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Steve Jobs Biography Reviewed and Other Tidbits From the Book

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The much anticipated Steve Jobs biography is officially launching on Monday, October 24th. Despite the official release date, many copies have already started circulating. The image on the right is from a book delivery from late last week (thanks Ernest).

The New York Times provides a positive review and nice overview of the book which was authored by Walter Isaacson.
"Steve Jobs" greatly admires its subject. But its most adulatory passages are not about people. Offering a combination of tech criticism and promotional hype, Mr. Isaacson describes the arrival of each new product right down to Mr. Jobs's theatrical introductions and the advertising campaigns. But if the individual bits of hoopla seem excessive, their cumulative effect is staggering. Here is an encyclopedic survey of all that Mr. Jobs accomplished, replete with the passion and excitement that it deserves.
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Several other interesting tidbits have emerged from the early copies of the biography. We've covered some of the big revelations in previous articles, but here are a few others that are notable.

- Jobs viewed textbooks as the next business he wanted to transform. He met with major publishers about it. Jobs also discussed 4G data capacity in a recent board meeting in August. - NYTimes
- Jobs described Microsoft as "mostly irrelevant" due to being run by salespeople. He didn't believe Microsoft would change as long as Steve Ballmer was in charge. - NYTimes
- "Jobs confided in Sculley that he believed he would die young, and therefore he needed to accomplish things quickly so that he would make his mark on Silicon Valley history. " - Huffington Post

Walter Isaacson will be interviewed 60 Minutes tonight and is also said to be showing interview tapes of Steve Jobs.

The book is available on Amazon and iBooks.

Article Link: Steve Jobs Biography Reviewed and Other Tidbits From the Book
 
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https://www.macrumors.com/2011/10/23/steve-jobs-biography-reviewed-and-other-tidbits-from-the-book/
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Just pre ordered via iBooks. That's the way Steve would have wanted us to buy it. I can't wait to read this.
 
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That statement to Sculley is surprising. I wonder how much more SJ would have been able to accomplish if he had continued leading Apple instead of getting forced out and going on the NeXT path.
 
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Cannot wait!
 
this will be the first book on my new Kindle device. Sorry, iPad, but you're only good for newspapers/magazines. Color is your beauty, not long texts...
 
Textbooks are certainly an industry and paradigm that's ripe for such a transformation, in all the same ways as the pre-iTunes music industry, and a few more, besides.

The costs underlying the high sale prices of textbooks are twisted, with relatively little of your money contributing to the writing and editing of the book -- i.e., the things that could actually make it a better tool. And for a lot of subjects, the whole format is an inefficient means for teaching and archiving information.

The iPad seems the perfect hardware for ushering in a change. I hope there are others in and around Apple with the vision and influence to bring forth such a transformation.
 
Apple Big Mac said:
That statement to Sculley is surprising. I wonder how much more SJ would have been able to accomplish if he had continued leading Apple instead of getting forced out and going on the NeXT path.
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It's impossible to say, of course, but I suspect (and perhaps the book will back this up) that the experience he gained from leaving Apple, running NeXT and Pixar, etc, and also the path that Apple took during his absence, might have been instrumental in turning him into the sort of leader he was for the last decade.

Not that he wasn't a visionary genius before that, of course, but I think that those experiences may have given him a different, more balanced perspective and an improved set of business and management skills that enabled him to be much, much more effective at (profitably!) bringing his visions into reality following his return to Apple.
 
Apple Big Mac said:
That statement to Sculley is surprising. I wonder how much more SJ would have been able to accomplish if he had continued leading Apple instead of getting forced out and going on the NeXT path.
Click to expand...
If Steve Jobs had not left Apple he would not have started NeXT. Without NeXT there would be no OS X. Apple may have been forced to stick with OS9 that had many problems. One can predict what would have happened, but if Steve had stayed at Apple, Apple to day would be quite different.
 
I certainly can't wait until tomorrow to buy this book! I hope there is something about Steve's relation with Bill because they've barely met in public and were never the bitter rivals that most people think they were. Only 14 more hours! Better pump my bike's tires for the 2km ride I'm going on :)
 
Apple Big Mac said:
That statement to Sculley is surprising. I wonder how much more SJ would have been able to accomplish if he had continued leading Apple instead of getting forced out and going on the NeXT path.
Click to expand...

I'd say the person who left Apple and the person who returned were not the same. A major setback like being thrown out of the company that he started could have weakened him, but instead made him a lot stronger.
 
The sample via iBooks on the iPad...

Here in Australia, the book is now available. So I downloaded the sample in iBooks to read on my iPad 2.

There appear to be many glitches in the layout. The list of characters, for example, has a lot of lettering double-ups and such.

Anyone else had the same issues? I'll probably buy the ebook but it would be a pity if there was this problem throughout the rest of the book.

Whatever the case, this book will make for a great read.
 
I had this in my hand on Wednesday this last week at my local Walmart. I tried so hard to leave the store with it but the computer would not let me buy it. :mad: I didn't think they were this strict on book sales. :confused: I've never bought a book on release day. I just get it after I hear good reviews.

I hope my Amazon preorder shows up tomorrow even though I didn't choose overnight or two day shipping...
 
Anyone who wants the book to be a surprise when they read it should not be here on these forums. As these forums are not full of book spoilers. Sadly.


MacRumors said:
We've covered some of the big revelations in previous articles, but here are a few others that are notable.
Click to expand...
My point exactly. These big points people want to discover in the book not be spoiled to them. If you had them in an area of the website - spoiler alert so we can avoid it. But no they are plain in view on front page of website. You can not avoid seeing the spoilers.

Would have been nice to be given the choice - to see the spoilers or not.
 
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