iCon

Posted by kenshin03 on Nov 28, 2005 in books | 0 comments

Read a couple of interesting technology related books lately. One on Steve Jobs, the other on Google but more particularly on “Search”.

First Steve Jobs. What got me to buying the book and reading through it in merely a few days was the mesmerizing power of Steve’s speeches and on-stage charisma – that is no better word to describe him as able to “distort reality”. Be it the keynotes or the Stanford speech, Jobs never fails to keep a 2 hour technical talk both entertaining and inspiring – certainly not an easy feat. What makes his speeches special is the extra human touches he often adds through jokes, mockery, self reflection. The overall friendly and casual atmosphere really exemplifies the Apple corporate image.

Back to the book itself. The story of Jobs and Apple is told in linear fashion and certainly most of it might already sound familiar to Apple followers…e.g. how Steve Wozniak and Steve Jobs made phone feud devices at the college dorm room and sold them for as high as $100, how Apple was founded in a garage, how the Apple II, LISA and Macintosh came to be and so on. Here, the young Steve is portrayed as an irrogant tyrant who shows no consideration to his friends, colleagues and families, and remained so even in his latter NeXT and Pixar days. What turned his character over seemed to be marriage and family life, however this part of the book obviously falls short: some more recent interviews or research could have made the last few chapters much more enjoyable to read.

In summary, most of this book is fascinating and informative, and I respect how credits were given to the many people who were dismissed or ill-treated by Steve. However, the last few chapters seem incredibly rushed and filled with unnecessarily repeatitive praises like “…and Steve Jobs has done it again and conquered another industry!”, which grew old after a while. Although the 2005 January keynote was mentioned, the material was shallow and bereft of any thoughtful anaysis. A real shame.

Here are some unique stories that surprised me:

- Steve Wozniak apparently got short-changed after all the hard work he put in for Job’s Breakout game.
- Jobs flew to India for a spiritual journey and spent months searching for “gurus” for advices.
- Jobs is a devoted vegetarian and follower of Zen: even his marriage ceremony was held in a Zen style.

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