This biography of the life and career of the man who started the computer revolution provides insights into his early life and formative influences, his personality, his management style and business practices, and his rise to fame and fortune.
I worked with Steve Jobs, and so wanted to get a different perspective. This was one. It is no doubt difficult to be a biographer, piecing together imperfect recollections by people with greater and lesser knowledge of a subject. Steve is the smartest person I've ever met, but with an underdeveloped emotional side that one suspects could have lead him toward a truly antisocial adulthood had the dream of Apple not blossomed early for him.
I stuck with it, and I'm glad I did. It's a fascinating story, but it's just a backdrop for what happened next. The book's story ends in 1988, but Jobs went on to sell Pixar to Disney, and sell NeXT to Apple--then became CEO for life. Apple has since surpassed Microsoft financially, something we would never have believed back in the day. I was pleased to see Scully get his comeuppance. I loathed that guy, and I don't think I was supposed to.
Steve Jobs' biography till the ouster from Apple and establishment of NeXT. This book is has lot more details about the initial years of Apple than in Walter Isaacson's official biography. Apart from life of Steve Jobs,the book sheds light on the evolution of personal computing and hegemony of IBM, which I think was quite interesting.
I highly recommend this biography of Steve Jobs and history of Apple Computer up to 1988. There are a lot of biographies of Steve, but for the early years, this is the one to read.
So far it is a good review; I am re-reading my paperback copy of this book about Steve Jobs. It is so old and "dried out" here in Colorado that it is literally falling apart page by page as I turn the pages. The trick is not to drop the book now that I am on page 186 and have all the pages fall randomly to the ground. :-)
After reading Walter Isaacson's bio, I went back to this way-older bio to see how interpretation has varied and changed with the passing of time. So far, not a lot. I am wondering, though, about the $1,400 incident. (No, I'm not going to explain further...ask me if you want, or read/interpret for yourself).
I am giving the book four stars because the 5th star only says "It was amazing." I wanted it to say: "Insanely great," even though this book doesn't quite reach that cherished height of awesomeness.
Written in the late 80s, this book covers Jobs' life up to his early thirties/ousting from Apple. As far as I'm aware it's most comprehensive/in depth look at Jobs' early life - growing up middle class in the Santa Clara Valley, being a drifter-acid-head-hippie, and his/Apple's initial rise and fall.
If you're interested in this part of Jobs' life & Apple's history I highly recommend this book.