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'Steve Jobs' Easily Tops Best Seller Lists in Debut Week

The only thing I found shocking about the Amazon list is that the non-fictional account of Jobs' life is still being beaten by some four-year-old's carefully massaged picture perfect fantasy about what happens after you die. As recounted by his preacher father. Seriously?
 
teasphere said:
I enjoyed the book, but it really isn't the most well written. I haven't run any passages for a readability score but I have to imagine it is like 8-9th grade level and that may even be overly optimistic.
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And these make some of the best books. You don't need a PhD to understand them. The average joe can buy the book, read it and get all the content easily without being confused cause it's too hard for them to understand.
 
iRobby said:
so sold 379,000 hard covers and not counting iBooks, Amazon Kindle,etc. I believe those sales were even higher. Wish we could get the full amount of all digital and hard cover for a more accurate number. I was hoping for 1 million or at least 750,000

I bought one iBook and one hardcover.
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I think the more telling thing in those numbers is just how much the physical book has fallen, or perhaps books in general.

It beat the number 1 best selling fiction title as well (fiction and non aren't usually on the same charts, so was nice to see the comparison) but there was a time where that #1 seller on the fiction charts would have been more like 1 million copies. E-Books still don't account for a large chunk of the market, so that is a huge drop.

For Steve Jobs having told the world a few years back (months before they launched iBooks) that "People don't read anymore" I guess he'd be happy to know they do, and about him.
 
If any book had a recipe for success it was this one:

1 cup captivating character who developed products that revolutionized how people behave
1 cup well-known biographer
2 cups rabid fan base
2 cups media frenzy
Add a dash of timing
 
iChrist said:
IS sad because Steve had battle with cancer for so long. But never tried to help others with disease. Many who have no insurance or support. Sad way to live.

:(:mad:
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Actually Steve did, he went to at least one cancer event and helped nudge the law in California for anybody signing for a license to also sign up their donor details.

Much not seem like much but the guy was extremely busy.
 
teasphere said:
I enjoyed the book, but it really isn't the most well written. I haven't run any passages for a readability score but I have to imagine it is like 8-9th grade level and that may even be overly optimistic.
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More likely overly pessimistic. I'd venture to say that the book is very well-written, but pedestrian in some aspects because there's so much information to cover and some areas (childhood, NeXT) are compressed and suffer a bit.

Disappointing that Steve's other sister - Patty Jobs - wasn't interviewed for the book.

I also feel Bill Gates comes across as having a bit of sour grapes in some of his comments used in the book.
 
best selling book since last november? what came out then? hope it wasn't one of those stupid twilight books, because whatever came out last november was more popular than Steve Jobs.
 
Steve Jobs's last words

"Oh Wow. Oh Wow. Oh Wow."

Steve Ballmer's last words: "Developers! Developers! Developers!
 
One here

I had one issue preordered on my Amazon acc for weeks, but when i checked expected delivery time i said - "no way man" and canceled it. Just two or three days later it appeared in the Store - instant buy. So i was quite lucky. As you have already noticed, i am not a native speaker and this is an awesome way how to improve my "Czenglish". I dont regret i canceled my book preorder, the iBook version is now better in every important aspect with all the built-in dictionary, highlighting, wiki and yes, portability.
Oh boy, i sound like iSteve...
So i am sorry i am wasting your time, cos nobody is really interested... anyway, another iBook_version++ here...
 
Ive always hated reading, and only get a book from time to time that I have an interest in for usually specific reasons. This book excited me because Im a recent addition to the apple lovers crowd and didnt know all that much about Jobs. I was fairly flabbergasted as I made my way through the book. Very eye opening for me, but really, would things be the same today if he wasnt the way he was? All in all, great book. I got the iBooks copy and still undecided if I want the hardcover, seems like it would just sit around and collect dust if I did though.
 
The book's on my xmas list. But I'm having difficulty resisting temptation in buying the iBooks version and practicing my "surprised joy" face for when I receive the physical copy!
 
I just finished it this morning. There were a few parts where I would have wanted more details, but I had to keep reminding myself that the book is about Steve Jobs, not Apple, although the two were inextricably intertwined.

I was particularly fascinated by the information about Steve's family. Although I was aware that he was adopted and had a daughter named Lisa, I didn't know much about his sister, wife, or children. It's remarkable how they stayed out of the limelight compared to other celebrities' families.
 
Got a hardcover and a Kindle version.

First glance: Walter Isaacson writes O.K. (not great by any means). The beginning of the book is so pop-psyc that it would make Oprah blush (Steve Jobs was less than nice because he was adopted and had to be independent?! Really?! Even when Jobs himself has expressly said the opposite?)

I hope this is just Walter Isaacson's firecracker technique of throwing a catchy "revelation" to get the more dimwitted bookstore browser to buy the book, or get the same type to read it, or something.

If the rest of the book continues in the same vein, it will be more about Walter Isaacson than about Jobs.
 
Yesterday, I finished reading the hard copy I bought from Amazon. It had been a long time since the last time I finished reading a book in so short a time. Among other (probably more interesting) things, it is nice to learn the inside stories on the products we use daily.
 
I've noticed my book is starting to open slowly and I think it's overheating a little. There seems to be some yellowing of the paper too. Do you think that will be covered by AppleCare?
 
Deflorator said:
I had one issue preordered on my Amazon acc for weeks, but when i checked expected delivery time i said - "no way man" and canceled it.
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Hah, last time I pre-order a book from Amazon. I ordered it a month ago and got it a week after it was in stores. What's the point, to save $15? I could have gone to Sam's Club and bought it for $20 there too.

Anyway, it's a good book. Lots of details, though Isaacson likes to inject himself and his opinions in a bit too much for my liking. But hey, nothing's perfect.
 
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