Keller @ Large: Mark Zuckerberg Fails To Impress
BOSTON (CBS) - Mark Zuckerberg was in town yesterday, recruiting talent at Harvard and MIT for Facebook, and from the way some of us reacted, you would think a combination of the Pope, Benjamin Franklin, and Ted Williams had decided to stroll through Harvard Square.
Listen to Jon's commentary:
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Not that Mark Zuckerberg isn't something of a big deal, by corporate standards.
He is the co-founder of the most successful web site ever, Facebook, which has made him a multi-billionaire by transforming the way we use social media to the point where Time Magazine named him the Person of the Year in 2010, which puts him a league with the likes of Ghandi, FDR, and Ronald Reagan.
Then again, the Ayatollah Khomeini was also once Time's Person of the Year.
Anyway, Zuckerberg is a big deal in the same way the late Steve Jobs was, someone with inspiration that was translated into huge commercial success.
And there he was yesterday, looking foolish in front of the cameras in a T-shirt and sweats.
Actually, I'm glad Zuckerberg hasn't yet learned the merits of showing respect for your position and the people you are conducting a business meeting with by dressing the part.
It underscores what a shallow, callow kid he still seems to be.
And that's appropriate, because his product and his celebrity seem emblematic of the shallow, callow times we live in.
Facebook is fun, and provides an easy way for people to connect with one another, as far as one can connect with another human online.
But if Facebook has changed the world or the human condition for the better in any truly meaningful way, what is it?
Steve Jobs created brilliant gadgets we all like to use, but in the end, they're just gadgets.
I would argue, no disrespect intended, that one third-grade teacher does more for humanity in one week of school than Mark Zuckerberg has done so far.
Actually, check that, he gave $100 million to the Newark Public Schools.
That was productive.
Maybe he could break off a few bucks more and buy himself a tie.
Respect, after all, is a two-way street.
You can listen to Keller At Large on WBZ News Radio every weekday at 7:55 a.m. and 12:25 p.m. You can also watch Jon on WBZ-TV News.
