It's extremely sequential and pedestrian (i.e., ordinary) and perhaps that was intentional as the book becomes a quick read.
That's some seriously ordinary and bland writing.
It reminds me of following the bouncing ball, until there is some color in writing style that only comes from Steve.
It's odd, because Isaacson's Benjamin Franklin most assuredly has flair and I'm getting the sneaking suspicion that he's writing to the period, instead of using his own style regardless of the period in which he's recalling.
MIGHT HAVE SPOILERS BELOW
I've read the book from cover to cover and I'd give this a B. With all the opportunity Walter had, I think he misses a ton of interesting stuff out. This is played so safe considering the access he had. Walter was inside Ive's studio, he could speak to anybody and he did, but this is what we got!
Anything about Job's private like is fascinating, no question, the book benefits from the family dynamic because it hardly been covered elsewhere. Stuff about his parents at the beginning are probably the best bits. His relationships are also great to read. Anything that added a human element to SJ was all good.
Anything before SJ's time with NeXT isn't really that enlightening, but it's so well covered already. I would argue iCon does a better job in a lot areas. There are a few cute moments though. Especially with Paul Rand.
Early Pixar stuff is good but again, iCon reveals more about the deals with Disney and with nov clever he his.
The chapter about Steve coming back to Apple reveals a little here and there and strangely introduces Larry Ellison without any sort of reason or motive for the way Ellison acts. Boom he's first mentioned in 1997, never before and this is a good friend of Steve's. The book doesn't go into why people are his friends. Only Jony Ive is really explored. Everybody else just floats in and out. I wouldn't even say Steve W gets enough of a mention, but read iWoz and it makes a great companion book.
The last 300-400 pages cover a lot of the stuff already reported from articles and the AllthingsD conference.
SJ's stubbornness and what he went through regarding his treatment however is frightening and you really feel he could have pulled through if he just listened.
Walter misquotes the "Google are out to kill us" speech and talks about SJ's reaction to Siri, just like Campbell did at the SJ memorial. That was weird.
The last meeting with Bill Gates is really sad but so touching, you could tell there was so much between them and they both knew and discussed what else they needed to do within the computing world, it's obvious where Apple is going after Apple TV, maybe Microsoft with a nudge from Gates. I came away respecting Gates more as a person in this book.
Anyway, I hope this isn't the only source used for the movie. It's a good book but it could have been so much better.
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