Book delves into Apple founder’s idiosyncrasies
By Kathryn Reed
Anyone who knew Steve Jobs is likely to say he was a difficult man with a tremendous vision who barely knew the word no.
It takes that kind of individual to bring the type of products to the market that Apple is responsible for. As he liked to say, he didn’t believe in market studies because people don’t now what they want or need. His goal was to create things people hadn’t thought of. He did that with computers, phones and tablets. He revolutionized the music industry with the iPod.
“Steve Jobs” by Walter Isaacson is an honest look at one of technology’s leaders. It came out in 2011, the same year Jobs died.
While Jobs is credited with much of Apple’s success – and at times its failures – the people who did the heavy lifting are also credited in the 630-page hardback.
But the book is about Jobs, not just Apple Computers.
Isaacson started it years before Jobs died. He had access to Jobs, his inner circle, his competitors and his family. Jobs and his wife were adamant that a truthful portrayal of this tech tycoon be written.
We’ll never know what Jobs would have thought of it. He probably would have found flaws. He was good at that – as is pointed out multiple times in the book.
Some books I just don’t want to end. With this one it partly had to do with knowing there won’t be a sequel – knowing the book would end with Jobs’ death from cancer.
While much has been written about Jobs, this is a comprehensive look at the man who in many ways is still the face of Apple. Even people who aren’t Apple advocates are likely to find this book intriguing because it’s a great biography about one of this generation’s iconic figures.
I agree that this was a most interesting book. Some notes from my booklog:
Comments: I’m glad I persevered in reading this lengthy biography. I found it very interesting on several levels. Steve Jobs was certainly one of the most important people of his time. I also remember the time. We didn’t live in the Bay Area, but living in Sacramento and getting a personal computer early (in the 70s), we well remember some of the steps which led to them becoming ubiquitous.
Quotation: “Jobs went on to urge that a way be found to train more American engineers. Apple had 700,000 factory workers employed in China, he said, and that was because it needed 30,000 engineers on-site to support those workers. ‘You can’t find that many in America to hire,’ he said. These factory engineers did not have to be PhDs or geniuses; they simply needed to have basic engineering skills for manufacturing. Tech schools, community colleges, or trade schools could train them. ‘If you could educate these engineers,’ he said, ‘we could move more manufacturing plants here.’ ” p. 546, describing a February 2011 dinner with President Obama and a number of tech CEOs.
Thanks Kay I enjoyed those insights.
Worth noting,
Steve Jobs wasn’t a programmer, designer or engineer. But he had that great ‘vision’ for what could take off!
Thus at his most successful stints, the founding of Apple, Pixar and his return to Apple, Jobs saw the genius and value of what others had developed or designed (for instance Xerox’s invention of the mouse). And then thru his force of personality, saw that the inventions or designs got developed and marketed to the public.
Yes, Steve Jobs apparently had a ‘prickly personality’ to say the least. But he got things done and to state the obvious, definitely had a significant impact on our society!
And his what, ’03 or ’04? Stanford Graduation Speech, ranks in the top 10, or at the very least, top 20 all time motivational ones!