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4.14 AVERAGE
4.14 AVERAGE
So much in love with this book. Walter issacson has narrated the life of Steve in such a succinct timeline. Steve is a person you would love to hate. With his perpetual affinity towards attaining perfection in whatever product he designs, it is no wonder Apple turned out to be one of the richest brand in the world. The way he thinks, the way he designs, the way he creates“reality distortion” with his stare during the convo, the way he resiliences, the way he embraced a hippy culture, are some of the best in him that kept me in awe throughout the book.
This was a great biography of a very strange and brilliant man. There are better books about some of the things in here (for a great look at the creation of the Mac, I recommend Stephen Levy's [b:Insanely Great: The Life and Times of Macintosh, the Computer That Changed Everything|56825|Insanely Great The Life and Times of Macintosh, the Computer That Changed Everything|Steven Levy|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1309284067s/56825.jpg|55364]) and there are better looks back at the live of the key players here. But this is easily the most complete picture of the life and times of Steve Jobs, and on those merits alone, it's worth reading.
Jobs was a complicated and frankly unpleasant person. He achieved greatness, and did indeed change the world, but he was utterly obsessed with the notion of his legacy. He desired above all else to build a company that would survive beyond him, and whether or not that is the case remains to be seen. What this book does show, however, is that it won't be easy for Apple to achieve anything without him. Even though others did the "real" work, most of the incredible feats in Apple's history can be tied to thoughts from Jobs' own head.
I did like that the book doesn't shy away from showing the dark side of Jobs. He was a lousy father, which is sad, because of all of his legacies, the one that should have mattered the most to him didn't.
But anyway, if you have any interest in the life of Jobs, I'd recommend this book. Any biography can be a little dry, but Jobs' life was filled with such dizzying highs that this one rarely gets dull.
Jobs was a complicated and frankly unpleasant person. He achieved greatness, and did indeed change the world, but he was utterly obsessed with the notion of his legacy. He desired above all else to build a company that would survive beyond him, and whether or not that is the case remains to be seen. What this book does show, however, is that it won't be easy for Apple to achieve anything without him. Even though others did the "real" work, most of the incredible feats in Apple's history can be tied to thoughts from Jobs' own head.
I did like that the book doesn't shy away from showing the dark side of Jobs. He was a lousy father, which is sad, because of all of his legacies, the one that should have mattered the most to him didn't.
But anyway, if you have any interest in the life of Jobs, I'd recommend this book. Any biography can be a little dry, but Jobs' life was filled with such dizzying highs that this one rarely gets dull.
challenging
informative
inspiring
reflective
sad
slow-paced
Phenomenal. The epilogue was wickedly beautiful. A genius writing about a genius.
A detailed and compelling read. As I began to get into this book, the one question I wanted to answer was whether Jobs' accomplishments outweighed the damage he did to the people around him. After reading this book, my personal opinion is that they do not. Sure, hundreds of millions of people love their iPhones but pretty much everyone who came into contact with Jobs were worse off for it (in some cases significantly so). In all, I finished feeling sad that someone so gifted was so fatally flawed.
One quote in summary:
“Andy Hertzfeld once told me, “The one question I’d truly love Steve to answer is, ‘Why are you sometimes so mean?’ ” Even his family members wondered whether he simply lacked the filter that restrains people from venting their wounding thoughts or willfully bypassed it. Jobs claimed it was the former. “This is who I am, and you can’t expect me to be someone I’m not,” he replied when I asked him the question. But I think he actually could have controlled himself, if he had wanted. When he hurt people, it was not because he was lacking in emotional awareness. Quite the contrary: He could size people up, understand their inner thoughts, and know how to relate to them, cajole them, or hurt them at will."
One quote in summary:
“Andy Hertzfeld once told me, “The one question I’d truly love Steve to answer is, ‘Why are you sometimes so mean?’ ” Even his family members wondered whether he simply lacked the filter that restrains people from venting their wounding thoughts or willfully bypassed it. Jobs claimed it was the former. “This is who I am, and you can’t expect me to be someone I’m not,” he replied when I asked him the question. But I think he actually could have controlled himself, if he had wanted. When he hurt people, it was not because he was lacking in emotional awareness. Quite the contrary: He could size people up, understand their inner thoughts, and know how to relate to them, cajole them, or hurt them at will."
Isaacson truly did a wonderful job with this unfiltered biography of Steve Jobs. It was a pleasure knowing more about the man behind Apple, not only his genius side but also his ugly-ruthless-jerk side.
I had to read this book for school, which severely limited my enjoyment of this book.
I read the translated version of this book. And there were shit loads of translation errors, which limited my enjoyment of this book even more.
I think this book was really well-written, but just not for me. I don't care about Jobs enough to care about anything that happens to him in this book. I never understood the appeal of biographies and I still don't.
Isaacson does a great job at describing Jobs and his life and the descriptions of people and places are incredibly detailed and, to be honest, a delight to read.
BUT (yes, there's a but)
Isaacson does not succeed to make Jobs seem likable. Jobs was constantly getting on my nerves in this book. I just couldn't completely understand him. I always analyse characters and try to figure out their personalities while I'm reading. But with Jobs, I just couldn't do it.
For me, this book was frustrating to read, mostly because I was on a time limit, but also because for the first time ever, I couldn't understand a person even though I tried really hard.
I read the translated version of this book. And there were shit loads of translation errors, which limited my enjoyment of this book even more.
I think this book was really well-written, but just not for me. I don't care about Jobs enough to care about anything that happens to him in this book. I never understood the appeal of biographies and I still don't.
Isaacson does a great job at describing Jobs and his life and the descriptions of people and places are incredibly detailed and, to be honest, a delight to read.
BUT (yes, there's a but)
Isaacson does not succeed to make Jobs seem likable. Jobs was constantly getting on my nerves in this book. I just couldn't completely understand him. I always analyse characters and try to figure out their personalities while I'm reading. But with Jobs, I just couldn't do it.
For me, this book was frustrating to read, mostly because I was on a time limit, but also because for the first time ever, I couldn't understand a person even though I tried really hard.
It didn't grasp the passion of Jobs, spends too much time on specific events not so noteworthy and misses many others.
3.5 stars.
Maybe it’s growing up in the Silicon Valley, maybe it’s all the Jobs biographies I’ve already read, but I feel like I’m missing what all the hype over this one is about. It almost seems to focus more on his legacy and his products/career trajectory than who he was — yes, I know that his work/life balance was heavily skewed and the two are inextricably intertwined — and while educational (for example, I hadn’t realized the extent of his role in Pixar or of his celebrity connections), it’s not really what I personally look for in a biography. (The ending is more like it: the parts about his battle with cancer, his family, even the epilogue were really good.)
So I can see why this book appeals to the masses; it’s thoroughly researched, full of colorful anecdotes and interesting dialogue, and generally pretty brutally honest. But it’s certainly not the best of its kind.
Maybe it’s growing up in the Silicon Valley, maybe it’s all the Jobs biographies I’ve already read, but I feel like I’m missing what all the hype over this one is about. It almost seems to focus more on his legacy and his products/career trajectory than who he was — yes, I know that his work/life balance was heavily skewed and the two are inextricably intertwined — and while educational (for example, I hadn’t realized the extent of his role in Pixar or of his celebrity connections), it’s not really what I personally look for in a biography. (The ending is more like it: the parts about his battle with cancer, his family, even the epilogue were really good.)
So I can see why this book appeals to the masses; it’s thoroughly researched, full of colorful anecdotes and interesting dialogue, and generally pretty brutally honest. But it’s certainly not the best of its kind.