I'm totally into self-deprecating humor. Our industry people take this stuff so seriously, and really, it's only just computers. Jumping from paranoia to punch lines like a Net company changing business models, Homer has become an industry celebrity. Jerry Yang - if still a step or two below the perches of Gates and Grove. And therein lies the problem, for some.
Gatesian behavior wears thin when unaccompanied by Gatesian achievement.
But when people talk about Mike Homer, it's personality, not accomplishments, that they turn to again and again. In a subculture that prizes innovation and genius above all else, Mike Homer's greatest achievement may be having built a career simply on being Mike Homer. Words on a page can't convey the sharpness of his high-pitched, nasal sneering. Nor can they transmit the sparks thrown off when Mike Homer's fuse is lit. Describing such incidents, some former Homer employees can sound like members of a codependency-recovery group.