The Secret Diary of Steve Jobs : Dear Google kids: I’m sorry to inform you, but you are, in fact, evil
Because here’s what happened. Some hack had an idea and went to his editor with it: Hey, you know, Google says “Don’t be evil,” but you know what? They really are kind of the new evil empire, aren’t they?
Editor says, Okay, let’s do it, but whatever you do, don’t just fucking say that! Jesus! You’ll get us all killed!
Hack says, So what do we do? Editor says, Let’s find other person who will say Google is evil, and we’ll quote him. See? But then make sure you find other people who say that the first guy is full of shit. So that way when someone reads the article they won’t know what the fuck to think. Is Google evil? Yes, absolutely. But no, not at all. This, my son, is how you stay relevant in the fast-moving world of information — by publishing
pointless stories that don’t reach any conclusioner, deep insightful analysis that lets people make sense of the world around them
That right there explains why The Economist is the only print publication actually doing well these days. They’re not afraid to take a stance. They don’t get opposing quotes from people with vested interests in the outcome, they just tell you their opinion straight out.
