‘Steve Jobs’ – Book Review

Being functionally illiterate, myself, I can’t really give an adequate review of Walter Isaacson’s haphazard writing style… which certainly isn’t meant to be an insult in any way.  I haven’t read any of Isaacson’s other biographies, but from what I hear, he’s supposed to be a badass in his field.  Furthermore, what I am calling a ‘haphazard writing style’ was probably a specific choice Isaacson made to compliment Steve Jobs’ life.

Honestly, I do not envy what Isaacson, presumably, had to go through to write this biography and I salute his finished product... although at times it reads like it was rushed, premature, to the printers soon after Steve’s passing so people would buy it before interest faded.

Then again… that unfinished, unpolished feel of the book also compliments Steve Jobs’ life.

Even the exorbitant page count seems to compliment his life as well.

You see, Jobs had his hands in so many projects in such a short period of time that it was almost impossible for Isaacson to tackle the biography in a linier manner.  Instead, the book jumps a round focusing more of specific projects and relationships rather than timelines… which can be confusing at first, at least until you just let go and enjoy the ride.

In short… my take away from the book was that Steve Jobs was an unsympathetic wack-o.  He was cold, narcissistic, opinionated, and uncaring of anything he didn’t consider masterful, or anyone who wasn’t creating anything masterful.

However, Isaacson paints another picture of Steve Jobs; that of a man of great brilliance, passion, confidence, and innovation.  Steve Jobs’ story is also one of great inspiration.  His take no prisoners’ attitude towards business, although detrimental at times, was refreshing… and almost heroic.  Steve Jobs was the quintessential antihero of our times.

One quote from Jobs, in the book, has really stuck with me, and I am paraphrasing:  “I have little respect for person who has thousands of ideas but never gets beyond dreaming about them, however, a person who has one idea and can make something truly great out of it is worthy of my respect.”

Beyond the wacky story of an eccentric billionaire, there is a significant amount of the book dedicated to the creation of Pixar… which I found complete fascinating. 

I had known that Steve Jobs was involved with Pixar, however for some reason, I had always assumed he just sat on the company’s board.  The business world is pretty incestuous that way and all these rich guys sit on each other’s boards.   Well, I was wrong.  Steve Jobs actually bought Pixar from LucasArts and was its primary owner. 

In addition, Steve Jobs was the guy who negotiating Pixar’s dual branding deal with Disney to differentiate the movies Pixar made from other companies contracting with Disney (including Disney themselves).  Steve felt the separate branding of Pixar was important to differentiate their level of quality from the rest of the Disney library; a decision that has proved highly successful for Pixar.

Furthermore, at one time, Disney actually cancelled the production of Toy Story.  Mainly because they didn’t like the rewrites they forces Pixar to use.  So, in an act of defiance towards Disney and of support for his team at Pixar, Steve Jobs continued to finance the movie himself, ultimately allowing John Lassiter to make the film he had been trying to make before Disney started meddling.  And well… the rest is history.

Being the movie buff that I am, the story behind Pixar and Steve Jobs involvement with the company was amazing and those sections alone were worth reading the whole book.