Steve Jobs
Oct 2011 · Simon and Schuster
3.6star
3.1K reviewsreport
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656
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About this eBook
Walter Isaacson’s “enthralling” (The New Yorker) worldwide bestselling biography of Apple cofounder Steve Jobs.
Based on more than forty interviews with Steve Jobs conducted over two years—as well as interviews with more than 100 family members, friends, adversaries, competitors, and colleagues—Walter Isaacson has written a riveting story of the roller-coaster life and searingly intense personality of a creative entrepreneur whose passion for perfection and ferocious drive revolutionized six industries: personal computers, animated movies, music, phones, tablet computing, and digital publishing.
At a time when America is seeking ways to sustain its innovative edge, Jobs stands as the ultimate icon of inventiveness and applied imagination. He knew that the best way to create value in 21st century was to connect creativity with technology. He built a company where leaps of the imagination were combined with remarkable feats of engineering.
Although Jobs cooperated with the author, he asked for no control over what was written. He put nothing off-limits. He encouraged the people he knew to speak honestly. And Jobs speaks candidly, sometimes brutally so, about the people he worked with and competed against. His friends, foes, and colleagues provide an unvarnished view of the passions, perfectionism, obsessions, artistry, devilry, and compulsion for control that shaped his approach to business and the innovative products that resulted.
Driven by demons, Jobs could drive those around him to fury and despair. But his personality and products were interrelated, just as Apple’s hardware and software tended to be, as if part of an integrated system. His tale is instructive and cautionary, filled with lessons about innovation, character, leadership, and values.
Steve Jobs is the inspiration for the movie of the same name starring Michael Fassbender, Kate Winslet, Seth Rogen, and Jeff Daniels, directed by Danny Boyle with a screenplay by Aaron Sorkin.
Based on more than forty interviews with Steve Jobs conducted over two years—as well as interviews with more than 100 family members, friends, adversaries, competitors, and colleagues—Walter Isaacson has written a riveting story of the roller-coaster life and searingly intense personality of a creative entrepreneur whose passion for perfection and ferocious drive revolutionized six industries: personal computers, animated movies, music, phones, tablet computing, and digital publishing.
At a time when America is seeking ways to sustain its innovative edge, Jobs stands as the ultimate icon of inventiveness and applied imagination. He knew that the best way to create value in 21st century was to connect creativity with technology. He built a company where leaps of the imagination were combined with remarkable feats of engineering.
Although Jobs cooperated with the author, he asked for no control over what was written. He put nothing off-limits. He encouraged the people he knew to speak honestly. And Jobs speaks candidly, sometimes brutally so, about the people he worked with and competed against. His friends, foes, and colleagues provide an unvarnished view of the passions, perfectionism, obsessions, artistry, devilry, and compulsion for control that shaped his approach to business and the innovative products that resulted.
Driven by demons, Jobs could drive those around him to fury and despair. But his personality and products were interrelated, just as Apple’s hardware and software tended to be, as if part of an integrated system. His tale is instructive and cautionary, filled with lessons about innovation, character, leadership, and values.
Steve Jobs is the inspiration for the movie of the same name starring Michael Fassbender, Kate Winslet, Seth Rogen, and Jeff Daniels, directed by Danny Boyle with a screenplay by Aaron Sorkin.
Ratings and reviews
3.6
3.1K reviews
A Google user
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10 March 2012
Jobs was so EXTREMELY MEAN to his employees. Over charging for low quality products and was always at least 5+ years behind current technology trends. He never invented anything new he just stole everything. It's sad to see how many people look up to him. The best thing that can be said about Steve is May he rest in peace.
A Google user
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6 July 2012
Why do people write books to romanticize the lives of horrible people? The only thing I find fascinating about this "Biography" is that it was able to mask the truth behind what made him this Jesus-like figure in technology. The description states that the book focuses on his "intense personality" and "creative success", but there isn't a single paragraph in the book that even mentions how he did nothing to contribute development on C, or how when Dennis Ritchie finished UNIX, Steve claimed and commercialized it for himself, granting him billions of dollars using only the effort it takes to be a back-stabbing thief. By praising Steve's career through the writing and reading of biographies, you are just rewarding selfish and greedy behavior. If you want to pay respect toward a mans advanced and loving philosophy, why not write a book about how Dennis Ritchie devoted his life toward creating C and UNIX just to benefit the technological advancement of mankind, without commercialization of any sort. Steve does not father the ground-breaking technology everyone thinks he does. Just like Hitler (who also has a bestselling biography), the only knowledge he used was his ability to weasel into success on the shoulders of someone else.
In the broad spectrum; the only genius in this book is its ability to mold the mind of its reader, making a selfish and greedy person appear akin to Martin Luther King, and Gandhi.
2 people found this review helpful
A Google user
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16 December 2011
People need to Relax Doesn't matter if ur an apple or android/pc fan the man's dead and this is a way of honoring him. Choosing aside now a days is like choosing a religion...everybody with hateful comments needs to grow up and lay off cause your comments ate over the top. I'm.an android fan and a pc fan and always have been, but just because Steve jobs is the competitor doesn't mean he wasent human. Most of the hates probably haven't even read the book yet they take the tome to spew hatred. What have any of you done to be remembered?
About the author
Walter Isaacson is the bestselling author of biographies of Jennifer Doudna, Leonardo da Vinci, Steve Jobs, Benjamin Franklin, and Albert Einstein. He is a professor of history at Tulane and was CEO of the Aspen Institute, chair of CNN, and editor of Time. He was awarded the National Humanities Medal in 2023. Visit him at Isaacson.Tulane.edu.
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