Fake Steve Jobs, a wildly popular blog written by Daniel Lyons, an editor at Forbes, has been goofing on the real Steve Jobs all year. And now things have taken an odd turn. During the same week that Apple apparently shut down ThinkSecret.com (an Apple rumor site) in exchange for cash, Apple may be applying similar pressure to Fake Steve Jobs. Or maybe not.
If today’s blog post can be taken at face value, Apple lawyers have followed up hard-assed threats with a cash offer (of $500,000) to make FSJ go away. The recent posts all sound convincing. But then you note the references to Andy Kaufman, the master of walking the line between complete sincerity and absurdity. First, there’s the picture of Kaufman getting strong armed during one of his famous wrestling matches with women. Next, there’s the reference to a “Tony Clifton,” which is the name given to a strange bit character Kaufman played during the 1970s (see below).
FSJ is a satire site, and you shouldn’t get fooled. But you do. Just like the inevitable dupe does every April 1. Good stuff.
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