Steve Jobs

Steve Jobs by Walter Isaacson. I am so glad this is the first book I'm sharing since rediscovering my inner Book Worm. Why? Because I cannot tell you how much I enjoyed this book. I'm not going to lie, it took me a LONG time to get through, but that should not be reflective of how I felt about it. 

We all know who Steve Jobs is. I mean, he changed our world for goodness sake! He actually changed it. Love him or hate him, I learned so much about him in the book I didn't know and I'm sure never would have known otherwise. You can love him because he was so creative, artistic, innovative, and determined. You can hate him because he was emotionally immature, harsh, insensitive, and controlling. It was when he became ill that Steve Jobs actually asked Walter Isaacson to write this book about him and gave Walter full access to him and the people in his life (past and present). Steve figured that once he passed away someone would write a book about him, so why not endorse it, and make it one of truth, where people can know the real him. 

I am my father's daughter and am constantly interested in and intrigued by technology and innovation. This book also told that story. I thought learning about how it all (Apple and the Steve Jobs legend) began was interesting, but even more so how the technologies of late have come to be. The Mac, iPod, iPhone, iPad, iTunes... all of it! Each and every single one of those products changed the norm, shook up industries, and had people NEEDING something they previously didn't even know they wanted. 

Some people say, "Give the customers what they want." But that's not my approach. Our job is to figure out what they're going to want before they do. I think Henry Ford once said "If I'd asked customers what they wanted, they would have told me 'A faster horse!'" People don't know what they want until you show it to them. That's why I never rely on market research. Our task is to read things that are not yet on the page. - Steve Jobs

If you like biographies, this is a great one. If you love technology you'll love this one! I am definitely an Apple girl and I've always appreciated how they upped the ante for anyone in their lines of business, and it was taken there by Steve Jobs. The fact that this book is so well written and honest just makes you get lost in the story. Steve Jobs also had such a unique perspective of the world, that some of the quotes in the book are quite profound. I'm very much in awe of him.

One more quote from the book I'd like to share is something Steve said after he got diagnosed with cancer, and although it is a touch morbid, it is also very real: 

Remembering that I'll be dead soon is the most important tool I've ever encountered to help me make the big choice in life. Because almost everything - all external expectations, all pride, all fear of embarrassment or failure - these things just fall away in the face of death, leaving only what is truly important. Remembering that you are going to die is the best way I know to avoid the trap of thinking you have something to lose. You are already naked. There is no reason not to follow your heart.