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Chrisann Brennan was Steve Jobs' girlfriend during the early formative years of Apple computer, living with both Jobs and early Apple employee Kottke as the company was founded. By her own account, she worked in the shipping department at Apple, soldering disconnected chips into boards and assembling Apple II cases.

Brennan, who is also the mother of Jobs' child Lisa, has written a new memoir about her early experiences with Steve Jobs, called "The Bite in the Apple: A Memoir of My Life with Steve Jobs." While the book will not be released until the end of October, The New York Post has an excerpt that details many personal moments in the relationship between Jobs and Brennan, including Jobs' volatile personality, their living arrangements, and his drug use and spirituality.
Living with Steve in Cupertino was not as I had expected it to be. We shared nice dinners and some beautiful evenings, but we could barely sustain a sense of emotional intimacy, much less build on it.

It was like a game of Snakes and Ladders, with Steve as the game master. The ups were hopeful and the downs were extreme. I didn't know how to hold my own with him because he didn't play fair. He just played to win -- and win at any cost.
Brennan details how their relationship slowly deteriorated as Jobs became further involved in Apple, and less concerned with the mundane details of life.
Doing the dishes ourselves was simply no longer an option for Steve. He had entered into an elite world where others took care of the lower-level functions so that he could operate with more efficiency, on his presumably higher plane.

Steve was uncontrollably critical. His reactions had a Tourette's quality -- as if he couldn't stop himself.

Of course, it must have been sort of wild to have your genius recognized at the age of twenty-two, to be thrust into such a role of authority.
Brennan and Jobs split in 1977, prior to the birth of his daughter Lisa. Though he denied paternity for several years, Jobs later accepted Lisa Brennan and went on to form a relationship with her. Chrisann Brennan's memoir will go on sale on October 29 and can be pre-ordered from Amazon.

Article Link: Steve Jobs' Former Girlfriend Chrisann Brennan Details His Early Life in Upcoming Book
 

kas23

macrumors 603
Oct 28, 2007
5,629
288
Even though this person is likely just trying to cash-in on the Steve Jobs brand, I'm sure there are many stories in here that will do something Isaacson's book didn't really do; tell us who the real Steve Jobs was.
 

Northgrove

macrumors 65816
Aug 3, 2010
1,149
437
Not sure what to think of an ex-girlfriend of a recently deceased man wanting to capitalize on his fame... On the other hand, the curious within me is kind of intrigued since this part of Steve Jobs isn't very explored. But it's a dirty interest. Like being interested in an article in a tabloid.
 

scott911

macrumors 6502a
Aug 24, 2009
758
456
curious:

"Doing the dishes ourselves was simply no longer an option for Steve. He had entered into an elite world where others took care of the lower-level functions so that he could operate with more efficiency, on his presumably higher plane."


This had to have been prior to '77 ( when they broke up - was apple that successful then?
 

Jessica Lares

macrumors G3
Oct 31, 2009
9,612
1,055
Near Dallas, Texas, USA
I was very impressed by the excerpt and will be getting the eBook from Amazon. I think it's going to be an interesting read, getting away from all the tech talk the other books focus on and just the life of these two in general. I have the Walter Isaacson book and then the Insanely Simple one, but this could be a huge eye opener.
 

Baytriple

macrumors 6502
Apr 3, 2012
274
0
From what I have seen from the Jobs movie. Steve was complete low life scum for kicking out his pregnant and letting his child's mother live on Welfare for 2 years whilst Jobs says he refuses to take responsibility the child and claims he is sterile.

This in my books is a very bad thing to do and like the guy a whole lot less in knowing this.

Somebody please educate me if this is not the truth.
 

Xerotech

macrumors 6502
Jul 22, 2011
418
5
From what I have seen from the Jobs movie. Steve was complete low life scum for kicking out his pregnant and letting his child's mother live on Welfare for 2 years whilst Jobs says he refuses to take responsibility the child and claims he is sterile.

This in my books is a very bad thing to do and like the guy a whole lot less in knowing this.

Somebody please educate me if this is not the truth.

He was a mess and a drug user. Apple succeeded because companies do not need a caring guy who pats employees on the back. They need a crazed man who is all about work and perfection. There were interviews about employees saying Jobs screamed at them and told them to leave the room when one minor detail was off. Working with Jobs wasn't fun, but rewarding.
 

NewbieCanada

macrumors 68030
Oct 9, 2007
2,574
37
I think if I made $200,000 a year I'd find a way not to do dishes. I purchased I dishwasher when I made 45 and my grandparents still think of it as an exorbitant luxury.

And my grandmother bought her first one in the 1940s! Mind you, my grandfather was a doctor whose office was in the home. She developed X-rays, washed and ironed examining table sheets (paper ones hadn't been invented yet), ran his office, cooked, baked, cleaned, knitted and made her own baby food. Any labour-saving device was pretty high on her priorities and was anything but a luxury. Later on she also embraced the pasta maker and food processor, but never the microwave!

Anyway, back to the book. Clearly Chrisann Brennan is mistaken. Just look at the book cover. Clearly she had an affair with Ashton Kutcher!
 

Ryth

macrumors 68000
Apr 21, 2011
1,591
157
From what I have seen from the Jobs movie. Steve was complete low life scum for kicking out his pregnant and letting his child's mother live on Welfare for 2 years whilst Jobs says he refuses to take responsibility the child and claims he is sterile.

This in my books is a very bad thing to do and like the guy a whole lot less in knowing this.

Somebody please educate me if this is not the truth.

I think it's true from things I've read.

NEVER abandon a child. Karma will come back and get you.
 

rwilliams

macrumors 68040
Apr 8, 2009
3,740
1,006
Raleigh, NC
Wow, Steve Jobs sounds like the kind of person you just wouldn't want to be around. So many stories of him being a complete prick. Maybe that's the price of genius.
 

3282868

macrumors 603
Jan 8, 2009
5,281
0
From what I have seen from the Jobs movie. Steve was complete low life scum for kicking out his pregnant and letting his child's mother live on Welfare for 2 years whilst Jobs says he refuses to take responsibility the child and claims he is sterile.

This in my books is a very bad thing to do and like the guy a whole lot less in knowing this.

Somebody please educate me if this is not the truth.

I wouldn't doubt it. It's been well known that Jobs was extremely temperamental and most likely suffered from Narcissistic Personality Disorder and OCD. Ironically, recent praised studies have demonstrated these to be typical qualities for successful business people and CEO's, they're extreme in nature and very anti-social yet command presence and drive while lacking a moral compass that may sometimes impede business affairs.

While such types would normally live lonely, sheltered lives, if you're the CEO/"genius" of a Fortune 500 Company, such anti-social behavior is often rewarded, not punished. Some have gone as far as to state Jobs may have been slightly Autistic, all speculation now yet personal tales such as these seem to follow the numerous tales already widely known.
 
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66318

macrumors regular
Jan 31, 2006
130
56
From what I have seen from the Jobs movie. Steve was complete low life scum for kicking out his pregnant and letting his child's mother live on Welfare for 2 years whilst Jobs says he refuses to take responsibility the child and claims he is sterile.

This in my books is a very bad thing to do and like the guy a whole lot less in knowing this.

Somebody please educate me if this is not the truth.

It is the truth, however it should be considered in context. He was in his 20s at the time. He was being thrust into a very visible position with Apple. The work Woz and him did together suddenly blew up into a very large company. All during the tail end of the counter culture movement in the US.

Does it excuse his bad actions? Not really. But there is a lot of depth to it. It's a good psychological example of what sudden fame can do, along with certain views of life combined with a very narrow focus on something.

I've taken many lessons from Jobs' life. Both positive and negative ones. His tendency to try and ignore parts of life, such as taking responsibility for a child is one of his weaknesses in his early years. He went on to later take proper ownership of his first kid, along with the children raised with his wife.
 

Keebler

macrumors 68030
Jun 20, 2005
2,960
207
Canada
Wow, Steve Jobs sounds like the kind of person you just wouldn't want to be around. So many stories of him being a complete prick. Maybe that's the price of genius.

Sure sounds like it, but to be honest, I think you're right - it's the price of being a genius. It's hard for anyone to balance a home life and being a genius which has the pull of trying to create, evolve and excel at what you do.

I think the possibility of him bring a prick is just a lack of skills on one hand (ie. how to deal emotionally with people) b/c the other hand is working on the genius side and truly has to no time, or room to develop the other skills.

Maybe not right, maybe not acceptable, but a consequence, I believe so.
 

ufwa

macrumors regular
Jun 17, 2011
127
0
If he was not being the perfect dad/boyfriend by not doing dishes, taking out trash , forgot bdays/events sure you can say he was busy or wrapped up in Apple that he forgot the little things that make relationships work. You see that with regular people who have a hard time balance work and home life.

But Jobs went far beyond that by out right denying his own child claiming he was shooting blanks.

Jobs in this regard comes off as one of people/actors on Maury Povich.
 
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