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Her work is extremely important to the Mac and to Apple, but I don't like hero worship articles. It was a team effort, and there were a lot of people responsibl
by ebbv 8y ago
Her work is extremely important to the Mac and to Apple, but I don't like hero worship articles. It was a team effort, and there were a lot of people responsible for making the Mac (and Apple) what they were/are.
When people wrote lots of hero worship articles about Jobs they missed the contributions of Kare and others. This quote does the same thing:
> “If the Mac turned out to be such a revolutionary object––a pet instead of a home appliance, a spark for the imagination instead of a mere work tool––it is thanks to Susan’s fonts and icons, which gave it voice, personality, style, and even a sense of humor. Cherry bomb, anyone?”
Her work is important and great, but she didn't do it in a vacuum.
It seems like every profile of someone nowadays has to make them out to be a singular genius who's work is of individual, utmost importance. It's not enough to just say "Hey look at this cool stuff this person did!" They have to be singularly responsible for something.
- yarrel 8y agoWho assisted Kare that this article fails to mention?
- ebbv 8y agoYou missed my very simple point. It’s not that she had assistance in her role (though I’d wager she did not create all her icons in a vacuum, instead collaborating with others on the Mac team.) I’ll restate my point plainly; hero worship articles about anyone who’s work is actually part of a team (all the many articles about Jobs are much worse than this one, for example) help paint a false picture in our society of the lone genius. This false narrative is harmful just for being false, but also helps lead people to feel like being a lone genius is an achievable goal and what one should strive for. Which of course leads to failure. My problem is not with Kare or someone writing about her. My problem is with this author and many others writing in this way and denying the reality that geniuses of all kinds collaborate with others and are enriched for it.