Steve Jobs

Oh, to have come of age in the 60's and 70's in what is now widely known as Silicon Valley. For Steve Jobs, born at the right time in the right place with a good mix of skills and luck, it was like having a front row seat to the future. Still, I love this biography for other reasons. It's not simply an account of his life, but an accurate account. One that shows all the fanfare and failings. In the introduction the author relates how Jobs' wife implored him to tell the whole truth about her husband. Jobs had many flaws, some of them unforgivable, but it's these moments that create the full picture of a man who would shape the tech world.

Walter Isaacson's book takes the reader through nearly all of Jobs' life, starting from his idyllic show more childhood being raised by adoptive parents through his experimental drug years, the founding of Apple with Steve Wozniak, early 80's Apple, his exile, NeXT, Pixar, the return to Apple and the tech revolution, and fighting cancer. You'll also meet all the people—friends, loved ones, co-workers, industry contemporaries—that were a part of his story, and all have insight to share.

It doesn't seem right that it's the semi-crazy assholes who pioneer our future. And still people followed Steve Jobs because he could inspire like few ever could. For that I admire him, even while part of me shakes my head at the personal chaos he left in his wake. show less

A very detailed and unbiased look at Steve Jobs, his life before Apple, and then his time at and away from the company he co-founded. Isaacson does a good job of showing Jobs at his best, but also at his worst. While a visionary, Jobs was also pretty much a man who ignored truths when it suited him and berated and attacked subordinates and contemporaries. I wonder how far he would have gotten if the awareness and cultural sensitivities of today had been in place in the 1970's and 80's, because CEOs today using many of the same 'techniques' that Jobs used are being fired and removed from companies they have founded. If you want to know the man behind the myth then I recommend this book.

I finished the book today and while dinner was cooking flipped through a copy of Rolling Stone magazine that somehow ended up in the house. There was an ad there for the iPad showcasing the Beatles section of the iTunes Store and unexpectedly I could see the principles Jobs emphasised right there on the page. The product that speaks for itself, the clean lines, the no-frills boldness of design, they were all there. Then suddenly I could see it in the biography cover that Jobs himself helped design, the simple black and white photo of Jobs on a clean white background, the genius staring intently at the camera, his mouth slightly curved in an impish grin. Then I remembered the iPod Nano in my purse, the iPod Shuffle in my gym bag, the show more thrill of every new Pixar movie, the feverish excitement in the eyes of my Apple-faithful friends and colleagues whenever a new iPhone is scheduled to be released and the unbridled delight of a friend when she was showing off her new iPad. It takes something special to turn a garage startup company into the most valuable company in the world with products that people will literally sell their kidneys for and Steve Jobs had that "something".
I don't want to review the man when I should be reviewing his biography but it is such an honest portrayal of a very difficult person that I was often infuriated for the first third of the book because of Jobs' personality. He was undeniably a visionary and it was clear even when he was very young, but the man was a spoiled brat who did drugs and did not shower, and accounts of how he treated people during his first stint at Apple were more than I could read through calmly. Even so, it was fascinating to follow the formative years of the man who would later become the head of both Apple and Pixar as we know them.
The narrative became a lot more palatable to my puritan sensibilities when the focus shifted from young Steve's temper tantrums to the evolution of the technological landscape, the years at NeXT, the beginning of the company that would become Pixar, the antagonistic relationship with Bill Gates and Microsoft, and Jobs' return to Apple. The book is really as much a biography of the Silicon Valley as it is a biography of Steve Jobs because the two are so interwoven they are literally inseparable and the non-techie in me sometimes lost interest when the circuit boards and microchips took over. Fortunately the account is filled with quotes from the people Isaacson interviewed when he prepared to write this book, including Jobs himself, and that provided a welcome balance that kept things moving.
When Apple bought NeXT and Jobs was able to come back to his beloved company the tone of the book changed as the era of unimpeded revolutionary productivity began. It seemed much more "business" from then on, more focused. I felt it was a faithful reflection of Jobs' life at that stage, after all he was a man in his 40s, had a family and two companies to run, and he really couldn't afford any more false starts. He also repeatedly said that he knew he would die young, so intuitive as he was he may have understood on some level that he had to get to work. Or may be he had simply matured sufficiently to focus on being productive more than petulant.
I'm not sure how this happened, but until I read about Jobs being the CEO of Pixar in this book I had no idea that Apple wasn't the only company over which he presided. In retrospect this is not at all surprising because Pixar is another embodiment of technology and art working together to create an excellent product, which is what Jobs has always stood for. I am a huge fan of Pixar movies and I look forward to what Lasseter will do without Jobs.
One thing that struck me as I began reading was how simple the language is. A child could read the book and understand what Isaacson was talking about. If it wasn't for the often mature subject matter I would question who the audience is supposed to be, and then I wonder whether the exceedingly easy to understand writing is meant to make it possible for non-native speakers to read the book without having to wait for the translation.
Research for this biography was a huge undertaking and having all the major players still around to interview was an undeniable advantage. It was really interesting to see how people never really completely disappeared from the picture. They would appear, have their time in the spotlight, then they'd get replaced by a brighter star, but they often reappeared in one capacity or another and towards the end I could clearly see that for all his abrasiveness Jobs managed to maintain relationships with people that lasted decades. And what more, even those who were replaced spoke about him with respect and even admiration. Now that takes talent.
In the first third of the book for all his genius I had little appreciation for Jobs, but by the time I read the last pages I grew to respect him and what he achieved in a relatively short time in his role as CEO, despite the fact that he remained a very difficult person. I feel that it is a testament to the work Isaacson did in presenting to us readers a portrat of Jobs as complete and unbiased as possible and at the end of the day that's what I believe a good biography should do. There's only one last thing I wonder about: can you imagine how much more Jobs would have been able to achieve had he not gotten himself ousted from Apple in the first place? show less

I usually don't read too many biographies since I get bored halfway through, but this book was super interesting the whole way through.

This is likely a combination of great authentic writing and Steve Jobs being such an influential and well-known asshole. I think Steve Jobs probably could have had his own reality TV show, similar to the apprentice or Gordon Ramsay's kitchen nightmares.

Having said that, learning more about Steve Jobs philosophy on integrated design and end-to-end control made me appreciate the my apple products a lot more.

I would strongly recommend this book to anyone who is:
- An "apple" person
- works in the tech industry
- enjoys biographies about colorful characters

I have to hand it to Walter Isaacson. He was commissioned by Jobs to write a warts-and-all biography, and he absolutely followed through. The portrait of Jobs he paints here is that of a man who somehow managed to combine some of the worst traits of capitalist and hippie, a man who was, frankly, a colossal ass. Although, admittedly, a colossal ass with with a real eye for design and a certain amount of vision. (And I can't deny it, I do love my iPod.)

As I was reading this, especially the earlier chapters, in which the focus was more on Jobs's personality than his not-yet-fully-realized technology empire, I kept thinking that I was going to end up rating this book lower than I actually have, just because I found spending time with its show more subject, however vicariously, to be simply too unpleasant. But in the end, I couldn't do it. Isaacson's skills as a biographer are so good, and the details of Jobs's career are so interesting, that it turned out to be an entirely worthwhile read, after all. show less

This truly impressive biography was unputdownable. I was fascinated reading how Steve Jobs' disagreeable, "asshole" personality and intuitive genius were so important to the start-up and ultimate success of Apple. Walter Isaacson did an amazing job in bringing this story to life.

I loved reading about all of the individuals, both Jobs' friends and foes, who were so important in bringing the computer age to life. I liked the way Isaacson delved into Jobs' personality in order to seek psychological insight into the man himself and how Jobs flattered, cajoled, charmed, screamed, chastised, and forced his way into control of all aspects of his life...even trying to maneuver out of his ultimate demise. I was throughly saddened when I finally show more read about his death.

For me, this book was quite the page-turner. The subchapters were short enough to allow me to stop and start reading at pretty much any point. This was important since the entire volume, consisting of over 600 pages, is not the type of book I usually pick up for a "fun read". I got hooked, however, after I started listening to this biography on CD and becoming thoroughly absorbed in it. It's probably one of the best biographies I've ever read. It makes me want to read Isaacson's other works simply for the engaging way he wrote this book. It also makes me sad that I never before bought any stock in Apple! :) show less

I think I killed Steve Jobs. I’m sorry everyone. I didn’t mean to, but I think it was me.

You see, I have been a Windows kind of guy for my whole career in computers. I bought an IBM XT clone for my first computer back in 1987. I knew about Apple computers, but I was a Microsoft guy, through and through. I left a mainframe computer programmer job to work on PCs. I wrote code on a beta version of Windows 95.

I listened to my artistic friends go on and on about how wonderful their Macs were and basically ignored them. When my son and daughter got into video editing, I broke down and bought them an iMac. I tried to use it, but I couldn’t figure it out. I guess I was too engrained in the Windows way of the world. I did have an iPod. In show more fact, I have had three over the years. I even bought an iPhone early last year because I was tired of trying to find a smartphone that was a good phone.

But back to my confession. I really think I killed Steve Jobs. I bought a MacBook Air on October 4, 2011. He died the next day, unable to withstand the shock of my conversion.

You would think after my conversion, I would have lined up first to read Isaacson’s biography of the man who sucked me in. I didn’t. I resisted for a long time, just like I did with my computer. I knew I would eventually give in. I listened to my friends comment about the book. Much of what they said, confirmed what I thought of Steve Jobs. A couple of weeks ago, though, I finally decided it was time to find out the story behind the man everyone has been heralding as a modern prophet of innovation.

A few years ago, Steve Jobs requested Walter Isaacson, a report he knew, to write his biography. Isaacson resisted for a long time. He didn’t know about Jobs’ cancer and thought it was a project for “some day”. Every time Jobs saw him at press events for the next few years, he would insist he do it. When Isaacson learned of Jobs’ cancer, he realized he needed to get started. I am glad he did, too. The result was a uncensored view one of the most influential men of the century.

Jobs promised to not try to influence who he spoke with or what he wrote and he held to that promise. The more I read about Jobs’ career, I can see that must have been the most restraint he had ever exercised. Jobs was a controlling pursuant of perfection in every aspect of his life. He domineered everyone he came in contact with. He would inject his standards on every aspect of everyone around him.

The stories Isaacson tells confirmed all the rumors I had heard over the years about Steve Jobs. A tyrant to work for, he would scream and yell at anyone who didn’t measure up, regardless of their position or abilities. His employees knew that if they ever produced anything with a flaw, or sometimes even when it was perfect, there was always a chance Jobs would go off like a rocket, swearing, belittling and heaping on the the verbally abuse. He would even do it to other CEOs without regard. Even casual acquaintances or US presidents were not exempt: both Rupert Murdoch and Barrack Obama received unsolicited advice on their shortcomings.

He wasn’t any better with his family, either. His daughters were largely ignored. The family always took second seat to his first love: Apple. He did spend time with his son and even prayed that he would survive his cancer long enough to see his son graduate, but his three daughters did not enjoy that level of interest.

Isaacson offers a uninhibited view of why we forgive this poor excuse of a human being. In short, his brilliance in designing user friendly products is unparalleled. His drive for perfection created some of the most widely accepted products the world has known. His string of successes in quite amazing. The Apple II, Macintosh, iMac, MacBook, MacBook Air, iPod, iPhone and the iPad. Don’t forget Pixar. Toy Story, A Bug’s Life, The Incredibles and many others form an unbroken string of blockbusters. On the way, he built a dominant company, was kicked out, came back, rescued it and built it into the most valuable company on planet Earth, all in 56 years.

While I don’t admire the man for how he lived his life, I do admire the success he had in spite of all his personal weaknesses. I don’t hold him up as the titan others may do, but my hat is off to what he accomplished in his short life. I am glad he left extensive notes for Apple’s future and built a group of achievers just as committed to his dreams as he. I believe he did exactly what he wanted: build a long-lasting company and give the world amazing tools to express themselves. He made a convert out of me. show less