Tech's Enduring Great-Man Myth

An anonymous reader writes: Did Steve Jobs deserve his reputation as a brilliant inventor? Since Jobs's death in 2011, Elon Musk has been thrust into the spotlight as a man who can shake the pillars of tech. Does he deserve that reputation? MIT's Technology Review argues that media and the industry have a habit of making legends out of notable leaders, while failing to acknowledge all the support that allowed them to execute their ideas. From the article: "Musk's success would not have been possible without, among other things, government funding for basic research and subsidies for electric cars and solar panels. Above all, he has benefited from a long series of innovations in batteries, solar cells, and space travel." While it may be fun to compare him to Iron Man, the myth has its perils: "The problem with such portrayals is not merely that they are inaccurate and unfair to the many contributors to new technologies. By warping the popular understanding of how technologies develop, great-man myths threaten to undermine the structure that is actually necessary for future innovations."

Comments

Steve Jobs didn't invent anything

[Anonymous Coward]

Watch the movie pirates of silicon valley and you will realize that Steve Jobs was a business man... not an inventor... Wozniak was the inventor... Steve Jobs deserves zero credit for any invention

Re:Inventors?

[Anonymous Coward]

"I wouldn't restrict his role to "sales guy" as perhaps Bill Gates was"

You do realize Gates was the head programmer and lead architect for a very long time. Even in to the 90s he was famous for saying "what? You don't have it done yet? Fine, I'll do it myself this afternoon." For whatever you call him, to say he wasn't just a "sales guy".

Re:Hero worship comes in all sizes

[WolfWithoutAClause]

To some extent, but it wasn't particularly affordable even then- that's why they specifically went with a high-end car like the Roadster. And make no mistake, the Roadster actually changed things- we may not have had the Nissan Leaf yet, if there had been no Roadster. The Roadster killed the giggle factor. Before that electric cars were looked at as glorified electric milk floats (even though the EV1 showed the way, nobody really listened as it was more of a concept car).