I’ve read a couple of very negative commentaries about Steve Jobs, published in light of his recent death. I’m not going to quote them. I’m not going to link to them. The websites in question don’t deserve the traffic, and their blog posts are a waste of bandwidth. But I do have a couple of comments.

This is a free country and Steve Jobs was a very public and yet ironically private figure. At the current speed of information, it was almost respectful to wait two days before publishing articles bashing the man. Trash talk sells, generates clicks, and traffic. There is no moral compass that governs the modern journalist in the blogosphere.

Was Steve Jobs a jerk? Sometimes. Perhaps a lot of the time. Does it make any difference? Not really. He was who he was. He’s not celebrated for his altruism or his philanthropy. He was a brilliant businessman, inventor, designer, and innovator. That is his most important legacy.

Did he build his company on the backs of the poor in countries like China? Not exactly. Apple doesn’t own a factory in China. They contract work out to the same manufacturers that are used by Microsoft, Dell, Nintendo, Intel, and many others. Are there crappy working conditions and child labor at these 3rd party manufacturers. Yes. But in reality, corporations are amoral entities whose main obligation is to provide value to shareholders. Consumers bring morals to the transaction and frankly, they’ve voted for cheaper products and rose colored glasses. And ultimately, it’s up to the Chinese government and Chinese people to affect change in their labor market. Remember that it wasn’t that long ago that Henry Ford was ordering his thugs to break employee kneecaps. You can’t force societal and cultural change on another country easily. Just look at Vietnam, Afghanistan, Iran, Iraq, etc. If Jobs is an evil man for abusing poor foreign workers, we’re all accomplices.

Was Steve Jobs a control freak? Hell yes. About everything and especially when it came to apps in the app store. Certain types of apps will likely never be allowed in the app store. Apple isn’t a democracy. Each app approved is about creating a carefully curated space that adds value and appeals to as wide an audience as possible without insulting them. I know you’ll counter that the app store approved multiple fart apps and the like. The thing is, kids love that crap, and their parents are pretty much okay with it. Pornography on the other hand? Why waste time whining about what Apple won’t let you do? Buy another product. This one isn’t for you.

On Jobs and philanthropy, it’s not clear where he stood. If he did make contributions, they weren’t publicized. But it doesn’t really matter. There’s no requirement that the value of a man’s life should be measured by his charitable giving. You don’t see articles suggesting that the latest Medal of Honor winner would have been a great guy, but he never donated to the local food pantry so he must be a douche. Sure, Warren Buffett and Bill Gates are in the giving game, but they’re playing it the way they did in enterprise, building charitable empires. There’s nothing wrong with that. But there’s not necessarily anything right about it either.

History has been kind to its great figures, because their flaws have been forgotten in a time when they weren’t recorded in minute detail. I can acknowledge that Steve Jobs was a flawed mortal, who did amazing things.

My wife always makes fun of me because I often refer to people in the public sphere by their first name as if I know them personally. And I’ve had many conversations with her that started with a “Steve did it again”, and sometimes “I don’t know what Steve is thinking”. Of course, I’m speaking of Steve Jobs, the technology industry icon and a brilliant man. His death yesterday was striking, not because it was unexpected, but because of the unexpected effect it had on me. I cried. I felt the loss. And I’ve never met the man. Now I’ll never have the chance, but his influence will continue, long after his company and his name are forgotten. He was a pioneer, who has laid the foundation for the future of the human race. Rest in peace Steve.