The thing is, I read Colligan's response as polite (even not counting for content). If I was dealing with Steve Jobs and I received an email as terse as his rep

The thing is, I read Colligan's response as polite (even not counting for content). If I was dealing with Steve Jobs and I received an email as terse as his reply, I would be disinclined to deal with him. This is probably just my personal sensibility, not being a cut-throat business guy.