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Letters to Steve: Inside the Inbox of Apple's Steve Jobs
Through his incredible foresight and technological mastery, Steve Jobs touched billions of people's lives around the world over several decades. He attracted a cult-like following that lined up to buy the computers and gadgets produced by Apple Inc. Over the years, people discovered the e-mail address of Jobs and took to regularly sending him messages. That he often responded was as unusual as his leadership style and his processes for crafting hit products.
Mark Milian, a technology writer for CNN, has reviewed more than a hundred of these e-mails, compiled from those posted by fans to blogs and online message boards. Some never-before-published e-mails from Jobs were shared exclusively for this book. As a whole, these correspondences provide a behind-the-scenes and inside-the-mind account of Jobs' final and most triumphant years. During this time, he returned to Apple and led the beleaguered computer maker from the brink of bankruptcy to becoming the most valuable technology company in the world, while also managing Pixar Animation Studios, an innovative production company that rocketed the Walt Disney Company into a new era of family films.
This book is based on interviews with many of the customers and fans Jobs communicated with. These tales reveal the intricacies of how Jobs portrayed himself as likable and accessible through direct interaction with fans. He handled customer-service inquiries himself and carefully revealed hints about upcoming Apple products, guaranteeing headlines on blogs. However, some of these letters, when analyzed, provide a glimpse into his "reality distortion field," in which he lobs insults, bends the truth and uses misdirection in order to manipulate anyone on the receiving end. This book has been self-published in digital form, and is not associated with or endorsed by CNN.
Mark Milian, a technology writer for CNN, has reviewed more than a hundred of these e-mails, compiled from those posted by fans to blogs and online message boards. Some never-before-published e-mails from Jobs were shared exclusively for this book. As a whole, these correspondences provide a behind-the-scenes and inside-the-mind account of Jobs' final and most triumphant years. During this time, he returned to Apple and led the beleaguered computer maker from the brink of bankruptcy to becoming the most valuable technology company in the world, while also managing Pixar Animation Studios, an innovative production company that rocketed the Walt Disney Company into a new era of family films.
This book is based on interviews with many of the customers and fans Jobs communicated with. These tales reveal the intricacies of how Jobs portrayed himself as likable and accessible through direct interaction with fans. He handled customer-service inquiries himself and carefully revealed hints about upcoming Apple products, guaranteeing headlines on blogs. However, some of these letters, when analyzed, provide a glimpse into his "reality distortion field," in which he lobs insults, bends the truth and uses misdirection in order to manipulate anyone on the receiving end. This book has been self-published in digital form, and is not associated with or endorsed by CNN.
82 pages, Kindle Edition
First published November 21, 2011
17 people are currently reading
60 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews
December 1, 2011
This was a fun little book, and an interesting approach. It is peppered with clips and samples of e-mail exchanges, though not nearly as many as the title led me to believe. It gives a decent, if thin, account of the career of Steve Jobs, especially during his second time around with Apple Inc., and it does this with the e-mail correspondence at the center.
I wouldn’t highly recommend this book, and it’s probably not anything close to the quality of biography on Jobs as the others that have come out. But if you don’t know much about the man and his work leading Apple, this one would serve as a fair introduction to that.
I wouldn’t highly recommend this book, and it’s probably not anything close to the quality of biography on Jobs as the others that have come out. But if you don’t know much about the man and his work leading Apple, this one would serve as a fair introduction to that.
March 4, 2018
Cuộc đời đầy thăng trầm của một kỹ sư tài năng đã được thể hiện rất khéo léo. Thông qua nhũng cách trả lời mail của Steve mình học được cách trả lời mail rất khéo của Steve.
April 14, 2020
I haven't read much about Steve Jobs before reading this book. I just knew that he was behind Apple and that he's very influential in so many ways. I first heard about him in 2009 and I wasn't really interested in following or reading about any CEO during my university days so I shrugged any article relating to him or to Apple. I also didn't own anything Apple so I was dismissive.
Reading this book now, I think I could say that Steve was just like everyone of us. He's human. He might have thought differently. He might have acted differently compared to all other CEOs in the world, but if there's one takeaway I'd like to remember from this book - it's that he's simply human. And we are all human. We make errors and we sometimes get a shot at winning big. Or sometimes we also fail big time.
We all set our priorities straight when we realize that we are all going to die sooner. << I also liked this point from this book.
Did this book make me interested to read more about Steve?
Not really. I guess I'd stop reading about him for now. This is an okay introduction to Steve Jobs, but it didn't make me want to know more about him. This book is well written and I like how the letters were curated and sewn together to draw the bigger picture and still it just didn't make me more curious about Steve.
Reading this book now, I think I could say that Steve was just like everyone of us. He's human. He might have thought differently. He might have acted differently compared to all other CEOs in the world, but if there's one takeaway I'd like to remember from this book - it's that he's simply human. And we are all human. We make errors and we sometimes get a shot at winning big. Or sometimes we also fail big time.
We all set our priorities straight when we realize that we are all going to die sooner. << I also liked this point from this book.
Did this book make me interested to read more about Steve?
Not really. I guess I'd stop reading about him for now. This is an okay introduction to Steve Jobs, but it didn't make me want to know more about him. This book is well written and I like how the letters were curated and sewn together to draw the bigger picture and still it just didn't make me more curious about Steve.
March 23, 2024
1,75/5
Książka nie niesie za sobą dużej treści, nie czuję, żeby wniosła cokolwiek do mojego życia. Mimo wszystko nie jest tragiczna, skoro przeczytałam ją tak szybko.
Książka nie niesie za sobą dużej treści, nie czuję, żeby wniosła cokolwiek do mojego życia. Mimo wszystko nie jest tragiczna, skoro przeczytałam ją tak szybko.
November 24, 2011
Expected a lot more than a summary of Steve Jobs' life intespersed with some fanmail.
January 6, 2012
Short, quick to read, not a must read for the Apple fans, but better than expected.
March 13, 2013
It felt like a slapped together account of emails rather than adding insight to emails and letting the correspondences speak for themselves. Immature writing.
July 16, 2015
Waste of time.
April 5, 2016
Przyjemne uzupełnienie biografii Jobsa napisanej przez Isaacsona. Czy Jobs był ekscentrykiem? BYŁ, i to BEZ MAŁA! Dlaczego? Zajrzyj na jego skrzynkę pocztową.
May 8, 2013
Meh, rehashed info from other books/sites/etc. Not really worth it.
Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews