Walter Isaacson's biography of Steve Jobs was heralded to be the closest thing that Apple's founder would ever have to an authorized biography. Famously, Jobs was the one who convinced Isaacson to write the book, made himself available to the author, and encouraged others to do the same, all the while insisting that he would exert no control over the book's contents whatsoever. In fact, he had no intention to read the finished draft before publication -- and we can presume that he never was able to read it at all, owing to his
passing in October.
Hence, Isaacson's book is perhaps the most complete account of Steve Jobs' life. Would
Steve Jobs (the book) have passed Steve Jobs' quintessential standard of "insanely great"? Probably not. But it sure comes close.
The book is, without a doubt, the definitive reader on Steve Jobs. In fact, one could argue that it is three books in one: Jobs' life story; the corporate histories of Apple, NeXT and Pixar; and Isaacson's own impressions and reflections on the larger significance of the life that Jobs led. Clearly, to have to weave all of this together in a coherent fashion is no mean feat, and many times one might say the book comes across as independently written notes in need of further editing. Yet by and large it does paint a compelling portrait of a complex, temperamental, and passionate human being.
In this regard, it's fortunate that Isaacson was not intimately acquainted with Jobs
per se and had to be convinced by Jobs himself to take on the project in the first place. This allowed Isaacson to approach his subject with a little more distance and objectivity. If anything, the book arguably presents a very fair portrait of Jobs. Yes, the man dropped acid in his youth. Yes, he could be cruel and unforgiving toward people he felt were bozos. Yes, he could be difficult to live with, but he loved his family very much. Yes, he had an unquestionable commitment to making his products not just the best, but also beautiful. Yes, he set out to change the world -- and he did.
Much has already been written about Jobs in the wake of his passing that sum up the man's life and his achievements. For instance, Steven Levy, after nearly thirty years of covering Jobs for various magazines, wrote perhaps the best
obituary of Jobs, while a series from BusinessWeek recaps Steve Jobs'
beginnings, "
wilderness years", and
return to Apple. Indeed, there are any number of sources to which one can turn in order to learn more about Jobs. But none are as comprehensive as Isaacson's, which succeeds at putting into context how truly exceptional Jobs was.
Inasmuch as some have criticized the outpouring of emotion and sympathy following Jobs' death, the truth is that Jobs himself never asked for the public's adulation. But he deserved it. At least this much is clear from Isaacson's book. Jobs was a unique person who happened to live at a unique time in history -- the rise of Silicon Valley -- and whose work changed at least six different industries. But his lasting legacy will be how his passion helped define the way we see and relate to technology -- proving along the way that computers could be wonderful, magical, beautiful things.
Steve Jobs has died. The world has moved on. But nothing will ever be the same.
While browsing NetGalley, I chanced upon Organize Your Mind, Organize Your Life and found myself intrigued. Written by Paul Hammerness, a practicing psychiatrist at Harvard Medical School, and Margaret Moore, a professional wellness coach, the book promised to describe relevant developments in neuroscience that might be helpful to people in search of ways to be better organized and more focused.
You'd be hard pressed to think of a book that represents the must-read history of Amazon.com. In fact, I would go so far as to argue that significantly less is written about Amazon and its founder Jeff Bezos than other darlings of the technology industry.
You can always tell whether a licensed intellectual property is any good by whether it makes you want to know more about the original. Consider Naruto, for instance. I have no particular affinity for the popular anime/manga, and the series has its own fair share of panned video games. But after playing Naruto: Rise of a Ninja, I simply wanted to know as much as I could about the series -- proof positive that the game, despite its faults, was actually pretty good.
