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Steve Jobs
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Steve Jobs
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Steve Jobs
Audiobook25 hours

Steve Jobs

Written by Walter Isaacson

Narrated by Walter Isaacson and Dylan Baker

Rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars

4.5/5

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Currently unavailable

Currently unavailable

About this audiobook

Featuring a new epilogue read by the author.

From the author of the best-selling biographies of Benjamin Franklin and Albert Einstein, this is the exclusive biography of Steve Jobs.

Based on more than 40 interviews with Jobs conducted over two years—as well as interviews with more than a hundred family members, friends, adversaries, competitors, and colleagues—Walter Isaacson has written a riveting story of the roller-coaster life and searingly intense personality of a creative entrepreneur whose passion for perfection and ferocious drive revolutionized six industries: personal computers, animated movies, music, phones, tablet computing, and digital publishing.

At a time when America is seeking ways to sustain its innovative edge, and when societies around the world are trying to build digital-age economies, Jobs stands as the ultimate icon of inventiveness and applied imagination. He knew that the best way to create value in the 21st century was to connect creativity with technology. He built a company where leaps of the imagination were combined with remarkable feats of engineering.

Although Jobs cooperated with this book, he asked for no control over what was written. He put nothing off-limits. He encouraged the people he knew to speak honestly. And Jobs speaks candidly, sometimes brutally so, about the people he worked with and competed against. His friends, foes, and colleagues provide an unvarnished view of the passions, perfectionism, obsessions, artistry, devilry, and compulsion for control that shaped his approach to business and the innovative products that resulted.

Driven by demons, Jobs could drive those around him to fury and despair. But his personality and products were interrelated, just as Apple's hardware and software tended to be, as if part of an integrated system. His tale is instructive and cautionary, filled with lessons about innovation, character, leadership, and values.

LanguageEnglish
Release dateOct 24, 2011
ISBN9781442346284
Author

Walter Isaacson

Walter Isaacson is the bestselling author of biographies of Jennifer Doudna, Leonardo da Vinci, Steve Jobs, Benjamin Franklin, and Albert Einstein. He is a professor of history at Tulane and was CEO of the Aspen Institute, chair of CNN, and editor of Time. He was awarded the National Humanities Medal in 2023. Visit him at Isaacson.Tulane.edu.

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Reviews for Steve Jobs

Rating: 4.7081395348837205 out of 5 stars
4.5/5

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  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    Interesting biography. I found much to admire about the man and a few things I wouldn't emulate.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    good read. great story. may lack technical details, but we already knew those. I wanted and got the story of the man who changed the technology world.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    I am by no means much of a fan of Apple or Apple-products. However, this was a really interesting read. There are some parts, or rather a specific chunk, of this book I found to be really boring, but it was more than worth going through for the sake of the rest. No matter what one may think of him, Steve Jobs was an extremely influential person in the consumer electronics-market. As well as giving what seems like a very honest description of the kind of person Steve Jobs was, this book also gives a fascinating insight in how Apple operates, why it does what it does, and how this has made the company so successful.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    With his biography of Steve Jobs, Isaacson manages something that is not easy - he creates a balanced account of a man who was anything but balanced. Portraying the life of a troubled genius with serious social issues runs the risk of becoming either a skewering or the work of a fanboy. Instead, Isaacson avoids both most of the time and shows us the amazing life of an amazing figure who created not one, but two of the most iconic companies of this century - Apple and Pixar. Much like his subject, Isaacson's Steve Jobs isn't perfect. The book gets off to a slow start and he repeats himself often, rehashing accounts that he had already hit on. He also changed us from a chronological structure to a topical one about halfway through, which was a bit confusing. However, as a whole this is a very well written biography that benefits from a close relationship between the author and the subject that with the passing of Steve Jobs won't be repeatable. When it comes to his life, this will be the definitive guide.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    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 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.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    Wow! Isaacson captures the essence of this most complicated, gifted, forward looking genius. For me, Steve Jobs was to modern technology what Mozart and Beethoven were to music, what Einstein was to physics, what Michelangelo was to art... a fantastic read!
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    I really enjoyed this book.

    I know that most will say that it only details the victims of Jobs' depraved nature. If you stick with it, and if you have the capacity for such an uncommon activity as introspection, there is much to be learned here. Not only do we observe how a man of singular genius sets out to make things he bears an ineradicable passion for, we see a sample of something everyone on this earth wants desperately to possess, whether or not they wish to admit it to themselves or not. What they want, what I want (and you for that matter) is greatness. To have our brains and bodies function in such a way that we produce things we can be proud of. An undying love for something (anything) that we desire to reside in our existence to the degree that whatever we decide we love, we love it so much that it, in the processes that are not exclusive to Steve Jobs, becomes great in our eyes. That our passion manifest itself in some tangible way that we can observe it and benefit from its existence which was begotten the depths of our mind where lay the seeds of our passion.

    Yes, I learned much about Steve Jobs by reading this, but I think that I may have learned more about myself.

    Maybe this is not a great review, but it's how I felt about it.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    As Steve Jobs' biography has been extensively reviewed by other people, I am going to try to limit my own review to insights that I believe were largely absent in the discussions about Isaacson's work and Steve Jobs' life.

    First, I have to recognize the research that went into this biography. At the same time, the material was limited. Isaacson dug deep, including hundreds of interviews with Jobs and the people close to him, yet only a relatively small amount made it into the book. As I read the book, and particularly toward the end, I kept wondering how much ended up on the cutting room floor. Probably enough to create another bio of Jobs, plus assorted studies of specific products or the people around him. I would be very interested to see a book about the relationship between Jobs and Ive, as well as Jobs and Lasseter (the creative genius at Pixar)

    Speaking of Pixar, I was very excited to see that Isaacson explored the history of Jobs at Pixar, and how he helped grow the company. The section about Jobs and Eisner, and the Disney acquisition, were fascinating. As a technology journalist from the late 1990s until 2010, I really felt that the Jobs/Pixar story was neglected by the media in favor of Jobs/Apple, but Isaacson really helped shed some light into the Pixar connection.

    The coverage of certain Apple products was uneven. For instance, the author dove into the iTunes/iPod/music industry story, but barely scratched the surface of the App Store and its impact. There were also a number of Apple hardware products that were notable but were barely mentioned. I'm not just talking about obscure iMac upgrades, Xserve, or various product flops, either. For instance, the MacBook Air marked a milestone in laptop design, but I don't recall seeing it mentioned.

    However, the small number of negative issues should not detract from Isaacson's accomplishment. He had to write about an incredibly difficult topic, and the result is a portrait of a flawed, yet brilliant man.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    With this book you'll be astonished as how impressive and smart on business Steve could be. It's worth it.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    I don't read a lot of biographies, because frankly, very few people interest me enough to want to read about their lives. Because of this I can't really comment on the quality of this work as it compares to other, great biographies, except to say that I found the author to be fair; it was obvious to me that he strived to write an honest portrayal of a man who was by no means perfect, but managed to change the world for the better. I have always admired Steve Jobs passion for quality over profits and I am glad I read this book.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    An excellent biography of one of the greatest and most influential geniuses of our time, but at the same time a flawed individual who knew he was just that. The book reads like a thriller, and for me who have been a follower of Apple since the first Macintosh to today's iPad. I have learnt more from this biography than from the total collection of business books I have read the last couple of years, how to focus on product before profit, how to focus, how to empathise with your customers - and not the least to impute value in your products. Walter Isaacson has written a biography with a lot of respect, while at the same time avoiding adolation. The result is a naked portrait of a whole individual, one who has influenced my generation more than most.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    This was a great biography that highlighted both the upside and downside of Steve Jobs. Jobs was a middle class boy from California and a college drop out who went on the found Apple, one of the most successful companies ever. He was not an easy person and demanded perfection from his employees. He was mostly all about work and creating products that people didn't realize that they wanted - the iPod, iPhone, iPad to name the biggies.
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    For the past three months I have had this book playing in 10 minute increments in the Jetta when I commute the 4 miles to campus. I like Walter Issacson and his other biographies, but this one seemed a bit forced. Maybe it was the fact that I was listening to it and I wasn't a big fan of the voice which seemed to miss some of the nuanced phrases. Still, it was an informative read if not a bit sad.More likely though, my discomfort with the book had more to do with the fact that it's about Steve Jobs. For all his accomplishments, Steve was kind of a jerk to almost everyone in his life. He was a jerk, but a jerk who got really good results. The book focuses on this dichotomy and Isaccson doesn't really pull a lot of punches when it comes to painting a picture for the reader. Even though Jobs commissioned Isaccson to write this biography (a typical egoist move on Jobs part), Jobs never really saw the finished product nor did Jobs ask Isaacson to edit out the nasty parts. In effect, what we get is a list of Jobs' leadership accomplishments, which are many, but also a list of the hurt people around him. Issacson interviews everyone, multiple times. The family, the enemies, the frenemies, and they are mostly all frenemies. It's a bit of a Faustian tale really. What if I told you that you could create a company which created incredible gizmos and networking structures which would completely reshape the world? The only catch is that you will most likely be a dick to everyone. History has many examples of this paradox for us to reflect on. Jobs' "reality distortion field" is not a new thing. But was his social inadequacies necessary to push the boundaries of what was possible? I don't want to say yes, but I think most people would be happy for someone else to take that bargain. I am grateful for Jobs' work but it is still sad to hear about some of the side effects of his peculiar way of dealing with people. It's also tragic that the "reality distortion field" that enabled Jobs to will his vision into existence also betrayed him in the end. When Jobs was diagnosed with cancer, he ignored it for months and months trying to will it away with Zen Buddhism and bizarro pseudoscience. He couldn't follow his doctor's advice when it came to dieting and ultimately he wasted away. I hate to speak ill of the dead but I couldn't help but shake my head in disbelieve when I listened to this part of the book. The man was so brilliant but also believed in the most bizarre hogwash. Carrot diets? I sort of understand where he was coming from, I was vegan for eight years, but when Jobs refused to add protein to his diet after his pancreas was removed I was so angry at him. He has a family depending on him, his company, his shareholders. We want those gizmos so bad. There were several times when I was driving down Northern Lights yelling at the car "Damn it Jobs, just eat the fricking meat! You're killing yourself!" But I knew it was over for him. Regardless, now we have imacs, apple laptops, ipods, iphones, ipads, icloud, itunes, Pixar, and probably a bunch of other things that are going to come out in the future. Jobs didn't really invent all these things but he was at the helm. I think the world is mostly better off with these devices and technologies. My iphone is extremely useful. I love Pixar movies. My macbook is very handy. Sadly though, reading this book and learning about what it took for Jobs to push it all through is a bit like watching the sausage getting made.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    Over the years I have read many books about Steve Jobs and about Apple Computers. Some are good, and some are great. This book goes over much information that has been previously published and despite Isaacson's proclaiming often that he was not going to do a puff piece on Jobs, an Iconic figure of our times, he has not given us all that we should see of Jobs.Several places when Jobs inhumanity to his employees has been noted and thoroughly documented, Isaacson found the time to spin it. "Jobs is the way he is" says Isaacson and allows Jobs to explain away his harsh treatment to others so. That he sometimes apologizes years later to those who he attacked, is to make up for it. That does not. However. Perhaps Jobs needed to divorce himself from Eastern Religion, which aided in allowing him to die instead of allowing him to embrace western medicine that might have saved him from death. Yet even what he embraced in Eastern Religion should have taught him to seek enlightenment through treating people better.Aside from that, belittling how badly he did treat others, we see and learn a lot about the man, and get some validation of the spin cycle he purported. At other times we don't seem to have as much authentication as Jobs said there was.He was flawed and now that he is gone we have many who say his spirit changed the course of many things. It is probably true and worth a read so you can judge for yourself. Yet if the world was full of men who acted as Jobs, it would be a lessor place.There can not be a world full of people pushing hard to make great products in the sphere of Technology with no regard for those who actually have the science and understanding to build the products. There can not be a world full of those who think they are doing great things and step on those who are also doing great things but get in their way.We have some great advances to thank Jobs for, and he made sacrifices at times so that we got them. He also had a terrific life getting us those items that change all of our daily lives. What makes the read then so fascinating learning of his life is the dichotomy that he presents us with. And that we can benefit from the early end he went to as the price he paid for us to have the lives that most of us who never worked with the man have.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    Highly detailed account of a perfectionist fanatic who drove innovation in technology and design creating great wealth and hundreds of thousands of jobs for people in and connected with Apple.

    I have never been fond of their products and this book hasn't changed my mind. I prefer functionality over design and while Apple products have both you pay a premium price for the design that adds little value, at least to me.

    Still the book is a good read if you enjoy stories of how people can come together and create something innovative almost from scratch and succeed beyond their wildest dreams.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    This is a wonderfully written book on a very complex individual, Steve Jobs, the co-founder of Apple and of Pixar. Apparently, he's one of the greatest geniuses in history, revolutionizing entire industries and changing billions of lives. Among his revolutions include the personal computer (Macs), graphic design, the music industry and how we get our music (iTunes and iPods), cell phones, and tablets, as well as computer animated films. I mean, he was an amazing genius, a once in a century person. However, at the same time, he was the most narcissistic, entitled, ASSHOLE in the history of the universe, with a monster temper, no filters for other people, and the greatest DICKWEED on the planet. I couldn't believe what I read about him. He screwed countless people over, including Steve Wozniak, his partner at Apple and one of the nicest people around, his CEOs, his board members, tons of his employees, his enemies -- everyone. He viewed himself as a counterculture revolutionary, yet become a monstrously rich multi-billionaire with his own jet plane and mansions. He got pulled over for doing 100 one day on the highway. The cop told him if he got pulled over again, he'd go to jail. As soon as the cop left, he resumed doing 100. He never had a license plate on his cars. He thought he was above that and that standard rules didn't apply to him. Instead of parking in the CEO spot at Apple, he parked in not one, but two (straddling) disabled parking spaces, just to be a jerk. When he was getting his liver transplant at a hospital in Memphis, he ordered something like 18 smoothies for him to taste test before finding one that was decent and sending the rest back. He'd order fresh juice at a restaurant and send it back relentlessly because it wasn't fresh enough. He screwed some of his original Apple employees over (and best friends) by giving some stock options and others none. He'd go to restaurants when they were closed and demand they open and serve him and then he'd order something that wasn't even on the menu. He was a bulimic, lifelong vegan who made everyone cater to his tastes. He drank carrot juice for months and ate nothing but carrots and turned orange. He initially thought his fruit diet was good enough to ward off body odors and didn't use deodorant or anything like it and stunk like crazy until Apple went public and the board forced him to start showering once a week. He thought in terms of black and white. Everything was either a winner or total shit. Most everything was total shit and he would tell you that to your face. No filter. He was envious of Woz and was responsible for him leaving the company. He fought with people all the time. He was given up for adoption as a baby and always felt abandoned, but when he and his girlfriend had a baby girl, he turned his back on them completely until the state of California forced him to take a paternity test which proved he was the father and then forced him to start paying alimony. He was an obsessive design freak who believed in completely closed and integrated systems, which made for great products, but hurt his market share and his company's bottom line. He had to have the best of everything. He never did anything people told him, not even as a child. His educators gave up trying to force him to do his schoolwork and let him do whatever he wanted. He went ballistic when Bill Gates ripped Apple off with Windows and then with everything else (like the Zune -- remember that?), yet he himself ripped off the geniuses at Xerox PARC, getting from them three things -- the graphical user interface (GUI) look of the operating system, the mouse, and networking, which he put into the Mac, transforming personal computers forever. I could go on and on, but I don't have to. Isaacson already did. Just read his book. Jobs was a fascinating person and he created amazing things, but at what cost? Burned, tortured lives, careers thrown away, people discarded, no rules observed. I felt sad upon reading of his early passing, but if there is a hell, he's definitely in it now. And I don't feel too badly about that. I, for one, won't say "RIP" to Steve Jobs. I'm glad to have and use and enjoy his creations, but I'm also glad he's no longer on earth. Highly recommended book.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    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 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! :)
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    A fascinating biography of a fascinating man. Acknowledging that Jobs was a genius, Isaacson--describing the cruelty and insensitivity that Jobs so often displayed--says the "technical term" for this is "asshole." Although he denied it, Jobs was a control freak, and again and again his personal vision was proven to be magical and incredibly popular. He made a fortune on products but was not as rich as other Silicon Valley CEO's; money, per se was not his goal. What was vital to him was creating products (Isaacson repeatedly uses the word "elegant") that enabled customers to do what they had never done before. In addition, it was critical to Jobs that Apple become an enduringly organization that did not rely upon him to thrive and postioned itself at the nexus of technology and the humanities. The company went from its invention by Wozniak and Jobs in the latter's garage to being the most valuable company on the planet. Jobs, in many ways, embodied the counterculture: he valued his LSD experiences; he was a devotee of Zen for his entire life; he was a vegan. Yet, he also skewed toward policies which multinationals adopted to avoid taxes and he railed at any government regulation. He loved Dylan as he dodged the SEC. One of my favorite Dylan lines is "To live outside the law you must be honest," but Jobs refined this by having what someone quoted in the book describes as narcissistic personality disorder. It was Jobs' version or nothing, and he was almost sadistic in imposing his will. He also had an ability to deny what he did not want to contemplate; this incuded his children and his cancer diagnosis. Isaacson has interviewed dozens of individuals, from old friends to tech CEOs, and has crafted a wonderfully dimensional and satisfying conversation in which the reader is introduced to a legend. The book is honest and at time critical of Jobs--and that too is a definite plus for readers.
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    This is how I see Steve Jobs:

    He was such a lucky bastard. Truly a bastard and truly lucky. A man one hates to love. I can, however, respect that with his amassed wealth, he rose to the challenge and responsibility.

    And the book? Interesting.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    Fascinating and well-written biography. It does a pretty good job of giving a balanced view of this complex man, although in spite of extensive discussion of Jobs' notorious cutting temper, it's clear that Isaacson really liked and admired Jobs. That's only fair, though; I think it's hard not to admire this amazing man who changed our world not once, but over and over. I cried a lot towards the end of the book.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    Now I know - like I didn't know already - that Steve would hate me because I have an iPod AND an Android phone. A charming portrait of a not-always-benevolent dictator. And, yes, genius. Kudos to Isaacson for getting Jobs to trust him enough to write the biography Steve probably wouldn't have wanted him to write.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    this book is brilliant. Apple.Inc is truly an extension of Steve himself. People say Steve is only a guy that takes all credits from Apple, but what actually happen is Steve is apple, he is the soul and chrisma of apple.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    Excellent, but didn't really focuses on key life events for a biography - brief mention of this mother dying, no mention of his father dying (assuming his dad is indeed dead).
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    Not a nice man. But his obsessions have given us fun and beautiful things. A true one of a kind transformer. I bought the first 512K Mac and have been using and mostly loving apple products ever since. Have watched the past few years from the perspective of working for Adobe. My feelings about Apple business practices have dimmed my fan enthusiasms. Thorough, well written book. Enjoyed knowing more about the story I've been watching from a distance.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    Well-written and easy to read. Jobs was a piece of work loaded with hypocrisy, meanness, and serious delusion. But he did produce "pure" works of art. This book does a fairly good job of balancing this all out. One short blurb I thoroughly disagree with....An illiterate six year old boy from Colombia was given an iPad and he 'intuitively' turned it on, did apps, and performed a variety of functions on the machine (page 497-498). All with no help. I'm calling bullshit on that one. How would he have even known it was a 'computer' which would have made no sense to him, and not a fancy skipping stone? Apple consumers are just a bit over the top, ya think?
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    Fascinating bio of a genius driven to the apex of the juncture of technology and culture. At times an enlightened being, at others a complete jerk (insensitive, zero loyalty, cruel), his goal was to build a great company - not make money. A sensitive and well-balanced portrayal, we see the flaws, but still admire the man and what he did with his life.
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    Long but shallow, a collection of anecdotes rather than a compelling narrative. I wonder if this would've been better if it had come out this March, like it was originally scheduled, rather than being rushed out to capitalize on Jobs's death. (I have no objection to that, other than the book suffering.) There are occasional authorial asides that struck me as a little too precious.

    But it's interesting, because Jobs was interesting. It would've been more interesting with some more focus.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    Well written The author didn't hold back on describing the bad behavior and jerk personality to provide a complete look at the public and private person. This is the most well written biography that I have ever read!

    Interesting walk through the years of the computer industry evolution through the lens of Steve Jobs and Apple (and NeXT, etc.).
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    Steve Jobs was a remarkable person, truly the corporate leader of the century - but maybe also the hardest person to work with in the whole industry. The book pulls no punches to criticize his person and uses superlatives lavishly while describing his work, which is as should be. Personal computing has transformed our lives in a fundamental way, and no-one else has had a stronger influence to that revolution as Steve. Thus the book is also more than the story of his life: it's a story of the Silicon Valley, told from a very good vantage point. It has sound insights into running a small or large company, how to market technology products and how to make a dent in the universe while doing so.There are a few faults in the pacing, that might have been improved by editing, and the book might have provided more insight into Apple if it had waited until the last products Steve worked on would be on store shelves. But while it might be a bit rushed, it's still based on thorough research, and is a must read for anyone planning to do business related to technology. Recommended.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    You sort of have to get through the introductory hippy-dippy parts (first 4-5 chapters) before you get into the good stuff. Sure, Jobs was a free thinking, drug taking, world traveling, non-bathing, weird dieting person back then (which I guess sort of explains his idiosyncrasies later in life) but personally I would have summed that up in one good chapter and moved on. Once you get into his Apple days, the story really takes off. His life reads like fiction, like you couldn't possibly believe this character didn't get invented in the mind of some strange and twisted writer, but it's all true. The first tenure at Apple is interesting enough. Once he's ousted, the story slows for several chapters while you read about his next projects (pardon the pun) and more of his personal life. Then the pace really picks back up when he's brought back into Apple. I've been an Apple fan since my parents got me an Apple 2 back in the early 80's, so I was already familiar with a lot of the products Jobs ultimately worked to develop. Reading this book added a nice back-story to all of the toys I've loved over the years. Reading about his struggles with cancer was a bit depressing, but I knew going into this biography that the Titanic sinks at the end. I think the thrill (for me) is seeing how his legacy extends. He's been gone 6 months now, and I'm still amazed at how his influence set the pace and tone there at Apple to product great devices.Personal takeaway from this book: I now have more walking meetings. Whenever possible I get out of the office and have meetings walking around this little pond at the back of our building.