“Steve Jobs” (2011) – Book Review

‘A Brilliant Biography’

“I think the biggest innovations of the 21st century will be at the intersection of biology and technology. A new era is beginning.”- Steve Jobs

“Steve Jobs” is the authorized biography of Apple company inventor Steve Jobs. It is written by American biographer Walter Isaacson and was released in stores on October 24, 2011, following Jobs’ death on October 5th. This biography is a chronicle of Jobs’ entire life, from his childhood in his adoptive parents’ home to his fight against pancreatic cancer. It runs just over 600 pages and emphasizes on how an intense and creative entrepreneur revolutionized (in order): personal computers, animated films, music, phones, tablet computing, and digital publishing.

Walter Isaacson has created an amazing biography. The former executive of CNN and Time has, with the help of over 40 interviews with family members, friends, and colleagues, put together the definitive biography of a charismatic man. Isaacson highlights what Jobs stood for in life, including his passion for design, simplicity, and perfection. It’s astounding how he and Steve Wozniak started a company in his parents’ garage and began a revolution (in Jobs’ words, a dent in the universe). They founded what is known today as one of the world’s most admired and respected companies.

Steve Jobs had a searingly intense personality. He was a visionary genius for Apple, guiding the company in the right ways. His career outside of Apple, such as the one with NeXT and Pixar in many ways depicted the person he was. He could be rough with colleagues, because of his ferocious drive for perfectionism and design. Jobs was a brutally honest, exremely passionate, and jarringly complex man. He would describe products, ideas, and even food as being either amazing or inedible. He wasn’t necessarily smart, but with his charisma and incredible personality, he came of as being very clever and almost always won conversations. This was because he had an unexpected way of convincing people for things. One such occurence happened when Steve was in Central Park with John Sculley. He asked Sculley if he wanted to spend the rest of his life selling sugared water, or have a chance to change the world.

Jobs could be a hard person to work with, but once you got to know him, his personality would become predictable and even impressive. He did however have anger fits and get mad at people for certain things. For example, Jobs’ relationship with Bill Gates, the founder of Microsoft, could get highly intense. Jobs would argue that Gates had stolen from Apple for Microsoft, but in the end he resolved the issue with Gates.

In conclusion, Jobs was a great person and revolutionized the computer industry in a way nobody had done before. He will be remembered for years, hopefully decades. This is one of those biographies that one cannot put down. Isaacson has perfectly traced the artist’s life. It seems to drag in the middle and some chapters appear more interesting than others, but otherwise this is recommended for anyone interested in Jobs’ life and career at Apple.

5/5 stars