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#Post#: 5529--------------------------------------------------
Steve Jobs - Walter Isaacson
By: Chiprocks1 Date: January 31, 2012, 1:26 am
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[center]Steve Jobs (2011)
[IMG]
HTML http://i74.photobucket.com/albums/i266/Chiprocks1/Star%20Ratings/HTL_04halfstar.gif[/img]
[IMG]
HTML http://i74.photobucket.com/albums/i266/Chiprocks1/Books/Steve%20Jobs/SteveJobs.jpg[/img]
[/center]
This book is particularly fascinating because you are seeing the
birth of the computer age, not just through Steve Jobs eyes but
through an assortment of friends, coworkers and enemies as well.
And when it gets to the moment of Steve Wozniak putting together
the first computer and typing on the keyboard to display text on
a screen it's pretty heavy. Think about that for a second. It so
easy to get lost in the 'simplicity' of doing something that we
all take for granted now. We know nothing else but this. Typing
now on the PC it seems so effortless. But try to imagine being
Woz on June 29, 1975 when his computer worked with the end
result of text on screen, the first person on the planet to do
so. Man, that must have been a rush like no other. In that
nanosecond of success, he literally change the course of
humanity and how we live now. That's some pretty heady stuff
right there.
Also mind blowing was that of Ron Wayne, who's initial
investment into Apple for 10% and subsequent withdrawal due to
fear of the unknown could be looked at as the most EPIC FAIL of
all time. Had he not gotten cold feet, he would be worth $2.6
Billion as of 2010. Holy crap!!! It shouldn't surprise me either
that one of the first Apple Computers sold for $213,000 at
Christies back in the same year as well.
Before the book, I never really knew Steve Jobs and what he was
like other than what I saw on TV like everyone else. So it's
kind of baffling that this hippie with long hair, dirty feet,
refusing to bathed would change the world.
We've all heard about what a collosal dick and ass hole Steve
Jobs is with regards to other people and the manner in which he
dismisses people without provocation. It's really hard to find
sympathy in someone that is as classless as he was or so I
thought. The more I read, the more I got to understand that he
wasn't being a dick for the sake of being one. He just couldn't
help himself. He didn't have empathy in his personality. It's
also some of the most riveting reading you will come across. All
the showdowns and arguments are layed bare in the book and the
best of the bunch is clearly the Scully/Jobs coup. But leave it
to Scully's wife to sum it up best when she confronted him about
the way he was treating her husband. "Can't you look at me when
I'm talking to you? Nevermind, don't look at me, when I look
into most people's eyes, I see a soul. When I look into your
eyes, I see a bottomless pit, an empty hole, a dead zone". Game.
Set. Match.
We all know how driven Jobs was to create the perfect product
and how he would rant at any perceived flaw, real or not,
regarding whatever must-have device he was working on. I find it
fascinating that he always strove for perfection and never
wavered in his quest to get there. But the mindset of Jobs,
although impressive was way off. He could fix anything and
everything put in front of him, but he couldn't fix the one
thing that had the biggest flaw of them all...himself.
Personality wise or health wise, he had to work with what he had
and there was no changing who he was, even in the face of death.
I am not a Mac user, and I have never owned a Mac product, so I
can rate this book on it's merit alone and not that of a
fan-boy. This is a thoroughly engaging and fascinating read. And
at a whopping 800 pages for the Large print (it was the only
copy available at the Library), I read from cover to cover
fairly quickly because there are so many pivotal moments that
came at the hands of Jobs. For me the best part of the book was
his showdown with Michael Eisner and the behemoth that was and
is Pixar. The only part of the book that I really didn't care
for was the section devoted to the women in his life. I just
didn't care much about who they were and it did bring the book
to a halt for me. Other than that, Walter Isaacson did a
fantastic job writing the book.
I definitely recommend this book as a Buy for sure.
#Post#: 5530--------------------------------------------------
Re: Steve Jobs - Walter Isaacson
By: Chiprocks1 Date: January 31, 2012, 1:34 am
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[center]Walter Isaacson (60 Minutes Part 1)
HTML http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1jqSK8Qv4ZY
Walter Isaacson (60 Minutes Part 2)
HTML http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CXcfDN6L9d8&feature=related
[/center]
#Post#: 5531--------------------------------------------------
Re: Steve Jobs - Walter Isaacson
By: Chiprocks1 Date: January 31, 2012, 2:16 am
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[center]Steve Jobs: Billion Dollar Hippy (BBC Documentary)
HTML http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4GO6HL8wUAU
[/center]
#Post#: 5538--------------------------------------------------
Re: Steve Jobs - Walter Isaacson
By: Mac Date: January 31, 2012, 10:01 am
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Damn you man. Now I just might have to go ‘buy’ a book. This
book. I haven’t bought a book in months. Cause I know once I’m
done with… then what? I know, I know… it’s the time reading it
that makes it worth it. Maybe a used copy… perhaps.
And maybe this will tie in perfectly with my current situation.
You’re reiterating the description of Jobs and lack of social
skills is hitting home with my current work conditions. My
mentor, who I have to work with 8 hours a day, is brilliant at
what he does. Unfortunately, he is cocky, lacks patience and any
sense of humor. His discussion with colleagues is harsh, and his
teaching skills – Sucks royally. I’m in a quandary and question
myself on this direction. I would like to see, and maybe this
book will reveal, how others put up with him.
#Post#: 5540--------------------------------------------------
Re: Steve Jobs - Walter Isaacson
By: Chiprocks1 Date: January 31, 2012, 10:05 am
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I'm shocked that none of his coworkers ever killed Steve Jobs on
the spot. They respected what he brought to Apple, but thought
he was a dick for how he treated people. I have zero tolerance
for people like that and I myself have clashed with managers and
supervisors at my old job with regards to their managing style.
#Post#: 5543--------------------------------------------------
Re: Steve Jobs - Walter Isaacson
By: Mac Date: January 31, 2012, 10:36 am
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You can’t fight people for who they are. I’ve learned you need
to recognize character in people and adjust as necessary if you
have to work with them. But at the same time I expect ‘those
others’ to have the same respect and treat me accordingly.
There’s no reason they can’t learn things too.
I find my patience and tolerance being severely stretched with
my mentor and friend. I do recognize several things including
the great opportunity to learn from a guru, this necessary part
of work that the company knows is critical. This will further
increase my skill set, thus position me better in the eyes of
the company. It’s a fine balance of running with this
opportunity and telling him he is a dick.
The flip side, this process interests me only a little.
I’m going to run with ‘it’s an opportunity’ and drink all the
lemonade from the lemon. Moaning and pissing won’t help in any
way. So I’m off back to studying.
#Post#: 5544--------------------------------------------------
Re: Steve Jobs - Walter Isaacson
By: Mac Date: January 31, 2012, 12:07 pm
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A small interview with the author on the amazon site...
Q: It's becoming well known that Jobs was able to create his
Reality Distortion Field when it served him. Was it difficult
for you to cut through the RDF and get beneath the narrative
that he created? How did you do it?
Isaacson: Andy Hertzfeld, who worked with Steve on the original
Macintosh team, said that even if you were aware of his Reality
Distortion Field, you still got caught up in it. But that is why
Steve was so successful: He willfully bent reality so that you
became convinced you could do the impossible, so you did. I
never felt he was intentionally misleading me, but I did try to
check every story. I did more than a hundred interviews. And he
urged me not just to hear his version, but to interview as many
people as possible. It was one of his many odd contradictions:
He could distort reality, yet he was also brutally honest most
of the time. He impressed upon me the value of honesty, rather
than trying to whitewash things.
Q: How were the interviews with Jobs conducted? Did you ask lots
of questions, or did he just talk?
Isaacson: I asked very few questions. We would take long walks
or drives, or sit in his garden, and I would raise a topic and
let him expound on it. Even during the more formal sessions in
his living room, I would just sit quietly and listen. He loved
to tell stories, and he would get very emotional, especially
when talking about people in his life whom he admired or
disdained.
Q: He was a powerful man who could hold a grudge. Was it easy to
get others to talk about Jobs willingly? Were they afraid to
talk?
Isaacson: Everyone was eager to talk about Steve. They all had
stories to tell, and they loved to tell them. Even those who
told me about his rough manner put it in the context of how
inspiring he could be.
Q: Jobs embraced the counterculture and Buddhism. Yet he was a
billionaire businessman with his own jet. In what way did Jobs'
contradictions contribute to his success?
Isaacson: Steve was filled with contradictions. He was a
counterculture rebel who became a billionaire. He eschewed
material objects yet made objects of desire. He talked, at
times, about how he wrestled with these contradictions. His
counterculture background combined with his love of electronics
and business was key to the products he created. They combined
artistry and technology.
Q: Jobs could be notoriously difficult. Did you wind up liking
him in the end?
Isaacson: Yes, I liked him and was inspired by him. But I knew
he could be unkind and rough. These things can go together. When
my book first came out, some people skimmed it quickly and
cherry-picked the examples of his being rude to people. But that
was only half the story. Fortunately, as people read the whole
book, they saw the theme of the narrative: He could be petulant
and rough, but this was driven by his passion and pursuit of
perfection. He liked people to stand up to him, and he said that
brutal honesty was required to be part of his team. And the
teams he built became extremely loyal and inspired.
Q: Do you believe he was a genius?
Isaacson: He was a genius at connecting art to technology, of
making leaps based on intuition and imagination. He knew how to
make emotional connections with those around him and with his
customers.
Q: Did he have regrets?
Isaacson: He had some regrets, which he expressed in his
interviews. For example, he said that he did not handle well the
pregnancy of his first girlfriend. But he was deeply satisfied
by the creativity he ingrained at Apple and the loyalty of both
his close colleagues and his family.
Q: What do you think is his legacy?
Isaacson: His legacy is transforming seven industries: personal
computers, animated movies, music, phones, tablet computing,
digital publishing, and retail stores. His legacy is creating
what became the most valuable company on earth, one that stood
at the intersection of the humanities and technology, and is the
company most likely still to be doing that a generation from
now. His legacy, as he said in his "Think Different" ad, was
reminding us that the people who are crazy enough to think they
can change the world are the ones who do.
#Post#: 5545--------------------------------------------------
Re: Steve Jobs - Walter Isaacson
By: Chiprocks1 Date: January 31, 2012, 12:15 pm
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[quote author=Mac link=topic=670.msg5543#msg5543
date=1328027760]
You can’t fight people for who they are. I’ve learned you need
to recognize character in people and adjust as necessary if you
have to work with them. But at the same time I expect ‘those
others’ to have the same respect and treat me accordingly.
There’s no reason they can’t learn things too.
I find my patience and tolerance being severely stretched with
my mentor and friend. I do recognize several things including
the great opportunity to learn from a guru, this necessary part
of work that the company knows is critical. This will further
increase my skill set, thus position me better in the eyes of
the company. It’s a fine balance of running with this
opportunity and telling him he is a dick.
The flip side, this process interests me only a little.
I’m going to run with ‘it’s an opportunity’ and drink all the
lemonade from the lemon. Moaning and ****ing won’t help in any
way. So I’m off back to studying.
[/quote]
Well said.
#Post#: 5546--------------------------------------------------
Re: Steve Jobs - Walter Isaacson
By: Chiprocks1 Date: January 31, 2012, 12:18 pm
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Yo Mac, just a heads up. When you are reading the book, you will
get more enjoyment out of it by watching YouTube for some of the
big moments that are being dissected in the book. It's like
getting a pre-made documentary for the book.
#Post#: 5547--------------------------------------------------
Re: Steve Jobs - Walter Isaacson
By: Chiprocks1 Date: January 31, 2012, 12:23 pm
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For my own benefit, I kept my name on the wait list for the
Regular Print Edition of the book while I was reading the Large
Print Edition. I wanted to see how fast I could read it and
where I was on the list by the time I finished.
Started on Wait List at: 150
Ended on Wait List at 92
Man, the list barely moved in my eyes.
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