He was wrong about much of what would ultimately make Apple a success story: iTunes for windows, apps for iOS.
Agreed.
I'm about half way through the book and as others have said, the guy was a complete wack job(s). His girlfriend's diagnosis of Narcissistic Personality Disorder was spot on. From early on, he was self obesessed, opportunistic, manipulative, and generally a spoiled rotten brat.
The real triumph of Steve Jobs was, despite his massive shortcomings and impossible behavior, how he managed to build a following, and maintain respect amongst his employees and peers that endured his tyrannical rule, and his 12 year absence from Apple. The fact that they took him back was a testament to his charisma.
I also agree that he was not a visionary. He lead a company that created hardware and software that were the next logical step in technology. Star Trek had envisioned half the stuff Apple makes today. Apple just happened to finally get the ideas right, and not neccessarily even first. Through Jobs' maniacal perfectionism, he surrounded himself with just the right people that could make these logical steps happen and happen in a great way. THOSE people are the visionaries. Those are the people that will take Apple into the future.
Apple came to be, thanks in a large part to Steve Jobs. Apple nearly tanked, thanks in a large part to Steve Jobs. Apple rose from a near death experience, thanks in large part to Steve Jobs. And Apple will follow its current track, because of what Steve Jobs set in motion. It will certainly not flounder any time soon, just because he is gone.
Apple fans are considered by many to be cultish. The REAL cult is Apple itself. Apple employee's loyalty to their cult leader lasted through his rule, his departure and his return. Now that he's gone again, it will remain, though the loyalty will not be to the man himself, but rather to the concept that a company can have widespread obessessive compulsive disorder, and still be successful.
