Scoop or smoke?

For those who remember, I talked here about the Fake Steve Jobs, when mentioning identity manipulation, sock puppets, and other funny stuff that happens with self-presentation online.

Now it is official, apparently the New York Times had the scoop: the Fake Steve Jobs is actually Daniel Lyons, Senior Editor at Forbes magazine.

Reading the article, it is ironic to see that Brad Stone, the NYT writer, takes pain to explain the clever process the NYT used to unmask FSJ. Doesn't it sound like a "wink-wink" to the investigative skills of the innumerable bloggers who had tried, unsuccessful, to uncover his identity?

In any case, bloggers, here and there, have been wondering whether the NYT was tipped off or if the scoop was actually revenge of the journal against recent cruel assertions against it by the said blogger.