Having previously examined (i.e., bitched about) the rise of geek culture within the realm of popular media (and not having completely exhausted the reservoir of bile I had accumulated in the process), I’ll resume my examination with a critical evaluation (i.e., evisceration) of some of the prominent contemporary icons of the genre, through which I’ll induct a new honoree onto the hallowed scrolls of The Shit List. Endemic to the rise of the popular geek culture is the rise of the so-called “Geek Idolâ€, which is not to say that icons of the culture haven’t always been exalted for their various contributions, but the mainstream popularity of (and corresponding revenue generated by) geek entertainment has amplified this phenomenon to grant individuals powers over the genre which are, in some cases, in dangerous proportion to their actual talent or credibility. Rant On!
Next up on The Shit List: anyone who describes themselves as an “entrepreneurâ€. Now, to be clear, I’m not referring to actual entrepreneurs, being someone who has actually owned and operated a real business, nor anyone who describes themselves as “entrepreneurial,†which is basically something that corporate sycophants put on their resumes (typically phrased as “an entrepreneurial spiritâ€) to demonstrate their ability to “think outside of the box†(provided they didn’t leave their book of horseshit, fashionable catchphrases in the box). Rant On!
My inaugural inductee to The Shit List is Steve Jobs. I’ve been through this in some detail, so I won’t recount my reasons in full, but my chief complaint with Steve was not so much his idiosyncrasies nor even his products, so much, but the slavish devotion to Apple, beyond the pale of common sense, that he inspired. Before he passed away, many Apple devotees were probably only one more iphone generation away from donning white robes and shaving their heads. It’s not that he was particularly gifted at either engineering or design, but he was, quite simply, the world’s greatest salesman, and I can only attribute that kind of brainwashing power to some manner of sorcery.
At any rate, here’s my full account of his place on The List:Â Steve Jobs: A Faust for the New Millenium
More to come…