The makers of Steve Jobs the movie answer Jobs' family and friends

Steve Jobs the movie opens nationwide tomorrow, and emotions are running high.

On Wednesday, Walt Mossberg, Jobs’ old pal from the Wall Street Journal, spoke for friends and family with a critique in Re/Code that mixed outrage with self-promotion.

“Unlike [screenwriter Aaron] Sorkin, I did know the real Steve Jobs, for about 14 years—the most productive and successful 14 years of his career running Apple, Inc. I spent scores of hours in private conversations with him over those years, and interviewed him numerous times onstage at a tech conference I co-produced. And the Steve Jobs portrayed in Sorkin’s film isn’t the man I knew.”

(“Thank you @waltmossberg for caring about the difference between fact and fiction,” tweeted Laurene Powell, Jobs’ widow.)

On Thursday, as if in response, Universal, the studio that produced the film, released a panel discussion on YouTube that mixed promotion with protestations of love and respect. It stars screenwriter Sorkin, director Danny Boyle, and all the principal actors: Michael Fassbender, Kate Winslet, Seth Rogan, Jeff Daniels.

I recommend that you read Mossberg before you watch the video. Or better still, go see the movie and form your own opinion.