Name: Vojtech's review of Steve Jobs by Walter Isaacson
Item: Steve Jobs
Rating: 5
Author: Vojtech

Walter Isaacson

Steve Jobs

Draws on more than forty interviews with Steve Jobs, as well as interviews with family members, friends, competitors, and colleagues to offer a look at the co-founder and leading creative force behind the Apple computer company.

Sebastian 

For his part, Jobs was upset that the Germans kept trying to feed him meat and potatoes. "They don't even have a word for vegetarian," he complained (incorrectly) in a phone call to Alcorn.

Vojtech

Coleman McCormick

A fairly good work by biography standards, but seems subpar in many ways for someone as exceptional and influential in the current technology market as Steve Jobs. I enjoyed the recounting of his earlier life (pre-NeXT and return to Apple), as I knew almost nothing about that part of Apple's history. And the portion of the book toward the end detailing the development of the iPod, iPhone, and iPad was interesting, if only because the backstory of much of that consists of secrets still held close to the vest.

I'd have liked to hear more about his time and experiences with Pixar, and to have heard less of the human interest story of his personal life, illness, and family - would've exchanged that for more stories of his relationships in the technology business world.

Overall, a decent read. Definitely recommended to those who know little about Jobs or Apple. His life and work were fascinating, and I'm glad a great writer like Isaacson was the one to tell the tale.

Arjo Gupto

The best biography I've ever ready. Walter Issacson is probably the most author intelligent non fiction author of 20th and 21st century.

la biografía

Daniel Carril

Con la debida cautela con la que se deben afrontar las biografías lo cierto es que son setecientas y pico páginas sobriamente escritas que invitan a leer y leer. Desde luego, si se quiere conocer al personaje: cómo concibe la tecnología, el arte, la política, la religión, las relaciones personales... en definitiva, sus pasiones y demonios, este es un gran libro.

Steve Jobs was a fascinating man, not one who was a great father or even a great partner, but a man that had ideas that he "willed" into reality through his "reality distortion field," essentially a quality of his which had strong beliefs that his ideas could be made into reality. This was partly true, as he got a lot of products made to his specifications just by saying they had to be made the way he wanted. It wasn't as good in other areas since he couldn't just will his cancer away, no matter how much he tried.

He's a man that made giant strides in the tech community and raised the bar of quality inside and out. He is also a man I don't think I could have worked together with in harmony. As I said in the beginning, a fascinating man, and if you'd like to know more about him, this is a great book to start with. It shows not just his good side but also his true side, which I appreciate in good writing. Write about the whole person, not just his accomplishments.

Frank Enns

Steve Jobs was a fascinating man, not one who was a great father or even a great partner, but a man that had ideas that he "willed" into reality through his "reality distortion field," essentially a quality of his which had strong beliefs that his ideas could be made into reality. This was partly true, as he got a lot of products made to his specifications just by saying they had to be made the way he wanted. It wasn't as good in other areas since he couldn't just will his cancer away, no matter how much he tried.

He's a man that made giant strides in the tech community and raised the bar of quality inside and out. He is also a man I don't think I could have worked together with in harmony. As I said in the beginning, a fascinating man, and if you'd like to know more about him, this is a great book to start with. It shows not just his good side but also his true side, which I appreciate in good writing. Write about the whole person, not just his accomplishments.

Gavin

Spot the odd one out: Franklin, Einstein, da Vinci, Kissinger, Jobs. (Trick question! there's two odds out: the first three had huge positive effects on science and society; while Jobs' and Kissinger's impact on the world is respectively "eh?" and "catastrophic".)

I don't really understand what people see in Jobs, "the most beloved billionaire". He was a turd to just about everyone he met from the age of about 12. 

  in the middle of seventh grade he gave his parents an ultimatum. 'I insisted they put me in a different school'. Financially this was a tough demand; his parent were barely making ends meet, but by this point there was little doubt that they would eventually bend to his will. 'When they resisted, I told them I would just quit going to school if I had to go back...'

Some of those people happened to be brilliant, and responded fairly well to being treated like dirt. How much credit does this omnidickery deserve? (I've been told I'm missing the value of management skills, gumption, motivational speaking. OK, then be clear it was this and not innovation, not engineering, not design. Kottke: "Between Woz and Jobs, Woz was the innovator, the inventor. Steve Jobs was the marketing person.". Also the thief.) 

In the absence of Jobs, it's hard to see it taking much longer than a couple of years for someone to introduce nice personal computers, computer fonts, portable MP3, heartfelt CGI, or omnisurveillance bricks. And maybe those others wouldn't charge through the nose. Catch the ring of pure mania here:

  'If I had never dropped in on that single [calligraphy] course in college, the Mac would have never had multiple typefaces or proportionally spaced fonts. And since Windows just copied the Mac, it's likely that no personal computer would have them. 


I suppose the evidence in favour of him being talented (and not just being lucky and dominating some talented people) is the string of successes (Apple, NeXT, Pixar, Apple). Not a huge sample size, but big in context.

I now have lots of questions, none of which Isaacson raises or settles. (In this regard it's much shallower than either his Einstein or Kissinger books.):

* Could we have gotten the expensive gizmos without all the abuse?

* What was the net effect of his life? 
Millions of pretty objects 
minus abandoning a child 
minus hundreds of petty sneers and little brutalities
minus 30 suicides ... 
I don't see how to do this. People like Design, sure, but how much?

* His personal philosophy seems straightforwardly terrible, all the worst of kneejerk Sixties exoticism. Intuition over reason ("more powerful than intellect"), AND will over sympathy, AND nature over science, AND post-truth ("[Jobs'] reality distortion field was a confounding melange of charismatic rhetoric, indomitable will, and eagerness to bend any fact to fit the purpose at hand.") What's the point of being a 'spiritual being' if you're still a dick afterward?

* Macs are highly underpowered for their price. In theory, this represents a grave loss of consumer surplus; that is, it loses the point of an economy. But I can't just say that, because people queue up for this stuff. Either they're all exquisite aesthetes who gain surplus by looking at their device during those long extra minutes it takes to finish processing, or the social cachet compensates. I don't have a clear idea of how to judge surplus when computers are not about computing.

* Your view of Gates vs Jobs is very telling. One is uncool and compromising, but has saved many millions of lives; the other is cool and uncompromising, but, after reading Isaacson, it would not surprise me to hear that none of Jobs' $3.3bn went on philanthropy (it might have been anonymous).

* Do we need reality distorters? Must we be led into greatness by visionary liars and rogues? (Musk has a bit of this too.)

  "If you act like you can do something, then it will work. I told him 'Pretend to be completely in control and people will assume that you are."
 Sure is no way that attitude could ever do any harm. I suppose I should just be grateful he stayed out of politics.

Wasn't sure what to rate the book, since it is mostly clear about a dubious subject. Isaacson often stumbles into the Distortion Field 
"'I think I might have headed to New York if I didn't go to college', [Jobs] recalled, musing on how different his world - and perhaps all of ours - might have been..."

but a bit less than usual.

Beau

This book did a great job at painting Steve Jobs in a refreshingly human way; brilliant, innovative, narcissistic, imprudent. It also traversed the golden age of technological innovation in the computer industry in a way that filled me with wonder (causing me to look at the digital landscape of 2020 and yawn in response), and left me semi-nostalgic for those childhood years when new inventions were happening and products were painstakingly curated. From a product perspective Jobs is a true inspiration - a staunch believer in absolute simplicity and human-centric design - heavily influenced from those impressionable meets with the Bauhaus school of design. His philosophy of highly controlled hardware and software unity is delicately outlined and counter-balanced with the (kind of) open-source approach from Microsoft et al, which also took the book into the territory of his many business adversaries. His saving and reinvigorating of Pixar was another pleasant history lesson (a company he often isn't associated with) which was a nice break from the corporate backdrop of the biography.

Jimmy Cerone

There’s only one thing for it, to quote the man himself: “The people who are crazy enough to think they can change the world are the ones who do.” What a complicated, beautiful human. Thanks Steve.

As many have pointed out, a very fair, yet dynamic characterization of Jobs. I found myself cringing at his crassness then quickly cheering his genius. I found the lengthy discussion of Apple's marketing strategy to be quite interesting. I really enjoyed discovering the story behind many of the company's famous ads. However, I was hoping to hear more about the humorous, "I'm a Mac. I'm a PC" ads of the late 2000s. Those definitely influenced my decision to purchase my first Mac!

Lorenzo Barretta

A very complete biography of a very special man. Sometimes it might get a bit hard to read for someone, but I really enjoyed reading this book.

Andy Sporring

A very comprehensive biography of Steve Jobs, that reaches in behind the scenes of the person not the icon/myth Steve already has become. Strongly recommended reading!

McKlayne Marshall

Ahmed Salem

الآن نقراءة بعد خمسة اعوام من موت الرجل المعجزة و انقشاع الغبار

والتر ايزاكسون مؤلف الكتاب قد يكون حاليا أفضل مؤلف للسير الذاتية في أميركا. ليس من عاداته كتابة و توثيق اي سيرة ذاتية عن اي شخصية الا بعد رحيلها عن العالم و مرور العديد من السنين ليبدأ كتابة متوازنة عن الشخصية و فق ما توفر ليديه من شهادات عن هذه الشخصية .... شهادات من كانوا "مع" و من كانوا "ضد". كرغبة صادقة لعرض الشخصية كأصدق ما يكون

الا ان الحاح ستيف جوبز الشديد على انجاز هذه السيرة الذاتية في الايام الأخيرة من حياته جعله يشترط على ستيف جوبز ان يطرح شهادات من كانوا ضده و ان ستيف جوبز لن يكون له اي سيطرة عن النسخة النهائية التي ستنشر للناس و قد كان .

الكتاب كان رحلة ممتعة لتطور ستيف جوبز و قصة البداية من رحلة هجرة ابوه ذو الأصول السورية له و تبنيه من قبل و اب و ام أميريكيين ثم كانت الرحلة الطويلة من تأسيس آبل و تطوير منتجات و خدمات مختلفة شكلت كثير من طبيعة الحياة الرقمية التي نعيشها الآن

مما لا شك فيه هو ان ستيف جوبز هو رجل الزمان و المكان في مجالات التصميم و التسويق و استراتيجيات العمل ... بالتأكيد لكل قصة نجاح، العديد من السقطات

لكن المؤكد انك يجب ان تهرب منه بالمشوار على صعيد التعاملات الانسانية
ASSHOLE كما يقول الكتاب

أخيرا : قد تكون العلاقة الشائكة الحميمية بين ستيف جوبز و بيل جيتس من أكثر ما شد انتباهي في هذا الكتاب 

التقييم : 3 نجمات و نص

linda

This book took me two months to finish because it was so long. But I really enjoyed Isaacson’s writing. Here are my three main takeaways:

1. Everything about Apple, down to why Flash doesn’t run on iOS, is a result of Jobs’ legacy. Jobs favored closed systems. Unlike the hacker culture of the Homebrew Computer Club, which encouraged hobbyists tweaking the products they used, Jobs wanted just products his products to be unmodifiable. Just like a tasting menu at a fine dining restaurant, a work of art can’t be modified or tailored. 

2. Jobs’ reality distortion field: Job had an uncanny ability to empower the people around him to achieve beyond their potential. He used his charm and manipulation to motivate them and break them down. 

3. The integration of technology and humanities: Jobs was a firm proponent for the integration of engineering and design. Divisions at Apple were run under product lines; visionaries like Jony Ive worked closely with engineers. Jobs himself was not a great engineer, but he was able to spot good ideas and create great products (good artists borrow, great artists steal). Jobs wanted Apple products to be beautiful, meticulously crafted with smooth edges and curves, like a Porsche or Bösendorfer piano; Pixar, too, was born from Jobs’s passion for artistry. This same legacy of pursuing the liberal arts in conjunction with STEM is still a core tenet of Stanford’s teaching philosophy.

I think what I liked the most about reading this book was seeing how profoundly Steve Jobs impacted the Valley - even down to Elizabeth Holmes’s unblinking gaze and black turtleneck - and this generation of entrepreneurs. I remember having a similar feeling after reading David Reynolds’ Empire of Liberty and thinking to myself, wow, this is why the East Coast is the way it is, why New York and New Jersey’s deep water harbors made them more metropolitan, why they are more open to immigrants, why there are more colleges north of the Mason-Dixon Line. I understand why so many Stanford freshmen read this book now. Next up, Zero to One.

Nelson Zagalo

A minha análise: http://virtual-illusion.blogspot.pt/2...

Amelia Lin

Fascinating book about a fascinating person, though it doesn't make me wish I were his friend.

Brian Hill

Informative, insightful, and while much of its information has been made public in other formats, I believe its narrative was very much worth reading. Made me realize that each of us, including Steve, has flaws that prevent us from reaching our potential. There's always something we can each improve about ourselves, and a way we can each find to contribute more to society. One of Steve's strengths was surrounding himself with people who were able to shine in areas of his own weakness. I hope I can become better at this.

Cams Campbell

As a user of Apple products and a follower of their fortunes, this was a must-read for me. I have listened to many pundits discussing the book, and no review was better than that of Ars Technica's John Siracusa on the 5by5 podcast, Hypercritical. He was rather scathing of the book in so much as it was written by the wrong guy. Isaacson is not a tech guy and is writing about something he does not really understand. 

That said, I still had to read the book for myself and, although I didn't enjoy it a great deal, it was still worth reading. 

Make of that what you will.

Chris Raastad

You don't know Steve Jobs until you have read this book. It's a thorough journey of all the stages of this very secluded innovator's life from the man that knows him the best, basically the only journalist he would talk to. It's an incredible story of a man who is so massively misunderstood. It's incredible that a man who was so arrogant and rash in his 20s became the father of the smartphone and tablet in his 40s before losing the battle with cancer. Apple will honestly never be the same without this man. This book does justice to this incredible human being.

Kamil M. Özkan

Aradan 9 yıl geçti. 
İlk zamanalrdaki ön yargılardan uzak, tarihin en değerli şirketin kuruluşunun yanında son 50 yılda teknoloji'nin hayatımıza nasıl girdiği, şekillerdirdiği üzere keyifli bir tarih kitabı olarak da okunabilir. 

İddia edilenin aksine Steve Jobs pazarlama adamı değil, ürün adamıydı. Hani şu son günlerde bulamadığımız kaliteli Product Owner'lardan...

André Ramos

This guy is simply of my best inspirational characters. His constant search for art and perfection led to many revolutions in so many fields. He managed to awe us with his awesome products and completely genius introductions and maketing.
Isaacson does a brilliant biography here. It is very well written and engaging. It's very clear that he has done a lot of research and put a lot of thought and emotion into this book and while he manages to keep the book's impartiality we can also see that Steve ended up being an influence to him.

Awesome book!

Denise Guimarães Bottmann

Berilo Vargas

Pedro Maia Soares

Este livro, baseado em mais de quarenta entrevistas com Steve Jobs - e entrevistas com familiares, amigos, colegas, adversários e concorrentes -, narra a vida deste empresário, cuja paixão pela perfeição e cuja energia contribuíram para seis indústrias - a computação pessoal, o cinema de animação, a música, a telefonia celular, a computação em tablet e a edição digital.

a biografia

Marcos Silva

A great book to get to know not only Steve's life, but also how the computer industry was created and also a little bit of the universe of CEOs.

Ozgur Ozer

Steve Jobs was one of the most influential, innovative, inspiring people of the 21st century. He was a perfectionist and had a good taste of art and design. If it wasn’t for him we couldn’t have beautifully designed computers and mobile phones today. I wish he was still alive that he could continue changing the industries. I just love him so much and learning what he did for humanity made me cry many times while reading the book. We need more people like him to make great products. Thank you Steve.

Jane McCullough

Enjoyed this one because it Isaacson kept a balance with his picture of Steve. I came away with both more awe and respect as well as disappointment and irritation about the man.

Hector Gerardo Sanchez Quiroga

He was not a cool guy. But he had a Motivation. A reason to do something. Maybe I just need to see what is meant to be done.

Vojtech &
Steve Jobs by Walter Isaacson

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Steve Jobs by Walter Isaacson