Chapter Notes
Chapter 1: Jobs’ parents never made him feel different because he was adopted; instead, they tried to show him that he was special.
Chapter 2: “If it hadn’t been for the Blue Boxes, there wouldn’t have been an Apple.”[1]
Chapter 3: Jobs refused to go to assigned classes and, instead, went to the ones he wanted, such as dance classes where he enjoyed both the creativity and the chance to meet girls.
Chapter 4: Although he was overly specific on details and authoritarian, Jobs was also the part of the counterculture that describes the period.
Chapter 5: It takes two to form a company, the maker and the marketer.
Chapter 6: Jobs’ obsessiveness drove him to care about some details that other people would disregard, such as the quality of the unpacking experience.
Chapter 7: On relationships? Jobs burned many bridges but also regretted the decisions and sought to make amends where he could.
Chapter 8: The GUI is synonymous with modern computing but is also indicative of the dangers of conformity and the influence that large corporations have on available products.
Chapter 9: Money does not change a person’s character: look at Jobs, he made millions in his first year and only splurged on a cruise that reminded him of his past.
Chapter 10: Jobs may always have been a revolutionary, but thank Heavens for IBM providing him with a Goliath to inspire his spiritedness.
Chapter 11: Playing by one’s rules is thrilling but also dangerous; it almost destroyed the foundations of Jobs’ legacy.
Chapter 12: Jobs was not sympathetic to engineering impossibilities and was instead focused on beauty over functionality.
Chapter 13: While he was authoritarian, Jobs also acknowledged efforts done behind his back if that benefitted the company.
Chapter 14: Two leaders who like to be in control can result either in the positive competition or in the delusion that could destroy a great company.
Chapter 15: Being first in innovations does not necessarily stop competitors from competing.
Chapter 16: The first 30 years of a person’s life define his or her habits but the last 30 are defined by his or her habits.
Chapter 17: Being innovative is not the assurance of continued success for future innovations.
Chapter 18: Grasp an opportunity when you see it, and you might just change the world.
Chapter 19: Neglect is a form of abuse.
Chapter 20: People around you have the capacity to describe you in ways that even you yourself cannot.
Chapter 21: Toy Story is to Pixar as the Apple I was to Apple.
Chapter 22: While Jobs had the capacity to be self-destructive, the division of his focus between Pixar and Apple allowed both companies to benefit from his genius without the associated drawbacks.
Chapter 23: A focus on money made Apple like any other company; going back to artistic inspiration was Jobs’ way of saving it.
Chapter 24: When it is working right, do not fix it; when it is wrong, tear it all apart and rebuild it part by part.
Chapter 25: Jobs sought to make Apple memorable and revolutionary, not just rich.
Chapter 26: Jobs’ design ethic transferred to his work teams and inspired them to achieve the success that Apple I is known for.
Chapter 27: Focusing on the emotional rather than functional connections to the computing world was the way Jobs propelled the iMac to fame and success.
Chapter 28: Apple was forever grateful for Jobs’ intervention, and his replacement, Tim Cook, had to embody Jobs’ ethic to maintain Apple’s success.
Chapter 29: Jobs always remained hands-on in the development and the evolution of the Apple brand.
Chapter 30: iPod is the perfect example of a revolution that would change music forever.
Chapter 31: iPod paved the way for the online music sales model that persists today.
Chapter 32: The music elements of Jobs’ businesses allowed him to work with musical geniuses who had inspired and entertained him since his youth.
Chapter 33: Innovation is important for sparking the idea of new possibilities, even when it invites competition.
Chapter 34: While he did not define himself by his wealth, Jobs was not averse to making Apple and himself very wealthy.
Chapter 35: The cancer diagnosis was a pivotal part of Jobs’ life and made him think intently about his legacy.
Chapter 36: iPhone is revolutionary but is again the simple representation of a man whose dedication to quality user experiences remains unmatched.
Chapter 37: Jobs’ stubbornness may have robbed him of precious years of his life but also granted the world so much in technological innovation.
Chapter 38: Battling against all odds is required to turn coal into diamonds and opportunities into successes.
Chapter 39: Remaining resilient and true to its roots in the face of competition is the way Apple built brand loyalty in the age of open source technology.
Chapter 40: Even with his counterculture background, Jobs was fiercely competitive and may have achieved some of his success due to his lifelong rivalry with Bill Gates.
Chapter 41: From the revolutionary to the economic influencer: Jobs went from working in a garage to having personal conversations with the President of the United States regarding the US economy.
Chapter 42: Jobs’ decisions did not always follow the requirements of Apple’s business interests; rather, he was intent on achieving a long-term goal that superseded both him and the company.
Book Review
Walter Isaacson’s Steve Jobs: The Exclusive Biography is a book that follows the spirit of other biographies that the author wrote about subjects such as Albert Einstein and Benjamin Franklin. It is evident in the book’s emphasis on presenting Jobs as a person who changed history while also sharing aspects of his life that may prove shocking to the readers and expose his humanity. Overall, this approach results in a story that weaves seamlessly across the personal and business aspects of Jobs’ life and brings a sharp personal focus to his life.
Aside from the almost cultic following that Jobs enjoys among technology enthusiasts, the book allows the reader to perceive the same from the premise of him as a human being. Rather than glorifying Jobs’ exploits, Isaacson goes a step further and shows the character of the man that built Apple and other companies as well as his successes and failures on this journey. It also brings to focus the reality of distortion that allowed Jobs to push his achievement to levels that even his engineers and others around him had thought unimaginable.
While the Isaacson does paint Jobs out to be a visionary, the author also shows that the subject had a need for control and practicing a harsh managerial style that inspired and demoralised in equal measures. It was in contrast to what Bill Gates, who was one of Jobs’ lifelong competitors, has to say about Steve. He states that Jobs’ need for control also promoted his creative outputs, noting that his strong beliefs about what represents a quality product led to him being one of the most innovative people in the technology industry.[2]
Even with his brazen personality as an authoritarian, Jobs was an authentic character who stayed consistent in his personal and business lives. One factor that the book emphasises on is that Jobs was insistent on his view of how outcomes should be, which also turned out to be the extra mile that his teams and companies needed to achieve excellence. With most of the story told in Jobs’ own words, Isaacson thereby succeeds in delivering a biography that will forever provide audiences with a peek into this modern legend’s life in his sunset years.
Reflection
One of the things that I picked up from the book was that resilience is a key factor in achieving success in innovative fields. It does not mean failing to acknowledge limitations but rather to challenge these limitations in an effort to improve existing techniques and understandings. The book inspired an urge to contribute to humanity and ensure that current and future generations benefit from my skills and talents. I cannot say that Jobs urged me as the reader to do it, but his life is inspirational and motivates to seek achievement in own life.
While a direct comparison between Jobs and I is out of the question, I believe that he has a tenacity that I did not think a manager could have and still hold a company together. Given that he drove so many of his Apple employees to tears and frustration with his demands and expectations, it is impressive to see how he was able to achieve so much with his peculiar take on life. Therefore, as a person who seeks to enable others to achieve success, Jobs stands out as a character who craves success in the same way that I do but whose abrasiveness, unlike mine, is an integral part of his achievement model.
Bibliography
Isaacson Walter. Steve Jobs: The Exclusive Biography. New York: Simon & Schuster, 2011.
[1] Walter Isaacson, Steve Jobs: The Exclusive Biography, (New York: Simon & Schuster, 2011), 27.
[2] Walter Isaacson, Steve Jobs: The Exclusive Biography, (New York: Simon & Schuster, 2011), 553.
