A lot has changed for Dan Lyons since then. He . He (because of his concern for real Steve's health) in favor of a Real Dan Lyons site. Then he shut down that site after he got over some true-but-not-very-kind posts about Yahoo's PR department.

Today, Lyons is writing just for Newsweek magazine. His column in the latest issue is, of course, about Steve Jobs. However, a lot has changed since Lyons' "affectionate" moment, so very long ago (in Internet years at least).

Writing about the lack of a public succession plan for Steve Jobs as CEO of Apple, Lyons make a between Jobs and former Microsoft CEO Bill Gates. "Gates... was every bit as synonymous with Microsoft as Jobs is with Apple. He... set up the transition years in advance, giving Ballmer the CEO post and letting him get more exposure even while Gates stayed on as the figurehead," he wrote. "By the time Gates did step down... his departure was practically a nonevent."

Ah, but no such transition plan exists at Apple -- that we know about anyway. "Jobs, in contrast, seems determined to hang on at Apple no matter what. See, in the world of Steve, it's all about Steve. When he does go, he will be remembered as a tremendous genius -- but also as a petulant narcissist with a grandiose sense of his importance and a sadly limited view of the world around him."

I wonder how much admiration Lyons has left for his Steveness. One thing's for sure: all Lyons' time as Fake Steve Jobs certainly gave him keen insight into his muse -- and he still has plenty of fire for those in the crosshairs.