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4.14 AVERAGE
4.14 AVERAGE
After finally finishing this biography (and admittedly skipping a few pages towards the end), I can conclude that Steve Jobs and Apple were/are the equivalent of a whiny spoiled child that freaks out when they don't get their way.
That said, I think we as a society have benefitted immensely from it. There's no question that Jobs was an absolute visionary and to this day Apple still pumps out fantastic products. But MAN Jobs was annoying. What's most frustrating about him is that he'd probably still be here today if not for his ridiculous views on what was right for his body. Before anyone argues that his diets and habits were not ridiculous, I again point out: he's not with us today because of it. Thus, ridiculous. Sorry vegans, spiritualists, etc. Sometimes modern medicine is the best course of action.
Something else this book has taught me is that Apple needs to go ahead and shut up when it comes to Samsung, or any other company that attempts to copy their work. Why? Because THAT'S ALL APPLE DID TO BECOME A COMPANY. They stole ideas left, right, and center. And thanks to Jobs' reality distortion field (which is very evident in the company, even today), ideas that where someone else's suddenly became his. Good luck arguing with him about it.
The book itself is very well written, and extremely in depth, almost to a fault for me. I understood that if Jobs didn't get his way, he would literally break down in tears. Hearing about it over and over and over again for 600 pages got old.
That said, it was fascinating to learn about the creation of devices and programs that I take for granted today, and how some of these came very close to not existing. It's wild to think what a different world we'd be living in had Jobs, say, wasn't in a good mood the day he approved the iPhone, etc.
I would recommend this read for anyone interested in Apple, it's products, and of course Jobs. Be prepared for every single minute detail though!
That said, I think we as a society have benefitted immensely from it. There's no question that Jobs was an absolute visionary and to this day Apple still pumps out fantastic products. But MAN Jobs was annoying. What's most frustrating about him is that he'd probably still be here today if not for his ridiculous views on what was right for his body. Before anyone argues that his diets and habits were not ridiculous, I again point out: he's not with us today because of it. Thus, ridiculous. Sorry vegans, spiritualists, etc. Sometimes modern medicine is the best course of action.
Something else this book has taught me is that Apple needs to go ahead and shut up when it comes to Samsung, or any other company that attempts to copy their work. Why? Because THAT'S ALL APPLE DID TO BECOME A COMPANY. They stole ideas left, right, and center. And thanks to Jobs' reality distortion field (which is very evident in the company, even today), ideas that where someone else's suddenly became his. Good luck arguing with him about it.
The book itself is very well written, and extremely in depth, almost to a fault for me. I understood that if Jobs didn't get his way, he would literally break down in tears. Hearing about it over and over and over again for 600 pages got old.
That said, it was fascinating to learn about the creation of devices and programs that I take for granted today, and how some of these came very close to not existing. It's wild to think what a different world we'd be living in had Jobs, say, wasn't in a good mood the day he approved the iPhone, etc.
I would recommend this read for anyone interested in Apple, it's products, and of course Jobs. Be prepared for every single minute detail though!
emotional
funny
informative
inspiring
fast-paced
emotional
funny
informative
inspiring
reflective
sad
informative
inspiring
reflective
sad
slow-paced
Reading experience was kind of weird. I initially read the first 50 pages or so right when it came out. Then I started to regret buying a $25 book, so I returned it (what can I say, Half Price Books has spoiled me). I finally bought it for about $14 yesterday and flew through the remaining 500 pages today. I was pleasantly surprised with the beginning- it was really interesting. But the 80's and 90's were like this horrible vacuum of nothingness.
Sure, a lot of advances were made- but I was so sick of reading about Steve's temper...it's like that's the ONLY thing this book talks about. Or, that's the only *emotional* aspect of 95% of this book. It's all emotionless facts about release dates and business deals, and then pathetic over-the-top temper tantrums. ...definitely a strange read.
It really made me sad, because all in all, I walk away feeling as though Jobs was a thoroughly unlikable human-being.
I'm typing this on my Macbook Pro, so of course I appreciate what he did...but a very large part of me wishes I never opened the cover for this book. Would a sliver of empathy ruin all of his brilliance? I just don't understand.
As for the book itself, much of it felt redundant, and pretty surface-focused. It would have been interesting to dig a little deeper, but at the same time, I'm not really sure what that would look like.
It's strange to say, but this book seems like such a waste. That being said, I don't know what could have "saved" it for me, but not only was the "main character" so thoroughly unlikable, but I don't feel as though anything can be learned from this book. It doesn't seem like something anyone would want to return to, in order to see how Steve Jobs accomplished what he did.
Then again, yesterday I read an incredible interview/biography of sorts with David Foster Wallace, and that was EASILY the most enjoyable reading experience I've had in recent memory, mostly because DFW was just so brilliant and endearing. So to try to follow that up was probably pretty difficult.
But if nothing else, the DFW book proves that being a genius doesn't automatically give you the right to be an asshole.
I still love my macbook and my ipod, but I think I'll always raise a suspicious eyebrow when people confess their undying love and admiration for Steve Jobs.
Sure, a lot of advances were made- but I was so sick of reading about Steve's temper...it's like that's the ONLY thing this book talks about. Or, that's the only *emotional* aspect of 95% of this book. It's all emotionless facts about release dates and business deals, and then pathetic over-the-top temper tantrums. ...definitely a strange read.
It really made me sad, because all in all, I walk away feeling as though Jobs was a thoroughly unlikable human-being.
I'm typing this on my Macbook Pro, so of course I appreciate what he did...but a very large part of me wishes I never opened the cover for this book. Would a sliver of empathy ruin all of his brilliance? I just don't understand.
As for the book itself, much of it felt redundant, and pretty surface-focused. It would have been interesting to dig a little deeper, but at the same time, I'm not really sure what that would look like.
It's strange to say, but this book seems like such a waste. That being said, I don't know what could have "saved" it for me, but not only was the "main character" so thoroughly unlikable, but I don't feel as though anything can be learned from this book. It doesn't seem like something anyone would want to return to, in order to see how Steve Jobs accomplished what he did.
Then again, yesterday I read an incredible interview/biography of sorts with David Foster Wallace, and that was EASILY the most enjoyable reading experience I've had in recent memory, mostly because DFW was just so brilliant and endearing. So to try to follow that up was probably pretty difficult.
But if nothing else, the DFW book proves that being a genius doesn't automatically give you the right to be an asshole.
I still love my macbook and my ipod, but I think I'll always raise a suspicious eyebrow when people confess their undying love and admiration for Steve Jobs.
If I wasn't being completely overtaken by the flu I'd write a more through review. I'll just say that Steve Jobs was a very complex and sometimes volatile human being whose desire for perfection set in motion a technological revolution that spanned across industries e.g. Music, publishing, etc. The snake charmer that he was (lol), even the people who fell under the full weight of his tirades admit that had they not been pushed to the limit they were, nothing close to what we have today would have been created. They say he made them believe in what they once thought impossible. This is not to say that all of his ideas were perfect. Like any human being, he made mistakes, and with respect to his family, mistakes he can no longer remedy. But in terms of Apple, perhaps his one true love, I think he achieved his greatest desire, to create a company that would make a mark years/generations after his death.
- Was actually a genius of design/style. He had a deep intuition about what was "right", about which he was passionate
- it was not necessary for his success to be as mean as he was
- also hated distractions/obligations outside of his work which led him being a bad husband and father basically to the end
- he (more than anyone i've heard of) makes things happen. he takes what he wants and doesn't wait to be handed anything
- his defining characteristic is passionate - he feels so strongly about what he does that he can make decisions based only on gut feelings
- it was not necessary for his success to be as mean as he was
- also hated distractions/obligations outside of his work which led him being a bad husband and father basically to the end
- he (more than anyone i've heard of) makes things happen. he takes what he wants and doesn't wait to be handed anything
- his defining characteristic is passionate - he feels so strongly about what he does that he can make decisions based only on gut feelings
Despite taking forever to finish this, I found it very interesting and enjoyable. I'd entered it in my mind as a six hundred page biography (which it is), and so it was hard to pick back up after putting it down bc it felt like work. But once I was able to get into it, it was really good. I love reading modern histories and picking up new information about names I recognize and stuff I already heard of. Did you know Steve Jobs was CEO of Pixar and is responsible for sealing the most epic deal in the history of film? Ultimately the biography reads more like a history of Apple than the story of Steve Jobs, but that's because Steve Jobs is the history of Apple. What I'm not sure about is whether the book was a better advertisement for or against the company. Their end to end integration makes for great products, but the amount of control they hold over user experience is a bit scary. I'll still probably get an iphone when I finally switch to smart though.
informative
inspiring
slow-paced
This is the most well-researched biography on Steve Jobs that one is likely to ever read. That it is also reasonably well written and sheds 600 pages of new - and mostly negative - light on its subject makes this a must read for anyone who wants to understand the driving force behind the iPhone, iPod, iPad, Pixar, etc., etc., etc.
The portrait of Jobs is not a particularly endearing one: a man of mythical self-confidence with enough empathy to understand what makes people tick, but not enough sympathy to care. He frequently belittled people at his company, screwed early employees of Apple of stock options when Apple first went public, used Wozniak to push out a computer program only to hide and pocket a bonus, and claimed credit for ideas of others. And this is to say nothing of when for a decade he refused paternity of a child he fathered at the age of 23.
He was also a brilliant visionary, with an eye for perfectionism and taste in products to make consumers crave them and a charisma to inspire a team to bring them to life. It would be easy to see him bringing down the financial world many times over if he were the head of Goldman Sachs, or much worse if he were the president of Zimbabwe. But the sense I got is someone who truly loved making artistic consumer devices, and his thinking on products is quite interesting. From making the inside of a computer as beautiful as the outside, to worrying about screws on an iPhone, it's amazing to read about that attention to detail, and is certainly inspiring for me to do great work myself.
As a biography, I think it's really good but it's not quite great. Walter Isaacson reminds me of the kid in school that works really really hard to produce good work, does so, but never quite "gets it" enough to do something great. I don't think the biographer understood Jobs, and it was hard for me to shake the feeling that I was given a projection of, but not the real, Steve Jobs. I may have to read a novel alluded to in the bio, "A Regular Guy", written by Jobs' sister Mona Simpson, who apparently bases the main character off of SJ.
The portrait of Jobs is not a particularly endearing one: a man of mythical self-confidence with enough empathy to understand what makes people tick, but not enough sympathy to care. He frequently belittled people at his company, screwed early employees of Apple of stock options when Apple first went public, used Wozniak to push out a computer program only to hide and pocket a bonus, and claimed credit for ideas of others. And this is to say nothing of when for a decade he refused paternity of a child he fathered at the age of 23.
He was also a brilliant visionary, with an eye for perfectionism and taste in products to make consumers crave them and a charisma to inspire a team to bring them to life. It would be easy to see him bringing down the financial world many times over if he were the head of Goldman Sachs, or much worse if he were the president of Zimbabwe. But the sense I got is someone who truly loved making artistic consumer devices, and his thinking on products is quite interesting. From making the inside of a computer as beautiful as the outside, to worrying about screws on an iPhone, it's amazing to read about that attention to detail, and is certainly inspiring for me to do great work myself.
As a biography, I think it's really good but it's not quite great. Walter Isaacson reminds me of the kid in school that works really really hard to produce good work, does so, but never quite "gets it" enough to do something great. I don't think the biographer understood Jobs, and it was hard for me to shake the feeling that I was given a projection of, but not the real, Steve Jobs. I may have to read a novel alluded to in the bio, "A Regular Guy", written by Jobs' sister Mona Simpson, who apparently bases the main character off of SJ.