UTOPIAN DREAM AFTERTHOUGHTS: STEVE JOBS by WALTER ISAACSON

Thursday, August 30, 2012

STEVE JOBS by WALTER ISAACSON

081912. sunday.

The journey is the reward. – Steve Jobs

it’s my first time to read a biography, and i’m so happy my first is about a man who lived a very interesting life. no regrets.

i was kind of clueless, no not kinda but totally clueless. HAHA. but after reading, i can now somehow tell how fiction is different from biography. with fiction, a character is made out of how the author wanted it to be, the author has the full freedom. with a biography, the author doesn’t have quite enough freedom to make a character. the biographer can only angle the story or make an impression of the subject according to the author’s or the subject’s will, but not create a totally untrue representation. readers would surely know whether or not there is a hidden scheme in making the subject look good. just sayin’ HAHA.

moving on…

Steve Jobs is about Steve Jobs. OBVIOUSLY. HAHA.

People DO judge a book by its cover. – Mike Markkula

this book served as an all access pass to the life of Steve. here, i saw how he was as a child, a son, a prankster (oyea, he used to be a bully before. HAHA.), a student, a believer, a music fanatic (Bob Dylan and The Beatles), a fruitarian (a literal apple man. HAHA.), a vegetarian (carrot man. HAHA.), an employee, a businessman, a business partner, an inventor, an innovator, a boss, a competitor, a lover, a friend, an adviser, a husband, a father, a cancer patient, a CEO (a very intuitive one).

since this is the biography of Steve, we cannot not talk about a few other stuff as these things were what made Steve Steve. consider it a package deal. as i read along, i also had to deal with the history and evolution of computer and technology, the principles of Zen Buddhism, and the failures and successes of Pixar and Apple. as for me, they were bonuses since my only purpose was to just read and learn about the man. HAHA.

it’s great to know that this is a no holds barred account of Steve’s life (makes me wanna believe whatever is written on its pages. HAHA.). this fact made the book more reliable since Steve didn’t wish to control its contents. according to Walter Isaacson, Jobs gave him the full authority to put whatever he thought was necessary and to talk to whoever he wanted to talk to about Steve.

i think this biography is an honest and sincere one. the writer covered Steve’s whole life, not missing any part of it. i appreciated the fact that he didn’t omit anything. even the downside of both Steve’s persona and career were written point-blank. the book didn’t try to portray him as a nice person, it just showed who he really was. the book told the readers that, just like all of us, he also had imperfections and flaws. another good thing about this is that there would always be two sides of the story – Steve’s and the other party’s. sometimes Steve would agree with the ideas and understanding of the others, sometimes he would just refute them completely.

People don’t know what they want until you show it to them. – Steve Jobs

Steve had a very exciting and moving story. with the author’s style of writing, he captured and recounted the scenes in a way that readers would get the perfect picture with the perfect mood. from time to time, i’d have to stop reading and smile because i was either fascinated, amazed, surprised, or whatever depending on what i just read. i would catch myself doing it many times while i was at it. HAHA.

i enjoyed this book a lot because it is an inspiring story about an inspiring man. i’ve always been fascinated by Steve Jobs. he’s got that sincerity and charisma which made people believe him and his products.

Our task is to read things that are not yet on the page. – Steve Jobs

i was surprised to find out that he wasn’t what i thought he was. i imagined him as a calm, considerate, sympathetic, and understanding kind of person. i didn’t get anything correctly. HAHA. he turned out to be someone who’s impatient and frank. a perfectionist. a control freak. he would classify things or people as either crap or brilliant, stupid or genius, there’s nothing in between. with all these, i think he was like that only because it’s his own way of bringing out the best in his people, in which he was very good at.

i adore him for knowing how to put a great show. people would always be excited with what he got in store every time he’d do his product launches. his attention to details was also admirable. he wouldn’t settle at something unless he thought it was already the best, may it be in the shape and thinness of the iPad, the perfect shade of a certain color, the right material for the iPhone, and so on. so you Apple users, better love and value your gadgets even more! HAHA!

if i was right at anything, it’s that he really was a very passionate and dedicated man. he wasn’t in the business primarily to make money. he’s always after what’s best for the product and the users. i’d always be a fan, more so now that i’m done with his biography! HAHA.