After completing the rather large 700-page book you still feel like you hardly knew the man. It isn't even clear exactly, at least no more than what is already commonly understood, what his contribution was to the world of technology, animation, music and computing. And yet, Walter Isaacson's autobiography is difficult to put down. Largely because despite everything we already know about Jobs, we really do very little. At least those who, like me, became ardent supporters of his design philosophy ('minimalism' to put it minimally) at a relatively later stage in life. I grew up most of my life dismissing Apple and its products as 'also ran' until I used the iPod for the first time in 2004 and since then I have rarely bought anything from a competitor that Apple also sells.
"Steve Jobs" is, as far as biographies go, a very interesting read. The anecdotes, the stories and personality quirks of Jobs are a treat to read. There are probably no giant reveals other than how "different" (crazy?) he was compared to everyone else around him. In some sense he was like a child, with a thing for beauty and an inability to compromise. What was most revealing to me was how difficult and tortured his life was. While he did make like miserable for most around him, his own life was not such a charm as would seem. Apart from his disease, seems like his tortured personality also seemed to be eating him inside out. This is a sad story overall.
The story in this book is told linearly, almost clinically, from his early childhood to the day he resigned as the CEO of Apple in August. The book mostly stays faithful to an episodic timeline whoever, there do seem to be jumps, like the period at Next seems not to get a lot of attention.
Overall, it is quite an excellent book to read. I am thankful for Steve Jobs for so many things he did and this biography is just one more such thing.
"Steve Jobs" is, as far as biographies go, a very interesting read. The anecdotes, the stories and personality quirks of Jobs are a treat to read. There are probably no giant reveals other than how "different" (crazy?) he was compared to everyone else around him. In some sense he was like a child, with a thing for beauty and an inability to compromise. What was most revealing to me was how difficult and tortured his life was. While he did make like miserable for most around him, his own life was not such a charm as would seem. Apart from his disease, seems like his tortured personality also seemed to be eating him inside out. This is a sad story overall.
The story in this book is told linearly, almost clinically, from his early childhood to the day he resigned as the CEO of Apple in August. The book mostly stays faithful to an episodic timeline whoever, there do seem to be jumps, like the period at Next seems not to get a lot of attention.
Overall, it is quite an excellent book to read. I am thankful for Steve Jobs for so many things he did and this biography is just one more such thing.