I typically avoid reading biographies and prefer to read personal memoirs/autobiographies, since based on prior experience most biographies tend to be either too sensational (and I want to read the truth not fiction) or pedantic, like a text book filled with dry facts. Walter Isaacson's biography on the iconic Steve Jobs was refreshingly neither. Based on interviews with Steve Jobs and important players in his life, the book skillfully recounts Jobs' life and career. Inserted quotes,which vividly illustrate events and candidly captures both Jobs' and other's opinions or perspectives, throughout the text allows the book to read like a novel and provides credibility.
Jobs will be remembered as a visionary and genius in his creation of products that changed the way we view and manipulate our world. Isaacson's biography provides an insight into the origins and development of such revolutionary products as the Pixar animation technology, iPod, iPhone and iPad alongwith its noteworthy predecessors including Apple I & II, Apple Macintosh and iMac.
Of course, Jobs did not singlehandedly create these products. Guided by visionary and innovative strategic philosophies, his team of bright engineers and business leaders propelled these products. Jobs was ademant in creating a product-driven rather than a profit-driven (although ultimately high quality products yield long-term profits) company. At its core was his drive towards product innovation "Give customers what they want...our job is to figure out what they're going to want before they do." Guided by his design philosphopy "Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication", he went to great lengths to avoid unnecessary parts, promote user friendlenes while maintaining style and functionality. To employees chagrin, this sometimes meant very last minute changes to the product because he didn't like the product's shape, color or feel.
Job strove for perfection and placed high, sometimes unreasonable, demands upon his employees. He spoke his mind, believing it was his "job to be honest. I know what I'm talking about and usuallly I'm right.". However, he was known to distort reality, verbally abuse employees and collegues, engage in tantrums and irratically change his mind (i.e., one day he would outright reject and critisize someone's idea, while the next day he would embrace and often claim the same idea as his own.) However, ultimately he viewed his behavior as a means to an end "As every day passes, the work fifty people are doing here is going to send a giant ripple through the universe. I know I might be a little hard to get along with, but this is the most fun thing I have done in my life." When he asked his former human resources director, Ann Bowers, to describe his behavior during Apple's early days she aptly responded "You were very impetuous and very difficult. But your vision was compelling. You told us, "The journey is the reward." That turned out to be true."
Jobs' competitors may not have as readily accepted his volatile temperament, including his most public "rival" Microsoft's founder and CEO, Bill Gates. Apple and Microsoft always maintained completely different technological and business models. Apple had a closed system; while Microsoft had an open system.Both Jobs and Gates asserted their company's model was far superior to the other and they were known to publicly scoff at each other's ideologies and products. In fact, the intense rivalry is what ultimately sparked the birth of the iPad. Job learned from a boastful member of Microsoft's design team that Microsoft had plans to create a tablet operated by a stylus. This fueled the birth of the IPad, as Jobs became determined to beat his competition with a far superior product that did not require a stylus, which Jobs deemed as an unnecessary and ineffective tool. This product would be a multi-touch device with an onscreen keyboard, thus eliminating the need for a mouse or stylus. It was touching that they finally put their rivalry assise and reached a common ground during Gates visit to Jobs in his final days. At this meeting, they discussed their shared committment to their families and their shared vision for increased integration of computers and eduction. Even more surprising, they finally acknowledged each others' business model strengths with Gates admitting "I used to believe that the open model would prevail. But you prove that the integrated vertical model could also be great." and Jobs responding "Your model worked too."
Isaacson brought to light key events and episodes in Jobs' life such as his high school and college days, drug use and quest for spirtualism in India. He also shared his relationships with close friends (including his Steve Wozniak, college friends, signficiant romantic relationships) and family (his illegitimate daughter,his biological and adopted parents, his biological sister). While many readers may have been disappointed that Isaacson did not delve deeply into Jobs' personal relationships like most "tell-all" biographies, Isaascon mantained a dignified balance between revealing the truth and preserving respective for Jobs' family.
Ultmimately, Isaacson portrayed a candid, insightful look into one of this century's geniuses. Readers will not only acquire knowledge of his often egocentric ideocyncracies and volitile relationships, but more importantly his brilliant vision and unrelenting drive for excellence.
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