inessential by Brent Simmons

Give a man a fish...

Give Bill Gates a fish, and he’ll buy some tartar sauce to go with it.

Teach Bill Gates to fish, and he’ll build a tartar sauce factory and eventually corner the market. The tartar sauce won’t be as good as some other tartar sauce, but people won’t mind, they’ll just think that that faint hint of mercury is how tartar sauce is supposed to taste.

Give Scott McNealy a fish, and he’ll rant about how it’s all Microsoft’s fault.

But teach Scott McNealy to fish—and he’ll rant about how it’s all Microsoft’s fault.

Give Steve Jobs a fish, and he’ll give it back, being a vegan and all.

Teach Steve Jobs to fish, and you’d just be wasting your time, because he really doesn’t eat fish, I just told you.

Give Larry Ellison a fish, and he’ll eat for a day.

Teach Larry Ellison to fish, and he’ll come up with a better fish, one that can’t be captured or killed. (Leading to ecological catastrophe as the lesser fish are killed off by this new fish.)