Customer Reviews on Amazon.com
See all reviews ›
Showing 3-star reviews
- Most Helpful First |
- Newest First
-
820 of 1010 people found this review helpfulByAdequate, but not excellent 25 October, 2011Format:HardcoverThis new, highly-anticipated bio is reasonably comprehensive in scope, but written in a plodding, subjectively fawning fashion that undercuts its impact. Mr. Isaacson doesn't hail from the technology world, and it shows; his feel for the real importance of Jobs' accomplishments is largely constrained to social impact (of the fuzzy, gee-whiz sort) rather than crucial areas of interface, functionality and convergence. Why do Apple's products really work? What impact will they have on how we interact with the digital world, tomorrow and after? Isaacson has no idea. All he seems to know is that 'simplicity' is good, and that 'design' is more than skin deep. And that the little things matter. Millions upon millions of people already know that; the opportunity missed here is to go deep on the subject, and unpack it. That doesn't happen here, because the writer is out of his element.
Apart from that, we learn that Jobs was basically an ass, and that he cried a lot when he didn't get his way. It's implied that he carried a narcissistic disorder, but that's never really explored -- to the book's detriment, as psychiatric context is pretty important to understand how a comprehensive tyrant could achieve so much, and improve the productivity and satisfaction of so many.
The book is also overlong -- a remarkable thing given the richness of the subject. It's written almost as a sequential fact-finding report, rather than as a truly insightful look at a man and his work. We come away with the impression that strong-willed CEOs can do what they want, as long as they make money for shareholders and impart a sense of accomplishment (however painfully won) to their underlings. Not exactly a revelation, but it takes more than 600 pages for Isaacson to drive the point home.
I'm glad we have this bio, but I suspect someone will come along and write a much better treatment of Jobs' life. For now, don't expect to learn any larger truths about Jobs and his world; just enjoy the anecdotes, and prepare to make your own conclusions about the book's fascinating subject. -
20 of 24 people found this review helpfulByShallow 16 December, 2011Format:HardcoverI don't read many biographies. The previous one I had read was "Mark Twain: A Life" by Ron Powers. But when I finished that book, I felt that I knew Sam Clemens as a person. In contrast, when I finished Isaacson's biography, I didn't feel like I knew Steve Jobs much better than when I started.
Isaacson did an admirable job covering the events of Jobs' life and he provided many interesting anecdotes thanks to his access to the people who knew Jobs, but the access was wasted on Isaacson. I hope that someday someone writes a biography insightful enough to capture this complex person, but it's likely that that author won't have the opportunity to conduct as much original research because he or she will not have been anointed as Jobs' official biographer.
This book reads like an extended magazine article. Rather than capture the essence of Steve Jobs, Isaacson stops at describing his abusive behavior, crying, etc. When I finished, I was left hungry for a deeper analysis of both Steve Jobs and the products he created. -
34 of 43 people found this review helpfulBySmall Insights but Never the Whole 31 October, 2011Format:HardcoverWhen looking at a biography I have a single yardstick to decide its success: did I get inside the subject's head?
Very simple.
Very hard to do perfectly.
A lot like an Apple product some would say...
Isaacson managed to do this with his "Einstein". You were with him in those pages, you could feel his playfulness, his genius, and his beliefs all in turn, be it in a Unified Theory or in pacifism--only to have those beliefs challenged by quantum and WW2. You felt Einstein, you were beside him, you understood him.
I don't think Isaacson has managed this here.
There are moments of Steve Jobs but for most of it we're left with an enigma. Indeed, for a work that had access to the subject in interview it's rather amazing that the majority of it does not rest with Jobs' view of the world but instead was stories told of others about Jobs. Why is Jobs the way he is? This question is never really answered.
There are bursts of insight and guesses directly from Isaacson about simplicity and abandonment but we never dig deep in these pages.
Besides this huge problem, there were other smaller ones. Along with not focusing on Jobs' point-of-view, the book often strayed to the story of those around him and became sidetracked by the creation of Apple products from the Mac to the iPad. Usually this is a technique to help explain the subject but here it only feels as if Isaacson was trying to fill out pages. He also does this through repetition of stories and facts (and crying and screaming galore), which gets annoying for the reader and makes one wonder if this novel was rushed through the editing phase.
Reading this, I can say I now know Apple, but I can't say I know Steve Jobs. Linked as they are, they aren't one and the same.
Not as dry as "Benjamin Franklin" yet not as impactful as "Einstein", three and a half stars. -
26 of 33 people found this review helpfulByGood Narrative, lacking Depth-Where's the Rest of the Book? 28 October, 2011Format:HardcoverIf you are not familiar with the story of Apple Corporation, or perhaps what happened to Steve Jobs after he came back to Apple, there is huge merit to this book. It is a straight narrative that lays out the story of Apple as well as that of Steve Jobs. The high level technical descriptions of product development is quite educational. However, it is a narrative that is quite wide yet very shallow. The story of his rise and fall and rise at Apple, followed by his struggle with cancer, makes for interesting but not compelling reading. The spotlight is trained on Steve Jobs, and almost everything else is left in shadow.
There is often a lack of context and a lack of follow through. Example: While Jobs is fighting his cancer, and making various references to the potential of death, there is no reference to his adoptive parents. Isaacson mentions the adoptive mother passing,but not the father-whom I am certain have already passed away. There were no references from Jobs comparing situations? Example: Apple comes up with a new product, and Microsoft or another competitor either says it won't work or is amazed at how good it is...but nothing about how or did they attempt to combat it. There are frequent references during Jobs cancer about his digestive problems, and what he needs to do, and how he would not do it...but what specifically did he do? If I were an elementary school math teacher, I would say that the author has not "shown his work"...he tells you something has happened, but nothing about the follow through or results.
The areas of inadequate background are significant. There is a huge parade of original Macintosh guys who leave Apple, but get paraded out during Jobs II product introductions. More backstory on them would help better frame the Apple story. There are numerous references to Jobs mercurial personality, but few really personal examples of individuals rebounding from a Jobs dressing down (although we are assured it did happen). We are told that Jobs "Reality Distortion Field" could motivate people to do things they didn't think they could, or do faster than they thought they could...but nothing about how they did it. I think there is a story about the human toll of working with Steve Jobs that should have been told. Suddenly Apple is described as having factories in China-employing 700,000 people. When did this happen? Why was work being done in China? Cost? Craftsmanship? Proximity to materials? More depth is needed to flesh out these developments.
The book is good, but not great. I rank it beneath Isaacson's bios of Franklin and Einstein, and therein is perhaps the problem. Isaacson's previous efforts have been about historical figures, not contemporary figures. The lack of depth and texture I allude to above is not present in his earlier books-I must wonder if he made assumptions about what people knew since his subject is a contemporary person. Get it, read it, but if you are a big Jobs/Apple fan keep an eye out for a more definitive treatment. -
13 of 16 people found this review helpfulByThe Genius, The Maverick, The Romantic, The Visionary, The Eccentric, Heartless, Cruel, it is all in there... 3 November, 2011Format:HardcoverThe Genius, The Maverick, The Romantic, The Visionary, The Eccentric, The Father, The Husband, Heartless, Cruel, it is all in there
Narcissistic Personality disorder, yes, that describes Steve Jobs well as per Tina Redse - the woman he was madly in love with. Couple of irony's in the story: Steve espoused perfection and Zen Buddhism, but appears to have settled for Laurene even though he really wanted Tina and he gave the world the most coveted material objects that goes against the very soul of Zen Buddhism. Life, it always has a way of upending anyone, even Steve Jobs.
The problem Walter Isaacson ran into is whether to present a chronological story or a story of Steve Jobs' personal life, professional life, Pixar, Apple. In Steve's case, there really was no distinction, it is all rolled into one. So Mr. Isaacson has a loose chronological backdrop, dispersed with themes from Steve Jobs' life as it happened at home, work, personal, professional - What you see is what you get.
The impression I get is of someone after having neatly laying out everything to pack, decided to rush at the last minute dumping items into various bags for take off. The story takes us all they way to August, 2011, Mr. Jobs passed away on October 5th, 2011 and the book appears to have been rushed to release on October 24th. Just need few more months of cleanup. Steve would never have let it out of the door in its current state.
Yes, Apple executed all of aspects of selling to the consumer market flawlessly - Product (features, design, hidden needs, ecosystem), Procurement, Supply Chain, Manufacturing, Marketing, Distribution, Retail. The key, however, to Apple's amazing success in the past decade was one single stroke of Steve Jobs' genius - getting the recording studios to agree to sell single songs on iTunes. No one could have done it but him. It was the iTunes service/ecosystem combined with great design and marketing machine.
Tim Cook, Procurement specialist, CEO, Apple Inc. Only at Apple. Tim appears to be even tempered and a good manager. After Steve's tumultus management, perhaps Tim is exactly what Apple needs moving forward. Product road map in place for the next decade. Marketing machine is also well oiled. Manufacturing is outsourced. Needs execution on the procurement side for components (products) and content (ecosystem). Hence the choice?
I agree Steve, Apple's best days are ahead of it. May you rest in peace...
Steve Jobs -
10 of 12 people found this review helpfulByThe definitive bio of Steve Jobs remains to be written 12 December, 2011Format:HardcoverLike most of the reviewers on this site, I couldn't wait to get my hands on a copy Isaacson's biography of Steve Jobs. It's a fascinating read; despite its length, it goes very quickly. But at the end, I came away feeling somewhat empty, having hoped for fresh insights into Steve Jobs's personality. And there were precious few.
Because of his extensive access to Jobs and to those who knew him, Isaacson was able to glean an enormous amount of information about Jobs' background: his adoptive and biological parents, his biological sister, and his short stint at Reed College. Likewise, the genesis of Apple, his ultimate ejection from the company he started, his years at NeXT and Pixar, and his ultimate, triumphant return to Apple are all described in great detail. Those (like me) who only had a "broad-brush" knowledge of this history will enjoy reading about it in detail and gleaning the perspectives of Jobs's colleagues in these ventures. And it is in these descriptions of all of Jobs's technological achievements that his genius shines through.
However, those hoping to gain a greater understanding of who Jobs really was will be disappointed. The fact that Jobs had a fiery temper was well known before this biography was published, and Isaacson chose to hammer this point home ad nauseaum. It wasn't really necessary for Isaacson to use the term "reality distortion field" (referring to Jobs' unrealistic demands on his employees) hundreds of times. Nor was it necessary to catalog every instance (or so it seemed) when Jobs berated someone. What is missing is any suggestion that there were positive, counter-balancing aspects of his personality. There is virtually no mention of his relationship with his 3 children with Laurene Powell, nor with Powell, for that matter. We know nothing more personal than that they were both vegan. Surely this man who inspired so many, and who was so accomplished, had to have had character traits that endeared him, at least to some. But you will not find any here.
This book also needed a good edit. It was longer than it needed to be, and excessively repetitive. I attribute this to the fact that the publisher rushed to get this book out as soon as Jobs passed away, so any potential editorial enhancements were cast aside in favor of quick publication.
I'm sure there will be biographies of Jobs written in the future. I do hope that these biographies-to-be focus more on who Steve Jobs really was and what he meant to other people, as opposed to his spectacular business achievements. -
7 of 8 people found this review helpfulByAverage Portrait of a Business and Tech Titan 14 November, 2011Format:Kindle EditionFor full transparency, I'll state upfront that I currently work at MS and as a result, I'll judge the book mainly for the quality of the storytelling rather than larger subjective assessments.
On the merits of Isaacson's writing and storytelling (and I'm a big fan of his), I thought "Steve Jobs" was a bit like a roller coaster ride. There were some really good parts of the book, particularly in the sections covering his first tenure @ Apple and NeXT and Pixar period. However, in many other parts of the book, it was evident that Isaacson and his publisher prioritized speed to market over the quality of the final product. It is clear they wanted to get the book sold as close to Job's death as possible, preventing valuable editing and perspective that could have made this an exceptional biography of one of the most important people of our generation. If one judges the book based on its ability to convince one of how visionary Job's was or his impact on business, technology and everyday life, sure the book works. Given Isaacson's access to Job's and his family, he doesn't sugarcoat his character flaws and brings great insider perspective to a generally secretive personality. Working in the technology industry, I easily devoured its contents, but based on the overall quality of the work, I'd judge it to be just average. -
21 of 28 people found this review helpfulByEmotionless Biography for an Emotive Man 6 November, 2011Format:HardcoverThis book grabbed me at the beginning, and sufficiently held my attention to finish it. While it offers fascinating insights into Steve Jobs' life, and even though it explores many facets of his complex personality, the accounting of it was completely emotionless. Like a person without any feelings telling you what they literally see in front of them, without further analysis, or any other intellectual or psychological curiosity. The book also seemed to be biased against Steve Jobs, to a fault. The overall message is that "Steve was a jerk, and a genius" - in that order.
I think the biographer tried to cover up his bias by stating at the beginning of the book that he liked Steve Jobs, but it's quite apparent throughout the book that the biographer despised Steve Jobs. While he cites objective facts like, "He [Steve] cried" - his mention of that one trait page after page intentionally casts Steve as weak, immature and temperamental - the reader is meant to come out with the impression that Steve was emotionally manipulative. End Stop. No further exploration. The author continues to try to hit this home (Steve is jerk) even during the latest stages of Steve's very painful illness, during a time when I don't think it's remotely fair to judge anyone. It feels disgraceful - like a bitter relative standing giving a contemptuous eulogy at a funeral, particularly given that Time chose to release this jarringly close to Steve's actual death. For a biographer who insinuates his own moral high ground, he's a hypocrite - kicking down the dead for profit is more mercenarial than the questionable corporate actions he accuses Steve Jobs of. The most revealing - and heartbreaking - part in the whole book, is an interaction between the biographer and Steve Jobs just weeks before his death. Steve gives the biographer a box of precious family photographs, telling the biographer that he has entrusted the way he is remembered to Isaacson. Steven mentions that perhaps he wouldn't like what Isaacson had to say in the book - revealing the heartless person that Isaacson is, the biographer agrees. Nice way to let a guy die, Isaacson.
The quotes Isaacson chooses from close friends and colleagues make you think that everyone hates Steve, but it's difficult to believe stories that are told from only one side - it's purposely one-dimensional. Isaacson reveals that his own interview questions went along the lines of "Steve said this hateful thing about you - how would you like to respond to that?" Well, what you ask is what you get.
The contempt was so deep that Isaacson seemed hardly able bring himself to portray positive emotional incidents - like people bonding with Steve Jobs, or enjoying a laugh with him. The incidents that do touch on those encounters are brief and underplayed. Isaacson can't help himself with constant digs throughout the book. There is always a counterbalancing - if someone says something nice about Steve, it's tempered by a negative incident. If someone says something bad about Steve, there's little redemption. Criminals, despots, and murderers have received more compassionate treatment by biographers, but Isaacson seems as incapable of empathy as his subject, even with Jobs was facing imminent death. I'm not sure who is more heartless - Jobs or Isaacson, but I think it's Isaacson.
To the extent that people complained a lot about Steve's behavior, I found it odd and telling that there was no mention of friends, relatives, or colleagues earlier in his career to seek psychological counseling. Everyone homed in a "reality distortion field" but no one seemed to question its roots, causes, or possible treatment. Casting it as a character flaw with a Trekkie term only served to mask possible mental illness or disorder. It seemed to me that Steve Jobs demonstrated some clear indications of borderline personality disorder in addition to an eating disorder early on in his life - but there's no mention of any of this until the end of his life (although some friends suggest narcissism), when he was already in the deep throes of fighting pancreatic cancer and a liver transplant. Anyone who has first-hand experience with eating disorders, cancer, pancreatic cancer, or liver disease, will tell you that those disease can ravage psychology as well as the body - and permanently affect brain chemistry. But Isaacson doesn't mention any of that. That would give Steve too much credit.
It's too bad Steve Jobs chose Isaacson to portray him because Isaacson's account will likely be the most "authoritative" given that he was given unprecedented access by Steve and his wife, Laurene, to write this biography. Which, I think, Isaacson shamefully abused - like he was getting back at Steve for being a difficult subject or having skirmishes in the past with journalists and Time magazine (I think he spends a huge amount of time on these issues, which is revealing of his own bias).
I hope Mona Simpson writes a more fair biography of Steve Jobs, or even slants it the other way - so we get to see that Steve must have had a good side, redeemable qualities (I know, some will say she already did in "A Regular Man", but there is a huge difference between source material for a fictitious novel, and an intentional accounting of a person's life). -
2 of 2 people found this review helpfulByFascinating, but could have been so much more 3 March, 2012Format:HardcoverBased on more than 40 interviews, Walter Isaacson was selected by Jobs himself to conduct his biography. From start to finish, the book reads like a novel. The book is intricately done; colorful descriptions make it easy to connect with everyone. It's clear that Steve Jobs was as revealing as he could be and wanted a straight record.
The author speaks glowingly about Steve. It seems that over the years they spent, Steve rubbed off on him in a positive way. He claims that Steve is the 'greatest business executive in the world' and will be remembered a century from now. Whether Apple will exist a century from now is probably on most people's minds. With Jobs gone, will the company be able to continue its innovation and culture?
Jobs' executive behavior would make Wall Street executives blush. He back dated stock options, misinformed investors (securities fraud), and demanded a private jet. I was astonished when the author said Jobs impressed the value of honesty upon him. Almost every other page a friend or colleague mentions Jobs' lack of integrity. There are several examples where he blatantly lies, or takes credit for others ideas.
During meetings, Jobs usually responds in expletives, and many employees mention feeling hurt by his lack of empathy. Jobs at one point e-mailed Michael Dell saying that "CEO's should act with class." This is odd. Jobs would abruptly end contracts, park in the handicapped spot, and make analogies between his competition and the devil.
The book is nicely segmented, with lots of short chapters. This make the read speedy, and hard to put down. The book serves a dual purpose; it's an account of Steve Jobs and technology over the last 4 decades. From Bill Gates to Larry Ellison, dozens of Silicon Valley titans are mentioned. Their stories are revealing and interesting.
Although the book doesn't show Jobs in the best light, readers get a great history of technology for free. Young entrepreneurs looking for lessons will be disappointed. Isaacson did a poor job at dissecting how Apple did one of the biggest turnarounds in history. There are a few sentences on his business values, (focus on a few products, build a team of A players, etc.) but little on his day-to-day activities. Did he meditate daily as he did in his twenties? Did he get to work really early or telecommute? What were his goals when coming back as CEO?
Although I personally feel it's too early to put Jobs in the same sentence as Edison or Ford, it's up to you to read the story and decide for yourself. -
2 of 2 people found this review helpfulByGood but not great 11 December, 2011Format:Kindle EditionI felt this book focused far too much on the technical details of the products Steve Jobs created, rather than the life of Jobs himself. The middle third of the book got particularly bogged down in these types of details; eventually I was skimming pages just to get through them. Towards the end of the book the author was repeating himself, as if the reader might have forgotten things they read in previous chapters. Overall I don't regret taking the time to read it, but I wish I had borrowed it rather than purchasing a copy myself.
- Most Helpful First |
- Newest First
