Walter Isaacson Considering Expanding Steve Jobs Biography

Do we get free upgrades, like with apps?

Milk it for all it's worth.

I'd prefer to know more about Steve as a family man. His family was barely mentioned. I don't expect him to grill his youngest on how dad was, but you can interview his oldest and wife more.

I thought the biography was below average.

How many versions will I need to buy to get the full Steve Jobs story?

$$$$$$$$

How google of him... a beta masquerading as finished.

First or second draft? This isn't a textbook. I hardly think Steve would have been too happy with an incomplete biography...

Especially after hearing John Siracusa's thoughts on it I'm pretty disappointed with it, with exclusive access he really missed the chance for some key questions and directions to take some of their conversations imo. The initial chapters about Jobs' early life were enlightening though.

I feel he needs to tighten it up first -- it's too repetitious. Then once he gets it down to the 200-300 pages of content it *really* has, perhaps add some technical content.

Given that I was moderately happy, but not thrilled, with the first edition, I would never pay for the addendum. As John Siracusa said, 'Jobs picked the wrong guy.' I hope he eventually open sources his interview so that someone with better technical curiosity can dig deeper.
But I'm curious... will the iBooks version automatically download the updated version? I'd even consider it fair to offer the addendum as an 'in App' purchase if reasonable.

Maybe he could work on making the book, you know, not suck.

Will my hardcover get the updates OTA or must I connect it to a printing press?

It's like Steve 2.0 lol. And I know I will still end up buying it

Where can I pre-order?

If he updates it and I get my iBook version updated that would be cool. I haven't finished reading it yet, but if he has more stories to tell I'd love to hear it.

Typical Apple fashion...release something, then come out a year later with a couple more features...


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miles01110 said:

Milk it for all it's worth.

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I thought maybe I was the only one whose first response was - update the next edition, sell more books. Seems he has found his life's work.

In total fairness (me, be fair??!!), if there is more necessary information to be provided, I guess he's the one to do it.

Yup.. shouldn't have bought rev A

talmy said:

I feel he needs to tighten it up first -- it's too repetitious. Then once he gets it down to the 200-300 pages of content it *really* has, perhaps add some technical content.

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This. Especially in the latter half it seemed to be going back and forth every chapter. I was stunned to see him tackle the biography on a "product" basis. Felt he really dropped the ball there and just didn't really understand what was significant about him. Repeating elements like his "Reality Distortion Field" in particular made it seem as though he was struggling for content near the end. Unacceptable really given the nature of the person he was writing about.

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He should hand over his interview tapes to someone who knows how to spell OS X correctly.

I would certainly like to see this happen.

My biggest issue with this book was it was pushed out a little too quickly, probably to capitalize on Jobs' passing. Unfortunately, that meant that the book was not complete and did not mention Jobs' death and the reaction to it, which would wrap the book up nicely.

Also, if this does happen, hopefully the author will take into account the criticisms of the book and clean up some of the incorrect technical aspects of the book.

Otherwise, I quite enjoyed the book and finished it in 8 or 9 days.

Just release the tapes in a few years. Let others do the writing.

LimeiBook86 said:

If he updates it and I get my iBook version updated that would be cool.

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I have wondered about this with other books -- particularly current-events books that typically have a new chapter or a new afterward in the paperback edition that was not in the hardback edition. Also, publishers might want to use it to correct a typo or factual error in a book, though I hope they would use an asterisk to show what they changed.

When Richard Wolffe's "Revival" came out in paperback with a new afterward, the publisher released the new afterward as a stand-alone $.99 mini-ebook called "Revival 2.0," which I thought was a great thing to do.

If owners of the original ebook got the update for free, that would be even better.

"I can make it smaller..."

Steve would have been proud.

I just finished the book a couple days ago, and I found it pretty interesting. I do think that, as a reader who knew Jobs eventually passed away from the illness he was trying to hide, that it could be addressed in a grander and more thorough scope. It would have been nice to have that entire story arc as one long chapter.

I did find that Job's own personal statement about his legacy was particularly touching. You could see, in the raw, a man that felt he had a lot to offer humanity. It was clear that egos be damned, and his family would even suffer from is inattentiveness. But he would end up influencing the world in a way few people ever have. He really is in select company.

What I find the hardest to come to terms with, concerning his personality, is his rudeness. I think he could have been just as successful without scathing person attacks. I think a lot of people might point to that and say "see, Steve was an ******, so that's how good businesses are built." But I think it's more complex. I think he could have been just as effective, making hard decisions and giving people "bad news" without the intentionally wounding comments. But, sadly, that is how he probably insulated his own extremely insecure inner person from the world. He didn't know any other way. That doesn't mean it can't be done any other way. And that last summary of his life, in his own words, at the end of the book really brought to light why. It's worth the read.