Steve Jobs

Book review by Richard L. Weaver II, Ph.D. This is a fascinating, if not riveting, story that is not only well-written and well-constructed (organized in a chronological manner), but it is incredibly well-researched, too. It not only revealed how open Jobs was with Isaacson, but how open all of those who were part of, influenced, or were on the fringes of Job's life, were when Isaacson interviewed them. From reading this book, you get this intricate portrait of a mercurial, sometimes vicious, self-absorbed, genius who had serious difficulties dealing with the realities of day-to-day living. But, it is Jobs' peculiarities--his uniquenesses--that make this book so engaging. You simply have a hard time believing such a person like Jobs even existed! (Remember, Jobs did not read this book before he died.) One aspect of Jobs' personality--reinforced throughout the book--was that "ordinary rules didn't apply to him" (p. 313). I found it astonishing, for example, that he couldn't be relied on to tell the truth. It was said about him by Helmut Sonnerfeldt, "He lies not because it's in his interest, he lies because it's in his nature" (p. 313). He was adept at misleading, being secretive, as well as being brutally honest. He could be incredibly brutal! Whatever you thought about Steve Jobs--based on his public persona--this book will shake (destroy?) that image. Isaacson pulls no punches, nor do the individuals interviewed. Jobs was a temperrmental, insensitive, authoritative, control freak, with an emphasis on freak! Sure, he was incredibly bright, imaginative, creative, intelligent, educated, and knowledgeable, but the way he treated others, the way he thought about others who were not his intellectual equals (or intellectual superiors!), was near pathological and perverse. He was an egomaniac's egomaniac (terribly selfish and demanding). To give you a mere glimpse of how selfish he was, he seldom remembered anniversaries or birthdays (p. 530). Jobs was not one to emulate when it comes to effective human relations, however, even though many of his personal eccentricities were not exemplary, this is a motivational book. There are a number of great motivational messages throughout the book. Some of the messages include: never give up, create a vision or dream, pursue your dream, whatever it takes, surround yourself with great minds and supportive personnel (not just "yes people"), don't worry about going against the grain, be creative, take risks, defy failure, bet your career on doing things in a different way, be hands-on, know your product, be thorough, check-and-re-check, perfectionism is good and it works, have passion, infuse everything you do with emotion, focus, prepare thoroughly, do nothing half-assed, and always keep your customers in mind (be user friendly). Jobs knew that "deciding what not to do is as important as deciding what to do" (p. 336). On the basic values Jobs supported--and a value seen in every Apple product which he oversaw (and a value that made Apple successful!)--is the effective marriage between technology and the humanities (p. 527). The marriage was consummated in the silicon architecture, in the Aple organization, as well as in Jobs' own soul (p. 527)! If you really want an overview of who Steve Jobs was and how he operated, Isaacson does a beautiful job of summarizing in Chapter 42, "Legacy" (pp. 560-571). It is an honest, complete, and intimate conclusion that accurately and completely draws together many of the comments, reactions, and insights scattered throughout the book. It is a wonderful closing chapter. In this final chapter, too, Isaacson allowed Jobs, who had shared with him what he hoped his legacy would be throughout the course of their conversations, to be the one to conclude the book (pp. 567-570). No, there are no completely new insights in Jobs' essay, because you absorb his personal values, approaches, feelings, and reactions throughout the book, but Isaacson was correct, just hearing Jobs express himself at the end was a beautiful, warm, and touching way to conclude the book. Just as Jobs was a true genius (very few measure up!), Isaacson is a genius in the manner with which he introduces him to the general public. This is truly an incredible book.

Many people might mistake this book for a mere biography of the man that made Apple a household name and its products coveted by millions around the world. It's not. This book is actually three books in one. It's a business book on how to (and not to) run a company using Apple, NeXT and Pixar as case studies. It's also a history book on the ascent and the drama behind the consumer electronics evolution. And as its title suggests, it's the fascinating story of one of the most gifted people of our time. As a business book, Isaacson writes about three distinct business practices. The first is how to really create a company from scratch. The passion exuded by Jobs and Wozniak is detailed with infectious enthusiasm in the first half of the book. The second practice (and one often not talked about in business books) is how to drive a company to the ground. The book is rife with examples of internal politics, lack of leadership and the absence of focus that truly illustrate how companies fail. The last practice is how to build and operate a creative company that endures. For me, this is the most fascinating narrative of all. But to fully appreciate it, one must truly understand the first two, which almost always precede this one. The book offers a great case study of three companies: Apple, NeXT and Pixar. One fascinating vignette in the book draws a contrast between Apple and Sony and why Apple was successful in conquering the consumer-end of the music business while Sony, who was in a favorable position to do exactly that, failed to do so. This story draws attention to the importance of inter-departmental cohesion that Apple possessed and Sony didn't, to the success of innovation in a company. Business leaders reading this book will learn a lot about the power of "focus" in business. Steve Jobs's most doled out advice was "focus." Throughout the book, we learn how Jobs followed his own advice to a deadly fault. As a business book, it is amongst the best. It's also an even better history book. It details the ascent of personal computing from the perspective of the very people that were (and still are) at its helm. The book doesn't only cover Apple's evolution, but that of the entire industry. Naturally, that involves drama, which Isaacson does a great job of covering. The philosophical divide between open and closed systems that dominated the personal computing evolution is discussed thoroughly in the book via anecdotal accounts on what really happened behind the scenes. It explains what it really took to bring us the products on which I read this book and now writing its review. Most importantly, this is a very personal book. It is the story of man adored by millions of geeks, and when departed, mourned by hundreds of millions of Apple consumers around the world. Unfortunately, a devastating portrait that is guaranteed to put out any respect or admiration you've ever had for the man emerges early on in the book. If you have spent the last fifteen years romanticizing about Steve Jobs and his products, this book will leave you punch-drunk. You will learn through stomach-churning details how Steve Jobs was a disloyal, lying, backstabbing, vindictive, manipulative, vengeful, and all-around vile and damaged human being. He was, and surprisingly so, a coward, as clearly illustrated by how he treated people in his twenties and thirties. And oh, he cried a lot. I mean, A LOT. The book is rife with examples of his cruelty towards those who he seemed to have loved the most. His treatment of Steve Wozniak was unconscionable and disgusting. But the most disturbing example and the one that really shows his character was how he treated his "soul mate" from Reed College, Daniel Kottke. I could sum it up by quoting John Scully's wife when she told Jobs: When I look into most people's eyes, I see a soul. When I look into your eye, I see a bottomless pit, an empty hole, a dead zone. Even the amiable, most trusting co-founder of Apple, Steve Wozniak, who's been backstabbed by Jobs several times, have said about Jobs, "I look forward to a great product and I wish him success, but his integrity I cannot trust." The irony in Steve Jobs story was that he loathed people that treated him the way he treated others. He had to deal with a few people that gave him a run for his money like Eisner of Disney and Katzenburg of DreamWorks. He claims throughout the book that he's "honest" and a "straightshooter" yet all the stories relayed by people that had to deal with him tell a completely different story. For a control freak, it boggles me how he allowed such a book to be written about him. Now we all know that he might have been a visionary, but he was also a very disturbed man void of compassion, empathy and integrity. As I got deeper into the book I started to wonder, "did Apple offer on-campus Al-Anon meetings to its employees?" Evidently, working for or with Steve Jobs was like being in a relationship with a recovering Cocaine addict who sees the world in black and white and throws frequent tantrums that are aimed at destroying those around them. It's what Mike Murray, Apple's Marketing Chief, called, "management by character assassination." Jobs quotes Bob Dylan, whom we learn early in the book was one of his heroes, "if you're not busy being born, you're busy dying." It's ironic to quote those powerful words and not heed them. The book clearly shows that Steve Jobs was never really reborn or reinvented as a person. He never evolved and his base qualities were never tamed. Naturally, he spent his entire life dying from the inside out. The book left me enriched, provoked and sad in equal measure. It is long but flows well and is a fast read. All business executives should read it for the insight it offers on what real successful companies are made of and what pitfalls to avoid along the way. Also, everyone in technology should read it to get a perspective on the evolution in the space of personal and consumer computing and to understand where we're headed and how to get there. Even if you're not an executive or a geek, you should read this book for its fascinating (and well told) story of a man from Northern California who dramatically changed how we live. A man as rich with creativity and intuition for what consumers want as he was bankrupt of decency and compassion for most of those he touched. It's a story worth reading. If for nothing else, read it to understand what it took to create the device on which you're reading this very review.

I'm not an Apple person. So if you're an Apple person, you can stop reading now, because you probably won't like this review. I have never liked Apple's closed-system philosophy, nor have I ever liked what I consider their over-priced and under-powered products. I have always liked the open-system philosophy of the IBM PC architecture (which is usually simplified to "windows PC", but people forget that many different operating systems can and do run on the IBM PC architecture). As far as Steve Jobs goes, until I read this book I never really knew that much about him, other than the usual stuff - co-founder of Apple, father of the MacIntosh, and really, really rich guy. Now that I do know more about him, I have to say, I don't like him. But I'm reviewing a book here, specifically a biography, and although it can be hard to separate one's opinion of the book from one's opinion of its subject, I'll try. Basically, I liked this book. I liked it a lot, actually. I imagine it must have been somewhat difficult for Isaacson - who had previously written biographies of Benjamin Franklin ( Benjamin Franklin: An American Life ) and Albert Einstein ( Einstein: His Life and Universe ) - to now write a biography of someone who was still alive. As a matter of fact, Jobs' death is not mentioned in the book. I know the publication of the book was hurried after his death, but I would have thought that at least the fact and date of his death would have been in the book. At any rate, if you segment Jobs' life (and the book) as Youth, Apple I, Not Apple, and Apple II, I found the most compelling parts to be in this order: Apple I, Youth, Not Apple, and Apple II. The last segment of the book - Apple II - I found to be rather dry, with a sort of hurried, factual quality to it (for example, subchapters were titled "iPod", "iPhone", "Apps", etc). The final chapter is clearly different from the rest of the book, and it's easy to imagine that it was cobbled together very quickly on Jobs' death. However, the first three segments - especially the first two - I found thoroughly absorbing. I am about the same age as Jobs (and Gates), so I have lived in basically the same social environment, and I believe as far as that goes Isaacson has captured the times well. And, as far as I could, by checking other books (for example, the excellent history of the personal computer Fire in the Valley: The Making of The Personal Computer (Second Edition) ) and online sources, I believe his facts are, for the most part, correct. As I read the book, I was consciously looking for evidence of a fawning, or excessively flattering treatment, but I never really found that to be the case. That did seem to occur more in the last few chapters, but most of the book seemed to be very objective, even critical. The author many times, for example, would interject in parentheses stating when he thought a quote by Jobs was an outright lie. The first half of the book clearly described Jobs' character and motivations much more than the second half. The second half of the book was more of a description of Jobs' career, but even so, most of it - until the last few chapters - was very well written and interesting. Let's face it - Jobs had an interesting life, and although the book is 571 pages of actual text, it will take several more books to describe each facet of his career in detail. One of the most interesting parts of the book, and a part of Jobs' career I knew very little about, was his involvement with Pixar/Disney. As a matter of fact, approximately three quarters of his wealth derives from that connection. He is the single largest stockholder in Disney - by far. I stated at the outset that I'm not an Apple fan, so what was my motivation to read it? Partly it was my interest in the history of the PC. As was Jobs and Gates, as a young man I also was drawn to the idea of a "personal computer". My first PC was an Atari 800, and I learned BASIC on it. I used to save programs on a cassette recorder. My second PC was an IBM PC/XT. It had a 5MB hard drive (yes - MB). It's not easy for anyone born after 1990 or so to appreciate the sense of wonder that surrounded the appearance of these machines. I sincerely believe that the drama that Jobs created with his product introductions to some extent stems from a desire to recapture that initial sense of wonder, that this is a machine that can be programmed to do anything you can think of. Another motivation for me was that, in interviews, I have heard the author put Jobs in the same class of great men such as Thomas Edison. Now, Edison is one of my heroes (one of Jobs' heroes as well), and I wanted to see for myself if that was justified (it was not). Great industrialists are very often (though not always) focused, intensely energetic, ego-driven, and cruel people. And Jobs was all of those. And I don't think I'm being mean here, that's all in the book. The author does not psychoanalyze Jobs, but he does share some opinions, both his own and those of others, as to what motivated him. That topic alone is probably good for another few books. In the end though, the conclusion I drew was that he was not a very nice person, either to know or to work for. Steve Wozniak, on the other hand, apparently was a very nice person, and Jobs seemed to be cordial to him more than anyone else in the book. As a matter of fact, one of the mysteries of the book - for me - is that it doesn't really go into that relationship much at all. It mentions Wozniak, but only because it has to, I mean, he invented the Apple computer! Outside of that, if all you knew about Wozniak was what you read in this book, you would think he was just an early business associate of Jobs. Steve Jobs was a visionary - no doubt about that. And he had an almost unerring sense of design. But was he a "great man"? I guess it depends on what you consider a "great man". But before you decide that, here's another interesting point - Jobs only got Apple back on its feet after introducing the iPod (several versions of the mac went down in flames). For the last 4 years (at least) Apple has received 50% of its revenues from iPod/iPhone sales, and only 25% of its revenues from computers. And the iPhone % is continuing to increase. In other words, Apple today is really a music player/cell phone company. Of course, Apple invented neither, they just improved them. So Jobs is a great man if you define that to be a man who transformed Apple into a domestic version of Sony. Now, that's not an insignificant accomplishment. However, creating a more aesthetic mp3 player is not my definition of a great man. But then, I'm not an Apple person...

My thoughts - a powerful, yet not entirely flattering biography, of a charismatic, temperamental, narcissistic genius who was driven by perfectionism. (You may wish to skim this review if you plan on reading this book). Steve Jobs, a man who will not be easily forgotten, passed away on October 5, 2011 at the age of 56. In 2009, knowing he was dying, he got Walter Isaacson to agree to write a book about his life. Over the course of the next two difficult years of Job's illness, Isaacson conducted over 40 interviews with him, his friends, family and former coworkers. Jobs grew up in Mountainview, CA, outside of Palo Alto, the adopted son of Paul and Clara Jobs. His biological parents --grad students, a Syrian father and American mother, he referred to as his "sperm and egg bank". Even when he later found out who his real parents were, he always referred to his adoptive parents as his "real" parents. However, it appears apparent from reading this book, that being abandoned by his biological parents was a real issue for Job's throughout his life, and it affected the way he treated people as an adult. As a young boy, early on Job's realized he was brighter than his parents. This made him feel more detached. In fact in the 4th grade he tested at a 10th grade level. Bored with school, he was also somewhat socially awkward and was often bullied at school. He demanded that he be sent to another school or that he would stop going to school, so his parents moved to a better neighborhood. It was here where Jobs began tinkering with electronics in his garage. This is where is all begin in 1976 for Steve Jobs and Stephen Wozniak. The two were both loners and "music geeks" introduced by a friend. Jobs experimented with pot, hash, and LSD and embraced the hippie lifestyle. The only college that Jobs had any interest in attending was Reed College in Portland, Oregon. It was at Reed that Jobs became interested in Buddhism, attended a Hare Krishna Temple,and became obsessive about dieting and vegetarianism. He was on a personal unending search for enlightenment, which he never quite seemed to find. Jobs dropped out of Reed College to travel around India on a spiritual journey. Job's biography covers his 30+ year career which includes not only the start up operation of Apple Computer out his garage, but also his involvement at Atari, Pixar and NeXT. Just four years after Apple's start up, the company went public and was worth 1.79 billion dollars. By the age of 25 Jobs was worth 256 million dollars and made 300 other people millionaires in the process. In 2011 Apple is a 40 billion dollar Company. Yet despite his wealth Jobs was a minimalist, believing that in home and in business, "simplicity is the ultimate sophistication". Job's opinion of himself was that "he was special". He had the uncanny ability to read people and to know exactly what their weak points were. He used that to his advantage, and created a fear factor in those who worked for him. He was eager to put people down, often in front of others, and wasn't afraid to tell those who worked for him that their ideas were dumb. His prickly behavior caused a high burnout in staff, and because of his high expectations his goal in hiring was to find creative, super-smart people who had a rebellious spirit. He was a genius in business, but not so much in his personal life. His biography covers his tumultuous relationship with daughter Lisa who he fathered out of wedlock in 1978, to his marriage in 1991 to Laureen Powell and the birth of his first child that same year, who for the first two weeks of his life was known simply as "baby boy Jobs". In 1995 and 1998 two more children, daughters were born to Steve and Laureen. His was described as aloof to his daughters and often "prickly" to his wife, thus by no means an easy man to live with. His illness,was first diagnosed in October of 2003, with what was believed to be, a curable form of pancreatic cancer. Jobs decided against surgery despite the urging of his doctors and those closest to him. Instead he chose to try some radical diets and fastings in the hope they would cleanse his body of cancer. His was obsessed with body image and did not want to have a surgery he believed might not be entirely necessary. The nine month wait caused his cancer to spread, and his health and quality of life would deteriorate as well, ending with his death on October 5, 2011. Steve Jobs is a fascinating read about a complicated and extremely fascinating man. As prickly as this man could be at times, there are a few paragraphs that were able to bring me to tears. Apparently, according to Jobs, much of your thinking is changed in the face of death, and suddenly you no longer worry about "having something to lose." A highly recommended read.

I would not have been considered as part of the `target market' for Walter Isaacson's new biography of Steve Jobs. I knew very little about Jobs. I am at best a point and click MicroSoft computer user and really only have a vague idea of what an operating system is. I began reading this book because over the last 4 years, I have been told I look like Steve Jobs, maybe a hundred times. I was actually pulled out of line by the TSA last year at Seattle-Tacoma Airport and brought through a special line. I thought I was going to be searched but as I was walking through, the TSA agent said, "I am praying for you, Mr. Jobs." I laughed and told him I appreciate the prayers but I was not Mr. Jobs. He then asked to see my license. He didn't believe me. I have worn black turtlenecks for years. I didn't know Jobs wore them. I hate to shave, so usually have a face full of stubble. I only pull out a razor when I am speaking (I am an author and professional speaker) or have a "suit and tie" business meeting. I began wearing glasses full-time in 2008 and the mistaken identity began almost immediately. My only other connection to the man is that I love my iPhone. The publicity surrounding his death increased the "do you know who you look like?" questions by ten times. During a recent walk through Midway Airport in Chicago, the young lady at the ticket counter said, "I know everyone must tell you that you look like Steve jobs, right?" As I walked to security, the TSA agent looked at me and asked if I was a celebrity impersonator. I said "No, but I do get mistaken for John Wayne often." Then, as I loaded into the Southwest flight, one of the flight attendants was looking at me and walked up with her copy of the book and held it up to my face and asked, "Are you trying to look like him?" I assured her I was not. I then told her that I bet Steve was often mistaken for me. She looked at me and responded, "Nah." So when I landed in Dallas, I downloaded this book on my new Kindle and the unexpected happened - I was mesmerized. People will say in reviews, as a standard line, "I could not put this book down." We all know they certainly were able to put it down ... but never in my life have I been so captivated by a book. Walter Isaacson has performed an incredible service in his skillfully writtten examination of a life. It is structured perfectly, flows beautifully and is a brutally honest look at a brilliant man who will become a colorful part of our cultural history. Through most of this story, I did not like Steve Jobs but tolerated his arrogance and rudeness as part of what makes this story great. Then came the point in the book where I realized it is not arrogance if it is true and I believe Steve Jobs to be a genius. I feel sorry for those who loved and respected him but suffered his wrath and continued to do so because of their loyalty to him and the "Apple Idea." I despise him for the rejection and denial of his first daughter and know she will suffer for the rest of her life because of both his actions and inactions. I feel sorry for him because of the joy his daughter could have brought to his earlier life, that he chose to miss. Yes, he tried to make up for it later, but I think those are the kinds of losses that can never be regained. As the book progressed, I still did not like him, but the tremendous respect I felt for his accomplishments and intellect blossomed. Steve Jobs is the most interesting human being I have ever encountered, even though my only introductions are through this book ... and being occasionally misidentified as him. However, Walter Isaacson's skillful masterpiece is more than enough. Through Isaacson's insightful eyes and his carefully chosen and crafted words, I feel I have personally met a man that will be remembered as an American icon and revered for generations to come. Through this book, I witnessed a combination of his genius and severe personality defects in a way that displayed, what I believe is, a complete picture of Steve Jobs. When I began reading this book, the LAST thing I ever expected to say was this ... "This is the best book I have ever read. Period." Go figure ... I would have never guessed.

First and foremost, this is just a good read. I found that Isaacson's bio of Einstein was both interesting and did a profoundly better job of explaining relativity than my physics professors ever did. This book didn't disappoint. It was both captivating, and offered meaningful insight into Steve Jobs and the history of Apple. On way of my own biases, I was an Apple bigot before being an Apple bigot was cool. I learned to program on an Apple II that my father brought home in 1980. I've been a shareholder since I was given a single share of Apple stock for my bar mitzvah in 1981. I later grew up using Macs in college for everything from writing papers to digital circuit simulation to writing shareware apps that paid off debt I had accumulated as a starving grad student and provided the down payment on my first home. I even continued to use a Mac (eventually a PowerPC clone) as my exclusive home computer during most of my tenure with IBM! But around 1998-99, I finally gave up on Macs and bought my first PC. By then I had concluded that Windows hadn't simply caught up, but in many regards had surpassed the Mac. Mac had become a lesser computer that cost a premium, for which applications were fewer in number, and cost more. Even after Apple finally made substantial improvements and moved to a Unix kernel, I've never been tempted to look back. What's more, as Apple entered the consumer electronics domain and began producing closed devices and systems characterized by excessive proprietary control, I developed a decidedly anti-Apple viewpoint. Not a reflexive anti-Apple bias -- I did eventually start using a hand-me-down iPod when my daughter just had to upgrade to a iTouch. And we eventually all got iPhones after I concluded that, whatever it's limitations, it was still a better option than the available Android alternatives. But you get the point -- I'm now closer to being an anti-Apple bigot than one of the hordes of Apple fans. This book provides real insight into why Apple systems are as closed as they are, and why Apple acts as controlling as it does. It provides a good understanding of just how Steve Jobs drove Apple to where it is today. Ultimately, the book does not paint a flattering picture of Jobs. I've read other reviewers who complained that Isaacson clearly disliked Jobs, and that the book was a hatchet job. I've seen Isaacson doing interviews since Jobs' death, however, and if anything, I'd say the opposite is true. I think he actually holds Jobs in awe. (Those who find the description of Jobs as such an unrelenting jerk incompatible with the extremely strong positive feelings expressed by many who worked with him have clearly never worked with somebody of his ilk, and fail to recognize something basic in human psychology. When people go through what is effectively prolonged hazing, one of two things happen: either they part ways prior to completion, in which cases they are left only with enormous resentment over the hazing/bad behavior, or they survive the hazing and feel empowered and strongly bound to the others involved, as a result. What you would expect from those who worked closely with/for Jobs is precisely a polarized love or hate reaction. But even those who come out with strong positive feelings will still very much recognize, and likely even resent, the bad behavior.) I've also seen complaints that the book gives short shrift to specific events or aspects of Jobs' life. That strikes me as inevitable. The book is ~600 pages as it is. I think the purpose of the book is to provide meaningful insight into Jobs, including what formed him and what he formed, not to comprehensively document each and every aspect and occurrence of his life. Are there places where the book is lacking? Yes, I think so. The book suggests that there was a substantial change in Jobs -- a maturation -- between his initial stint with Apple and his second run there. But if he became more reasonable and effective at his interpersonal interactions with Apple employees in his second stint, that certainly wasn't apparent to me from the book. In any case, whatever its limitations, and whatever your feelings toward Apple or Steve Jobs, this book is enlightening and entertaining, and well worth the read. P.S. For the record, this is the first book I've read in it's entirety on an eReader. (A Kindle Fire -- perhaps there's some irony there.)

I am not a fan of Apple. I have never bought any of their products, and I have never thought much about Steve Jobs even though I grew up a child of the 80's and 90's. I have always been a PC user and now use Android. I find it fascinating that Apple considered itself the "good guys" when comparing itself to Microsoft, IBM, and these days Google. While I do believe the quality of a product can be higher when you are controlling the end to end experience, I never agreed that they should be the ones deciding what you should do with the item you purchased. Apple tells you how you are going to use their product and you either take it or leave it. When Steve Jobs didn't like Adobe Flash, he didn't put it on Apple products. He made a choice that was yours to make, not his. Apple put out the iconic "1984" ad basically saying Apple was going against the establishment, but to me they were the ultimate example of control and that has made me uninterested in buying their products in the past. I still find myself fascinated by the life of Steve Jobs now that I'm a little older and that's what made me finally decide to purchase the book. Steve was a very unique individual, and that's both a good and bad thing. In some areas he was definitely a genius. I would also say he was eccentric and a narcissist. If you read about many very intelligent people throughout history there were often dark sides to them almost as if the unique aspects of their minds had to be balanced by issues in other areas. Some say Jobs was a functioning psychopath. I have no idea if I would go that far, but its obvious from reading the book that while he was very good at what he did, something was also kind of off. I cant logically make sense of an intelligent person like him falling for so much nonsense when it came to food and dieting like he did. The biggest issue is, not surprisingly, the way he treated people. Years ago I would have condemned Jobs, but my own experiences in life have caused me to have mixed opinions now. How successful would Apple have been if Jobs did not act the way he did? We can only guess, but I'd be willing to bet good money not as successful as it turned out to be. I had the displeasure of working for an executive that was truly ignorant and arrogant towards the people below him. I left the company because I would not treat my people that way and do not agree with it, but I also believe that you cant always be the nice guy if you want to truly be successful. Yes, I do believe Steve Jobs went over the edge with this at times, and I could never be like him, but accountability is important, and when you are just the nice guy people take advantage of you or don't take situations as seriously as they should. Steve didn't accept less than the best and he was very brutally honest about it with the people around him. These days I feel like there is a little bit of Steve's style in the way I do things and that is ok. There needs to be balance in all things, but for Steve everything was very black and white and that pushed him to extremes most people would not feel comfortable using in their own lives. I have read many of the one and two star reviews and find myself disagreeing with some of the points made in those reviews. I don't see the book as being all negative and avoiding the good things about Steve's life. It just stated things as they were. Intelligent people can put the pieces together and each of us has to come to our own conclusions after reading the book. He accomplished some amazing things in his life and he seemed to truly enjoy what he did. On the other hand, most of his life he was not a great family man, and he was not that great to the people around him which has brought out some extreme opinions from those who worked with him. I didn't read the book and think wow this guy was a horrible person. I actually have a better opinion of Steve and Apple after reading the book. I may even buy one of their products after reading the book. He was an imperfect person in many ways, but he also accomplished things that most of us can only ever dream of. I now wish I had the opportunity to spend time with him and really see what he was like and learn from him. I did find a few things about the book a little weak. Like some other reviewers, I do think the book should have gone chronologically more and bounced around less. It just seemed to skip over some things or barely mention them and a couple of times a first name would be mentioned and I wasn't sure who it was and found myself going backwards trying to figure out if the person was mentioned before. I also agree that the style of the book changed when I made it to the last 20% or so, as if they were in a rush to release the book after his death. I would like to have seen more thoughts from Jobs near the end and more from his family, though I do agree with how the book ended. At first it seemed kind of odd and I expected more, but ending it at the point Isaacson last visited with Jobs was actually the most respectful ending he could have given. Overall the book is very good and will leave you deep in contemplation once you are done as to what kind of person Steve Jobs really was. The good and the bad. The extremes in his life and how he dealt with people in general. Again, I finished the book and came away with a greater respect for Steve Jobs, and I think if you can read between the lines a bit and really spend some time thinking about what you read, you will also come away having some different thoughts regardless of whether you like or dislike Jobs or Apple. The book may not be perfect, and we are only spectators who were not a part of Jobs life, but the book accomplished what it needed to, and the overall experience combined both sides of Jobs into something dignified. That's all it needed to do.

Walter Isaacson is one of my favorite biographers. His books about Einstein, Kissinger, and Benjamin Franklin are fantastic. So last summer when I heard that he would be writing a book titled Steve Jobs, I immediately put it into my Amazon cart. Little did I realize that Jobs would be gone by the time the book was released. A sad loss for his family, for Apple, and for those of us who love the unique Silicon Valley area and culture. Jobs changed the world with his innovation and passion. He brought together great design and great technology as nobody else has ever done. I never met Steve Jobs but we had many overlapping areas in our lives. We were close in age, we both grew up in Silicon Valley, and we had a few mutual acquaintances. I remember driving past the Next building every day to and from work in the 1980's. On the day Jobs died it struck me that for my entire life, with the exception of our college years, he and I lived within about 30-miles of each other. Every location mentioned in the biography is familiar to me because of that. From the book I learned that we had one other significant connection: Steve's father was a frequent wrecking yard scavenger who took Steve to the junkyards on weekends. Good chance that Steve's father and my father met; a more distant chance that Steve and I crossed paths as kids. Either way, I guess I can say we sold products to Jobs before he sold anything to us! One of the great things about this biography is that it doesn't pull any punches. Steve Jobs was a testy character, hard to work with, and moody. He was definitely from the countercultural world of the 1960's, experimenting with LSD, Eastern religions, and communal farms. That might be forgiven because of his youth and the era, but he was distant from his best friends, harsh to people who loved him, and neglectful of his children. Shoot, he even parked in the handicap space at the Apple headquarters. The book brings all of this up. I often wondered how his behavior was overlooked by those who revered him. One of the best parts of the book is the first half about Jobs' childhood and youth. It emphasizes his being adopted, and later shares the story of him rediscovering his family. It sets the stage for the person Jobs became. The theme of abandonment and "me against the world" was prevalent throughout. In the second half the book has a tendency to become a profile of Apple's greatest hits. The decade of the 2000's saw the redesign of the Macintosh computers, the iPod, the iPhone, the iPad, MobileMe, iCloud, etc etc. Where Isaacson loses me is when he delves into an explanation of all of that. I realize it's relevant to the story of Steve Jobs, but it's recent history that is well documented. This weakness is forgotten when you read the end of the biography. Isaacson develops the storyline of how Jobs changes in the later part of his life. His losing battle to cancer is described with gracious transparency. An insightful (and somehow sad) part of the book is when we read that Steve's personality changed as he realized his life would be cut short. Excellent writing from Isaacson. On a more significant note, a strength of the book is the excellent way that Isaacson explains how Jobs lived at the intersection of science and the liberal arts. Or as it is sometimes put, at the place where technology meets the humanities. Jobs himself fully understood this and was proud of it, as could be seen from his famous commencement address at Stanford a few years back. A wonderful book about a fascinating person. And even with a few slow parts, this may be my favorite book of the year.

MUY INSTRUCTIVO

I first read this biography back in 2011, in its Spanish edition and in ebook format. Taking advantage of the great price, I decided to get the physical English version, and I’m enjoying it just as much as I did the first time. In fact, rereading it now feels even more fascinating. Steve Jobs’ life was truly remarkable. As the chapters unfold, I can clearly recognise the technological milestones he helped shape — probably because I’ve lived through many of them myself. The early Apple computers, the first Macs, the Cube, the iPods, and eventually the iPhone… each one opened a new market and redefined an entire industry. Isaacson’s biography captures all of this with depth and honesty. The mix of interviews — from friends to rivals — paints a vivid picture of a complex, obsessive and visionary figure. It’s a compelling read, both for those who admire Jobs and for anyone interested in the evolution of modern technology. A great purchase and a pleasure to revisit in its full printed edition.

Ho appena terminato di leggere "Steve Jobs: The Exclusive Biography" e sono ancora completamente immerso nel mondo affascinante di uno dei più grandi innovatori del nostro tempo. Questo libro, scritto con maestria da un autore esperto come Walter Isaacson, offre un'analisi approfondita della vita e delle opere di Steve Jobs, il co-fondatore di Apple. La biografia è un'autentica pietra miliare che riesce a cogliere l'essenza di Jobs come persona e come leader carismatico. Isaacson ci conduce attraverso un viaggio emozionante, partendo dall'infanzia di Steve Jobs fino ai suoi trionfi e fallimenti nel mondo degli affari. L'autore non si limita a raccontare una sequenza di eventi, ma ci fornisce una comprensione intima di chi era realmente Steve Jobs e di cosa lo ha spinto a diventare l'uomo che ha cambiato il modo in cui viviamo e lavoriamo. Uno degli aspetti più notevoli del libro è la sincerità con cui vengono descritte le sfaccettature complesse della personalità di Jobs. Isaacson non esita a mostrare i lati negativi del suo carattere, evidenziando la sua determinazione quasi ossessiva e il suo carattere spigoloso. Questo rende la narrazione ancor più coinvolgente, poiché ci permette di apprezzare appieno le sue realizzazioni straordinarie, ma anche di riflettere sulle conseguenze che il suo approccio può avere sulle relazioni personali e professionali. La ricerca di Isaacson è encomiabile e la sua abilità nel raccogliere testimonianze e interviste di persone vicine a Steve Jobs aggiunge una dimensione autentica alla narrazione. Sono rimasto affascinato dai retroscena di Apple e dalle interazioni tra Jobs e altre figure chiave come Steve Wozniak e Tim Cook. La biografia offre una panoramica completa degli alti e bassi dell'azienda, comprese le decisioni coraggiose e i momenti di scontro che hanno plasmato l'industria tecnologica. Inoltre, il libro affronta tematiche più ampie come l'importanza del design, l'innovazione e l'arte nella creazione di prodotti che cambiano il mondo. È stimolante leggere di come Jobs abbia integrato la sua passione per l'estetica nella filosofia di Apple, creando prodotti che hanno ridefinito gli standard dell'industria e hanno influenzato il modo in cui viviamo e ci connettiamo.

Last Christmas I had asked Santa for a Samsung smart phone. Apart from an ipod, I don't own any other Apple products and felt the brand is trying to make you buy all of their devices. Would I have wanted an iphone after reading the book? I had ordered the English version of the book on Amazon, something I strongly recommend. The computer related terms are English words anyway and the author's style is straightforward and without the use of complicated sentences. It took me a couple of weeks to read through the 600 pages of the book. It is like reading a drama: somehow I was waiting to read about all the products we are so familiar with now: the ipod, iphone and ipad. Once the book reached these chapters, I slowed down a bit, as if a climax had been reached. The book is amazing, probably the best biography I have ever read. The is partly due to the author and his style of writing, but mainly the life and personality of Steve Jobs is what makes that book stand out for me. I did not know much about Jobs before and was not too keen to find out about him either, but now I have started reading newspaper articles and watched old clips on Youtube about him and the Apple brand. The story is simply fascinating. It all starts out in his garage and ends up in one of the biggest brands of our time. Jobs could achieve this by being the person he was. The last biography I read was about Picasso and it is amazing how similar they might have been. Genius on one side, cruel, manipulative and mean on the other side. Jobs had asked Isaacson to write this book in 2004, probably aware that someone will write about him if he dies of cancer and by choosing Isaacson (former chairman and CEO of CNN, author of biographies of Einstein, Kissinger and Franklin) he made sure to have one of the best writing about him. This is the way he choose people he wanted to work with at Apple as well, he just calls up the person who he thinks is best for a certain job. Jobs did not want any control over the book, fully aware that Isaacson will also write about how mean he could treat even his closest fiends. Over two years Isaacson collected the material, doing many interviews with Jobs and people close to him. The book covers his childhood, private life and his career. What made a big impression on me: Jobs attention (you could call it obsession) to detail in everything (food, clothes, architecture, design, presentations, advertising) The way Jobs built his team (choosing the best, firing who is not good enough any more) What surprised me: Jobs deep love for Bob Dylan What I missed: I would have wished for more background information about what happened elsewhere at the time of the early computing since there was not only Apple. This is probably a lot to ask, since one book would not have been enough. I googled some people and companies Jobs had dealt with in order to find out more about them to complete the picture. To Isaacson's credit: all the big names seem to have a place in his book and a brief summary on what they were doing at the time (for example Bill Gates). Once I had finished the book there were no open questions, sometimes the author deals with a different person in a different chapter and you find out about it a little later in the book. After all I can say: I am very happy with my smaller phone and the open strategy works for me.

Il y a beaucoup de "storytelling" ce qui est merveilleux ... toutes ces petites histoires qui créent ce personnage très complexe et son «champ de distorsion". Je le recommande pour ceux qui aiment: des histoires d'affaires, l'esprit entrepreneurial, des gens créatifs, non-conformistes, les stratégies, les commerçants, vendeurs, etc ..... et bien sûr, toute autre personne qu'il est ouvert à une telle histoire et à la culture américaine (sachant qu'il y a beaucoup de scepticisme autour de la culture américaine en France ... oui oui, je sais que je généralise :)). Il s'agit d'un très long livre (568 pages) et croyez-moi, la lecture sur un Kindle ne facilite pas les choses. Mais il y a toutes les détails que vous pourriez avoir besoin : commençant par des témoignages et points de vue différents sur la même histoire jusqu'aux détails de la façon dont ils ont travaillé sur les couleurs et les composants utilisés pour chaque ordinateur. En outre, c'est un livre très inspirant ... bien sûr, si vous ne restez pas coincé dans la perspective «il est fou ou il est égoïste ou il ne se soucie pas de ceux qui travaillent pour lui ou que ça marcherait jamais en France ou qu'il est allé trop loin ". Bref...J'adore