Is getting rich important?

That's a bit sad to read, to me he seemed to have been living a very rich life, albeit filled with lots of unfair and sad things happening to him. But seems he got to do what he loved doing, with people he loved, and that's pretty much as rich as you can get in life. Not every one has "make bank account have lots of money" as a priority in life, and if you're aiming for actual happiness, that's probably the way to go, as Cringely has demonstrated to us.