Steve Jobs: A Biography

Walter Isaacson’s authorized portrait of the Apple co-founder is exhaustive, candid and unflinching. Drawing on over forty interviews with Jobs and more than a hundred conversations with family, friends and colleagues, the 627-page volume maps his mercurial trajectory—from garage tinkerer to global icon—while exposing the flaws behind the legend. Depth of Access and Personal Candor - Jobs personally sanctioned Isaacson’s project, granting unrestricted interviews even during his terminal illness. - He refused editorial control, insisting on truth over image, which yielded revelations about his “reality distortion field,” perfectionism and personal eccentricities. - Isaacson does not shy away from Jobs’s more unsettling quirks: he often went days without bathing, viewing regular hygiene as a distraction from work. - The biography candidly explores his adoption and quest for identity: although he traced Abdulfattah Jandali, his biological father, in 2006, Jobs never informed him of the empire he built. - It also confronts his callous early treatment of daughter Lisa Brennan-Jobs—initially denying paternity, forcing a court-ordered DNA test and approving minimal support—revealing a harshness that contrasts with his creative brilliance. A-Player Culture and Obsessive Detail Jobs insisted on hiring only A-players who could deliver A-performance, famously believing “a small team of A+ players can run circles around a giant team of B and C players”. He pushed teams to rework products right up to their release date, refusing to ship anything less than perfect. His obsession extended beyond the product’s exterior: Jobs demanded that internal layouts, circuit boards and component placements be as beautiful as the consumer-facing shell. Well worth reading (Read Jony Ive The Genius Behind Apple’s Greatest Products for more insights into Apple’s design revolution.)

First, the book. It is packed with anecdote, wisely interpreted with unbroken narrative energy. It is the kind of book which will irritate those you are on holiday with, because you keep peeling away from the pack to be alone with it. An excellent biography, verging on tribute, which it tries repeatedly to avoid by dealing with Steve's unkindness whenever it crops up. Second, the man. If you want to focus on his shortcomings as a colleague or father, then there is enough material in here to keep many dinner party conversations going. (Just make sure that whenever you snap at your kids or your colleagues you remind yourself of your hypocrisy.) Steve created a company at 21 (in 1976), was kicked out because of his bad manners at 30 (1985), spent a decade in the wilderness, only to be asked back at the age of 40 to rebuild and recharge the creative potential invented by the design-led marriage of art and technology. Oh, and during the wilderness years, he fathered Pixar. When you get to the pearly gates, you may be asked how many faces you brought a smile to, net of those you brought tears to. I can't think of a bigger winner than Steve Jobs. I wouldn't recognise a RAM or a ROM, but, since reading this book, I think about the riddle that was Steve Jobs all the time. A bit like the way he thought of Yo-Yo-Ma (on page 425). "Jobs tended to be deeply moved by artists who displayed purity and he became a fan. He invited Ma to play at his wedding, but he was out of the country on tour. He came by the Jobs house a few years later, sat in the living room, pulled out his 1733 Stradivarius cello and played Bach. Jobs teared up and told him,"You playing is the best argument I've ever heard for the existence of God, because I don't really believe a human alone can do this." This was written on my iPad. Thank you, Steve Jobs and all the people you abused, exploited and extracted the best from in the name, as I see it, of your version of truth, honesty and joie de vivre. Your reality distortion probably accelerated your demise, and may well have wounded some people who rode with you, but, with the dent you made in the universe, you leave the world an immeasurably better place than you found it for millions of us. And this book deserves to do the same for thousands and thousands of us.

Steve Jobs - Walter Isaacson A man in a hurry who never seems to have been particularly happy. By any measure of business success he achieved a great deal - built a company (Apple), lost and regained control of Apple (including rescuing Apple), shaped another company (Pixar), developed and commercialised a range of outstanding products. It was interesting to read the book as someone who has lived through most of the same period. In a previous role within KPMG I was very involved in the role out of Apple technology across the firm (and the development of specialist software for the platform). I also recall the subsequent decision to migrate to the Windows platform because of a perceived lack of business applications software for the Apple platform at the time. And in my current role I have not yet returned to the Apple platform - to date preferring the combination of Microsoft, Google and Android. Jobs is not portrayed in a particularly attractive light as a person nor as a boss/manager. His treatment of people falls far below that expected. Yes he was within his rights to demand focus, attention to detail, brilliant engineering, quality output from his advisors, etc. But the haranguing of employees and vendors, the tantrums, the rejection of ideas and subsequent relabeling as his own ideas - none of these would warm you towards the man. I suppose Jobs is an example of the entrepreneur who stays in control. In many cases we talk about the need to transfer control from the entrepreneur to the professional management team - on the basis that the entrepreneur brings the idea and the energy for the startup but may not have all the skills to see the startup through to full development into an established company. Perhaps the appointment of Sculley was the attempt to do this. But it failed and failed badly. A couple of points here: it can only work if it has the support of the entrepreneur and the timing is also critical. In Apple's case it happened too late, it did not have Jobs support )in spite of the initial `love-in' and perhaps Sculley was not the tight person. The other essential question though is how do you maintain the innovation momentum when you switch control to the professional management team? In theory the entrepreneur should have more time to devote to product development, research, etc. But would this have resulted in the stream of new products from Apple (post Jobs' return) if he has not been at the top of the organisation? I don't think so. I often distinguish between those who get projects done and those who play a positive role in corporations. Good project managers will do whatever it takes to get the project delivered on time and on budget - including managing scope and user expectations. Good corporate managers understand the corporate objectives and develop teams of people in this context. Typically the two types are different. Project managers have little interest in anything except closing out the project - leaving someone else to pick up the pieces in terms of people who have been sidelined, over stressed, temporarily over praised. Corporate managers work to a different timetable - seeking to develop the people and move the company toward tis objectives. Jobs had a vision for Apple and Pixar - and this vision drove him. And he embodied this vision in many of his products - e.g. Toy Story, iTunes, iPhone. But the impression I form from Isaacson's account of Jobs is of someone who was so project focused, delivery focused, that a lot of what is associated with building corporate culture, developing people was dumped. And the interesting summary of all of this is that it worked. Jobs created a company of `A players' and demanded A performance. He got A performance and refused to accept anything less. The result - outstanding products and outstanding commercial success. So what was the genius of Steve Jobs? A number of thoughts strike me after reading the book and experiencing a number of his products (Pixar and Apple): * Hard work and sustained application comes in near the top. How many times do we read about getting close to product release and deciding to rework something because it was not quite right? Yes this points to the high standards he set for himself and the team - but also the commitment and willingness to take on the rework to get something right. * Jobs was comfortable being surrounded by experts - be that brilliant engineers, designers or marketers. He never lost sight of the fact that regardless of their individual ability they were all cogs in the wheel - all with a role to play. He may have had a natural bias towards to design side, but he understood that he needed the best in all areas. His management style may have been questionable - at the very least on a human level - by the did not struggle in an environment of brilliant people * Tough commercial negotiator - whether dealing with Microsoft, music industry or Disney - and executed a number of his deals from positions of weakness. * His own consistent advice to others appears to have been to focus - and he appears to have followed this advice himself. He was not short on ideas but focused on specific opportunities. * Hindsight is a wonderful thing. We can all see now that smartphone, digitised music, etc all make sense. But Jobs saw the opportunity looking forward - he saw the opportunity with the Xerox GUI development at Palo Alto. Jobs saw the opportunity for innovation through technology. The Jobs/ Gates rivalry is a recurring theme through the book. They both built hugely successful companies in the same period. Isaacson emphasises the basic difference in philosophy being Jobs' obsession with total control (hardware and software) as against Gates' willingness to release his software for different platforms. I think this analysis is an over simplification - Gates was very keen to own the desktop by ensuring it was running his operating system (and today Balmer would like to see mobile phones running a Microsoft operating system). Jobs is dismissive of Android - in fact seems to see Android as a poor quality rip off of Apple. I think this case is unproven. Having read so much comment about the book in the press was wondering whether I would learn anything from the book itself. Not sure that I fully understood the man himself after reading the book. Isaacson was determined to paint the picture `wars and all'. He probably did this. But I think somewhere in this he missed a trick in summarising the man. I enjoyed reading the biography. It was a rip roaring life when you look at the ups and downs, the product releases, the deal making, the family life. And because we have all been touched by his technology it feels relevant.

For much of Walter Isaacson's biography of Steve Jobs it is easy to forget that this is in account of a successful genius rather than a grumpy failure. Difficult, rude, intemperate, unreasonable and often quite bizarre in his behaviour towards those nominally closest to him, Steve Jobs's personality does not get an easy ride in Isaacson's highly readable book. All these flaws make the core idea at the heart of Jobs's success stand out all the more starkly: an obsessive belief in the value and power of simplicity. Simple devices, easy to use and a pleasure to have. From that obsession with simplicity (whose roots perhaps lie in the architectural style of his home when he was a kid), came the greatness of Steve Jobs. Saving that devices should be easy to use can sound so banal you lose sight of just how rare it is to have someone run a technology company that really believes in it and makes it happen. Just look at the mess of multiple remote controls and complicated instructions that make up most people's mix of TV and related devices to see how very different a world Steve Jobs has made for computers, music devices and phones by contrast. For such a controversial figure as Steve Jobs, and one with such a dramatic working life, Walter Isaacson understandably takes many pages to tell the story. However, for all the book's length, it moves along at a brisk pace, with the detailed research and numerous interviews melded into very clear and readable prose. It's an excellent read.

Quality from start to finish. How a biography should be and even turned me into an Apple convert. The story of a driven man who probably did manage to put a dent in the universe (time will tell). Snippets: Believed first and foremost in making great things before making money. Pretend to be completely in control and people will assume that you are. The goal of starting a company is to make something you believe in and that will last, not to get rich. Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication - "less but better". To be truly simple, you have to go really deep. Design must reflect a product's essence. Good execution is as important as a great idea. A-players like to work together, not tolerate B-players. You can't afford to tolerate the B-players. Even the aspects that remain hidden should be done beautifully - a great carpenter isn't going to use lousy wood for the back of a cabinet just because it isn't seen (how many CEO's behave like that as opposed to finding cost-cuts?). Don't accept "no" for an answer, even if it means adopting a "reality distortion field". Deciding what not to do is as important as deciding what to do. People who know what they're talking about don't need PowerPoint. If something isn't right, you can't just ignore it and say "we'll fix it later" - that's what other companies do! Motivations really matter - if you don't love music, don't create a music product. The best way to begin a speech is to say "let me tell you a story", because nobody wants a lecture. Remembering that you are going to die is the best way to avoid the trap of thinking that you have something to lose: memento mori. "Here's to the crazy ones".

I really enjoyed reading this book. It gave me an appreciation of the character, achievements and relentless drive for perfection and the remarkable that was Steve Jobs.

It was fascinating to read this biography. Really gets inside Steve Jobs head and reveals the true man with all of his flaws and wonders!

I'm not in the tech industry. I don't even know much about the industry to be honest, if you asked me the guys behind Google I would need to search memory for minutes. But I am interested in Steve Jobs as a person. I watched every Apple event in the 2000s, his main interviews, and read some-good-some-bad stories about him. He was a character and as someone who is interested in psychology I was curious to learn more about this man; how he thinks, what might be the reasons behind his actions and decisions..etc The book does a great job giving you all you want to know about Steve. By the half-way with what you learned about him in the first half, you can take some guesses on how Steve will react to the new events in his life. The best part of the book was it is an honest book. I don't like biographies that show people as a superhero or saint who never ever do any mistakes or don't hurt anybody. Nobody is perfect and I like to learn about the imperfections about someone when I read their biographies. This book does this incredibly well. There is Steve Jobs in the book, with his very talented side, his weaknesses, his mistakes, his maturing as a person over the years, his quirky side. The only warning I think I should give is there are a lot of full names in the book. Which is actually great for those interested in the tech industry, it's informative and can be used as a reference book. For those like me who are not that interested it gets a little hard to remember all the names and what their job was. Not that I'm complaining.

I’m enjoying the book so far, but unfortunately it arrived with black stain marks, as shown in the attached pictures.

MUY INSTRUCTIVO

I first read this biography back in 2011, in its Spanish edition and in ebook format. Taking advantage of the great price, I decided to get the physical English version, and I’m enjoying it just as much as I did the first time. In fact, rereading it now feels even more fascinating. Steve Jobs’ life was truly remarkable. As the chapters unfold, I can clearly recognise the technological milestones he helped shape — probably because I’ve lived through many of them myself. The early Apple computers, the first Macs, the Cube, the iPods, and eventually the iPhone… each one opened a new market and redefined an entire industry. Isaacson’s biography captures all of this with depth and honesty. The mix of interviews — from friends to rivals — paints a vivid picture of a complex, obsessive and visionary figure. It’s a compelling read, both for those who admire Jobs and for anyone interested in the evolution of modern technology. A great purchase and a pleasure to revisit in its full printed edition.

It reached quickly and in good status. 4 Stars because the book was heaving dust on the cover.

Ho appena terminato di leggere "Steve Jobs: The Exclusive Biography" e sono ancora completamente immerso nel mondo affascinante di uno dei più grandi innovatori del nostro tempo. Questo libro, scritto con maestria da un autore esperto come Walter Isaacson, offre un'analisi approfondita della vita e delle opere di Steve Jobs, il co-fondatore di Apple. La biografia è un'autentica pietra miliare che riesce a cogliere l'essenza di Jobs come persona e come leader carismatico. Isaacson ci conduce attraverso un viaggio emozionante, partendo dall'infanzia di Steve Jobs fino ai suoi trionfi e fallimenti nel mondo degli affari. L'autore non si limita a raccontare una sequenza di eventi, ma ci fornisce una comprensione intima di chi era realmente Steve Jobs e di cosa lo ha spinto a diventare l'uomo che ha cambiato il modo in cui viviamo e lavoriamo. Uno degli aspetti più notevoli del libro è la sincerità con cui vengono descritte le sfaccettature complesse della personalità di Jobs. Isaacson non esita a mostrare i lati negativi del suo carattere, evidenziando la sua determinazione quasi ossessiva e il suo carattere spigoloso. Questo rende la narrazione ancor più coinvolgente, poiché ci permette di apprezzare appieno le sue realizzazioni straordinarie, ma anche di riflettere sulle conseguenze che il suo approccio può avere sulle relazioni personali e professionali. La ricerca di Isaacson è encomiabile e la sua abilità nel raccogliere testimonianze e interviste di persone vicine a Steve Jobs aggiunge una dimensione autentica alla narrazione. Sono rimasto affascinato dai retroscena di Apple e dalle interazioni tra Jobs e altre figure chiave come Steve Wozniak e Tim Cook. La biografia offre una panoramica completa degli alti e bassi dell'azienda, comprese le decisioni coraggiose e i momenti di scontro che hanno plasmato l'industria tecnologica. Inoltre, il libro affronta tematiche più ampie come l'importanza del design, l'innovazione e l'arte nella creazione di prodotti che cambiano il mondo. È stimolante leggere di come Jobs abbia integrato la sua passione per l'estetica nella filosofia di Apple, creando prodotti che hanno ridefinito gli standard dell'industria e hanno influenzato il modo in cui viviamo e ci connettiamo.