smackfoo.com | I find your lack of faith disturbing.

John Gruber, who is a long-time Fake Steve follower has recently written a piece on the outing of Fake Steve and there are a few points I’d like to expand on — whilst he also covers the attempt to ‘unpop’ the cork, I would like to start by covering this comment:

“The second erroneous reaction is writing about Fake Steve in the past tense; assuming that now that he’s been revealed, it’s over, or at the very least all downhill from here. That’s not necessarily so.”

This is where a number of commentators and, well, bloggers such as myself, might just part company, agreement wise. Granted, his writing style, wit and general comfort in blogging on Apple and Steve’s fake neuroses is quite simply, stunning. But therein lies the double-edged sword — anonymity makes it easier, in part, to “assume” a character and give it life. Fake Steve was very obviously fake, but part of the enjoyment comes came from the mystery surrounding the author portraying the character.

I think, in part, the reason Fake Steve’s anonymity was preserved for so long, was that people didn’t actually care quite who it was. It didn’t matter — the material was fantastic, the author is terribly funny and it was a chance to enjoy a folly of grand proportions. The content had more value as it stood, wrapped in anon, than out in the cold hard light of day.

Gruber also notes:

“That his identity was unknown certainly added a mystique, but it was nothing more than a distraction from the work itself. If it were the main source of Fake Steve’s appeal, the novelty would have worn off months ago.”

That in many ways, is entirely debatable. And I suggest that because, to this humble author at least, the combination of the unknown author matched with brilliant witting makes it a brilliant read. I truly hope the outing is not at all detrimental to the work — but the reality is, it’s no longer Fake Steve writing on the topic of Apple and Real Steve.

It’s now Daniel Lyons writing as Fake Steve. That adds a whole new element and to suggest that the loss of anonymity won’t change anything, cannot possible hold. Whether we like it or not, the readers perspective will change, because we now know who is at the helm.

That brings with it a certain reality that Fake Steve never had — it was all fake and gloriously so. It’s still fake, yes, but a core element has been lost. With grand-standing joy Daniel has been outed - but for what gain? Five minutes of fame via the NY Times?

I am reminded of the diary of a sith lord, the darth side, that had many in tears of joy — and the author was never, to my knowledge, outed. Why? Perhaps because no-one thought to ruin a perfectly timed and wonderful narrative of a trachea crushing and neurotic Vader.

Sure, Fake Steve has perhaps gained great notoriety via many well established and popular bloggers commenting on the views expressed, but would that have been so prolific, or taken less at face value had the author already been known? For all we knew, it could have been some insightful 17-year-old pimply faced kid, as much as a relatively well known Forbes correspondent.

Sure, some might say (and indeed have said) “well, I thought he had to be someone established..” but lets introduce a little honesty here — no-one (apart from it’s author) actually new, and I believe few actually cared. As Gruber points out, the content was great and right on target — who wrote it mattered little.

Sometimes, not knowing an author, can make the punch-line all the more enjoyable.

Whether anyone wishes to admit it, or not, the outing of Fake Steve will, ultimately, have an effect. The spotlight, right now, is on the author, not his brilliant folly. And like it or not, that will, in part or in full, affect what is written as a consequence.

Ultimately, the joy of Fake Steve was that the anonymity of the author allowed us to focus on the comments and, well, simply imagine. Now we will, whether intentional or not, begin to filter the content.

And that, dear friends, is a change, be it for better or worse, only time will tell.