dancing Queen in the next keynote.

So there you go. Another mystery solved by Gizmodo's CSI brigade so you can continue with your lives knowing that we are here, defending Truth and Justice. And tequila cocktails. And wet T-shirt contests. Especially wet T-shirt contests. Or something. Uhm. Carry on, Citizens. –Jesus Diaz

Yes this is me, holding a windows machine [FSJ via Engadget]

Even though Real Steve doesn't seem to be in any real trouble, Fake Steve is running a campaign to Free El Jobso from the tyranny of the SEC.

The first organized show of support is going down at WWDC, 2007, the week of June 11th. Just buy a FREE STEVE T-shirt, with or without an image of the fearless leader on front, and wear it to Macca. (Get it? That's "Mecca" mixed with "Mac"...haha?)

Unfortunately, no black turtleneck version.

The gang and I have a few on order, along with some mugs and a baby seal. A call to arms, backed by solid product merchandising and marketing? Maybe those theories about Fake Steve's blog being written by Real Steve have more truth to 'em than previously imagined.

Of course, what would Real Steve want with a few measly bucks from T-shirt sales? I still think it's Leander, no matter how much he denies it.

...I'm not sitting here Friday night trying to figure out who FSJ is...– Brian Lam

Fake Steve [FSJ]

Then, this message:

We're havng a diner 2 celebrate at John Bentley's in Wooodside tonght. and Ill be honorst, were getting a little buzzed om super expnsive wine. But itsgood blow ff steam once on a while. ths is relly a special time 4 a[ple. Jon Ive just told us that if you put 100 million iPoods end 2 end, they wd encricle the globebe 13 xtimes. Amazing. Speaking of amazing, i type ths whlala whow whole massage on my iphone usissins using its touchchcscreen keypayd and adaptiona adaptiv typeing and it worksss greeeat.

Don't even get me started on this post about what happens to the poor baby seals when you buy Dell.

Let's pray he's wrong...about the iPhone keyboard.–Brian Lam

From dear reader Toki-chan [FSJ via Leander and Pete at Cult of Mac]