'Becoming Steve Jobs': Rare Insights into Steve Jobs' Evolution and Personality

[MacRumors]

After an initial teaser post from John Gruber earlier this month and several leaks and excerpts, the new Steve Jobs biography Becoming Steve Jobs debuted yesterday, and we've had a chance to read through the book that offers a new look into the life of the Apple co-founder. While Walter Isaacson's best-selling 2011 biography of Jobs was undertaken with Jobs' authorization and participation, many close to him felt it didn't offer an accurate reflection of his personality.

In the wake of that book's debut, former Fortune and Wall Street Journal reporter Brent Schlender, who interviewed Jobs numerous times over the final 25 years of Jobs' life, teamed up with former Fortune colleague and current Fast Company executive editor Rick Tetzeli for an alternative take on Jobs' life. Notably, Schlender and Tetzeli were eventually able to obtain the cooperation of a number of key figures, including Tim Cook, Eddy Cue, Jony Ive, and Laurene Powell Jobs, to share their perspectives on Jobs.

The new book takes a mostly linear approach to telling the story of Jobs' life, beginning with Apple's early days. Much of that early content has been shared in previously published books and articles, but the story becomes more interesting once it reaches 1986, the year Schlender and Jobs first met for an interview when Jobs was in the early stages of building NeXT after having been ousted from Apple the year before.

Schlender's many interviews and discussions with Jobs over the years give him a fairly rare perspective, and Schlender uses that perspective to argue the Jobs of his later years was a very different and more mature person than the perception developed in his brash younger years.

I can't think of a businessman who grew and changed and matured more than Steve. Personal change is, of course, incremental. As all "grown-ups" come to understand, we wrestle with and learn how to manage our gifts and flaws over a lifetime. It's an endless growth process. And yet it's not as if we become wholly different people. Steve is a great object lesson in someone who masterfully improved his ability to make better use of his strengths and to effectively mitigate those aspects of his personality that got in the way of those strengths. His negative qualities didn't go away, nor were they replaced by new good traits. But he learned how to manage himself, his own personal miasma of talents and rough edges. Most of them, anyway.

Tim Cook is one of the most high-profile figures to be interviewed for the book, and beyond the already revealed tidbit about Cook having offered Jobs a portion of his liver, Cook addressed the ways in which he saw Jobs change even since 1998 when Cook joined Apple.

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[Nathan20]



 

[bawbac]

I see what you did there...

Pushed the human forward...
Technology yes but thanks to smart phones, people no longer do things face to face.

Thanks to Steve, people are looking at their feet a lot more.

 

[TheRealTVGuy]

Received my copy late yesterday evening and had to jump in right away. I've only been able to get through about 10 pages, but I'm already hooked.

 

[furi0usbee]

I bought this audiobook, turned it on, and wow, the narration SUX bad. The guy has random pauses, breaks where there shouldn't be breaks, and all around is just bad. It actually takes away from the book for me. I have audio books where the narrator gets you more into the book (Super Mario.. Nintendo), and this for sure is the opposite. I'm going to have a hard time getting through it.

 

[usarioclave]

Received my copy late yesterday evening and had to jump in right away. I've only been able to get through about 10 pages, but I'm already hooked.

Same, it's such an interesting story. The seva foundation scene was pretty funny, and pretty interesting.

 

[spectrumfox]

Ehh, I'll wait for the eventual documentary/movie.

Hopefully directed by David Fincher.

 

[citi]

Ehh, I'll wait for the eventual documentary/movie.

Hopefully directed by David Fincher.

I assume you are kidding but in reality, people DO need to read more.

 

[kdarling]

Pushed the human forward...
Technology yes but thanks to smart phones, people no longer do things face to face.

True, such devices have been a major part of the disintegration of face-to-face conversational ability.

Thanks to Steve, people are looking at their feet a lot more.

I think it's beyond ironic that Jobs said he did not allow his own kids to use iPads, and limited their use of technology in general.

 

[spectrumfox]

I see what you did there...

Pushed the human forward...
Technology yes but thanks to smart phones, people no longer do things face to face.

Thanks to Steve, people are looking at their feet a lot more.

Amy: This is nice, that we all get to eat together.
Leonard: Absolutely.
Amy: Hmm. Can we maybe put the phones down and have an actual human conversation?
Sheldon: We can, but thanks to Steve Jobs, we don’t have to.

 

[Mad Mac Maniac]

I bought this audiobook, turned it on, and wow, the narration SUX bad. The guy has random pauses, breaks where there shouldn't be breaks, and all around is just bad. It actually takes away from the book for me. I have audio books where the narrator gets you more into the book (Super Mario.. Nintendo), and this for sure is the opposite. I'm going to have a hard time getting through it.

Is that on Audible? Because I was considering getting that, so your thoughts would be helpful

 

[Rogifan]

About halfway through the book. It's a quick read. I certainly don't get the sense the authors were whitewashing anything or trying to present Steve in a better light. His bad traits and tendencies certainly shine through (at least in the first Apple, Next and Pixar days).

 

[mrkgoo]

What is the reason for different sizes on the iBook store for different regions? I understand there maybe a few pages here or there because of publishers, but on one store its like 20.9 MB and another it's 4MB. That seems like a considerable difference.

Page numbers are the same.

 

[tgwaste]

Listening to the audiobook version now..

 

[ghostface147]

Picked it up yesterday, but haven't gotten past the prologue.

 

[tgwaste]

Is that on Audible? Because I was considering getting that, so your thoughts would be helpful

Get the audiobook from iTunes. It sounds great.

 

[thelookingglass]

About halfway through the book. It's a quick read. I certainly don't get the sense the authors were whitewashing anything or trying to present Steve in a better light. His bad traits and tendencies certainly shine through (at least in the first Apple, Next and Pixar days).

That's good to know. I'll have to give this a read. Is it like watching the same movie for the second time though? LOL

 

[Talbot]

Ehh, I'll wait for the eventual documentary/movie.

Hopefully directed by David Fincher.

I can tell you with much confidence that David Fincher will not be directing a Steve Jobs film.

Danny Boyle is directing the current one and if Fincher was going to direct a Job film it would've been that one considering his relationship with Sorkin and Sony (at the time Amy Pascal). Also his next 3 projects are already lined up and there are 3+ more that are floating around with his name.

As much as I just think you need to read the damn book... All I'll say is don't hold your breath for the Fincher movie. Sorry but as a filmmaker who follows what going on, I thought I would let you know.

 

[Morod]

It sounds better than Isaacson's book, which is a good thing. I may have to pick this up.

 

[citi]

I can tell you with much confidence that David Fincher will not be directing a Steve Jobs film.

Danny Boyle is directing the current one and if Fincher was going to direct a Job film it would've been that one considering his relationship with Sorkin and Sony (at the time Amy Pascal). Also his next 3 projects are already lined up and there are 3+ more that are floating around with his name.

As much as I just think you need to read the damn book... All I'll say is don't hold your breath for the Fincher movie. Sorry but as a filmmaker who follows what going on, I thought I would let you know.

You clearly didn't read the sarcasm.

 

[Saucesome2000]

I see what you did there...

Pushed the human forward...
Technology yes but thanks to smart phones, people no longer do things face to face.

Thanks to Steve, people are looking at their feet a lot more.

Maybe for you, but thanks to my iPhone I am able to say wayyyy more in contact with my friends. I'm 35 and I regularly have group text threads going with four guys I graduated with. Right now we are making plans to celebrate one of their birthdays this weekend.

That doesn't even take into account the way I keep in contact with other friends across the states and even overseas with Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook.

 

[farmkittie]

I bought this audiobook, turned it on, and wow, the narration SUX bad. The guy has random pauses, breaks where there shouldn't be breaks, and all around is just bad. It actually takes away from the book for me. I have audio books where the narrator gets you more into the book (Super Mario.. Nintendo), and this for sure is the opposite. I'm going to have a hard time getting through it.

Thanks for letting us know. I was just about to use my audible credit for this now. I guess I'll get the book. I love to read. I don't have much time to read nowadays though.

Update: I'm listening to audiobook sample now. It doesn't seem too bad to me. On the other hand, my mind tends to wonder when I listen to a book as opposed to reading it so maybe I'll go with the eBook.

 

[Saucesome2000]

Thanks for letting us know. I was just about to use my audible credit for this now. I guess I'll get the book. I love to read. I don't have much time to read nowadays though.

I bought the hardcopy yesterday at B&N. It was 20% off, so that was cool.

 

[Jessica Lares]

I am enjoying it so far. Some of it was mentioned in fuller detail in "The Bite in the Apple".

I still haven't finished the Isaacson book. It's probably because it feels very researchy and textbook-like while these two are very personal.

 

[Bob Ames]

Narcissists don't improve with age, they just become craftier. The soft side of a narc is merely an act - a way of getting what they want. The best high a narc can get is to be praised for their amazing self-sacrifice and kindness, and the best way to get that praise is to get involved with blood runs, charities, and reach out to people that they think need help, but it's all just an act, every bit of it. The more public the act, the more praise they will get. After skimming through the book, it sounds like Cook was very useful to Jobs, which explains why Jobs put his narc spell on him. If I hadn't accidentally read about Narcissistic Personality Disorder two years ago, I would still think I had the best friend in the world...