Maybe MacRumors should add the book to the Buyer's Guide: "Buy only if you need it - Approaching the end of a cycle".
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Walter Isaacson Considering Expanding Steve Jobs Biography
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Haven't read the biography but I'm interested in knowing more about the circumstances surrounding his death. Maybe it's only me, but I thought it was a bit too tidy of a coincidence that he passed away the morning immediately after the iPhone 4S announcement. I've wondered if he actually passed away beforehand, or more significantly, if he euthanized himself. It's a topic a lot of people don't like to think about, but there seems to a growing awareness of it: http://newoldage.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/10/26/the-next-death-with-dignity-battleground/ . No judgement on my part - I support one's right to decide.
If either of these happened, I wouldn't be too surprised. Jobs was the ultimate control freak and I could imagine that he would do anything in his considerable power to make sure his death didn't overshadow any Apple announcements.
If either of these happened, I wouldn't be too surprised. Jobs was the ultimate control freak and I could imagine that he would do anything in his considerable power to make sure his death didn't overshadow any Apple announcements.
While I haven't finished the book, I do feel like there are some chapters that are a bit paltry on details. There's just a few chapters where I feel like something was missing or could've used some more questions and details. The book overall feels incomplete.
A better/cooler way to do update this book would be to make a digital version that has some audio and other digital content that would be more than just "annotations" that Isaacson speaks of. It would be nice to hear Steve and the other people interviewed tell the stories in their own words, for example.
A better/cooler way to do update this book would be to make a digital version that has some audio and other digital content that would be more than just "annotations" that Isaacson speaks of. It would be nice to hear Steve and the other people interviewed tell the stories in their own words, for example.
Maybe they can do some actual editing on the next version instead of rushing it out the door. The whole thing was done pretty sloppily.
I will probably end up buying it if it's actually released, but it's clear that the book was released as it was (unfinished) at the time that it was solely to capitalize on his death.
My guess is that the publisher was pressing to release it early just in case they couldn't sell as many copies once the news of his death and the memorials died down two or three months after the fact. I, for one, wish they would've waited and released a finished product two or three months later.
I've never heard of a biographer saying they're contemplating an addendum to a book they wrote that was released less than two months prior -- especially when they had all of the information at the time the first book was released. It's not like this is a continually evolving story that's changed since the first book was released. This just sounds like a money grab for the author and publisher and it's extremely tacky.
My guess is that the publisher was pressing to release it early just in case they couldn't sell as many copies once the news of his death and the memorials died down two or three months after the fact. I, for one, wish they would've waited and released a finished product two or three months later.
I've never heard of a biographer saying they're contemplating an addendum to a book they wrote that was released less than two months prior -- especially when they had all of the information at the time the first book was released. It's not like this is a continually evolving story that's changed since the first book was released. This just sounds like a money grab for the author and publisher and it's extremely tacky.
Actually, that would've been even better. They should've released three volumes: The 70's through the 80's, Steve's time away from Apple, and Steve's return to Apple through his death. They should've said up front that that's what they planned to do and then release a new volume every two to three months, each costing somewhere in the neighborhood of $15 for a hardcover.
This would've given Isaacson plenty of time to work on the ending, and it probably would've generated even more money because they'd be selling three books separately and there would've been a huge buildup to the end.
I don't criticize the guy for getting the book out fast because he knew enough to hurry. Turns out he didn't even hurry fast enough. I also don't criticize him for wanting to add more color especially considering the commercial success and the seemingly endless demand for any first hand info about this very private man.
I think he should do volume 2 and don't make the mistake of editing an already established and distributed work. Price is not the point.
He is already going to further monetize his work with movie rights and whatever else he is doing. So he has job security.
What I want to know is how many books has he actually sold and how many downloads has he actually sold. The horse race always makes good media fodder and fills airtime and column inches, but what are the facts?
YMMV
I think he should do volume 2 and don't make the mistake of editing an already established and distributed work. Price is not the point.
He is already going to further monetize his work with movie rights and whatever else he is doing. So he has job security.
What I want to know is how many books has he actually sold and how many downloads has he actually sold. The horse race always makes good media fodder and fills airtime and column inches, but what are the facts?
YMMV
The misspelling is endemic of a larger problem, that Isaacson didn't care to do the hard research needed to truly understand the tech industry. There are tons of these little errors throughout the book. They add up.
I can't even stand reading his garbage.
Being in high tech, and only as a lowly computer technician, I can't stand the author's complete misunderstanding of all things technical. I heard one friend (an engineer) say that maybe it's a good idea to have a non-techie write the biography on Jobs to get the "human" side of Jobs. To me, the book is little more than a fancy, scandal rag and character assassination. Part of being human is our flaws, but also the good things in us and the author leaves that out in the spirit of the book.
While it is well documented that Jobs was sometimes difficult and stubborn, this book, if you can call it that, is so one-sided on painting a distorted and bad picture of Mr. Jobs. I have colleagues and family friends who worked for Jobs from lower positions up to the #3 man there, and their views may have been far from glowing, but they weren't as negative as the author.
It is especially heinous that the negative focus of this book was put out around his death. I know Laurene Powell allegedly gave the author her blessing to put in the good with the bad, but the author focused on the bad because he knew scandalous stuff sells better.
Being in high tech, and only as a lowly computer technician, I can't stand the author's complete misunderstanding of all things technical. I heard one friend (an engineer) say that maybe it's a good idea to have a non-techie write the biography on Jobs to get the "human" side of Jobs. To me, the book is little more than a fancy, scandal rag and character assassination. Part of being human is our flaws, but also the good things in us and the author leaves that out in the spirit of the book.
While it is well documented that Jobs was sometimes difficult and stubborn, this book, if you can call it that, is so one-sided on painting a distorted and bad picture of Mr. Jobs. I have colleagues and family friends who worked for Jobs from lower positions up to the #3 man there, and their views may have been far from glowing, but they weren't as negative as the author.
It is especially heinous that the negative focus of this book was put out around his death. I know Laurene Powell allegedly gave the author her blessing to put in the good with the bad, but the author focused on the bad because he knew scandalous stuff sells better.
I do get the sarcasim, but thought I would harrass the publisher myself. Not sure if anyone else emailed or phoned them, but if I get a reply I will post it here in its entirety.
While the final chapter of the book felt incomplete, it certainly did feel that Walter and Steve both knew his death was "any day now" and it is clear that they rushed to get it published. I have a feeling they both knew that, by the time the book was in people's hands, he would be gone already.
Even if you accept the idea that Steve was probably a pretty nasty jerk in many cases, Isaacson never bothered to figure out why he was different than the millions of other nasty jerks in the world who don't become hugely influential and successful people.
The book was done in June. The subsequent chapters may have been rushed, though.
Please educate yourself regarding his final moments. Written by his sister, Mona Simpson; it's quite beautiful.
I didn't feel the book focused on the bad in regards to his personality. Jobs was oftentimes an *******, and the book reflected that. I agree that Isaacson blew the tech aspect of the book, but calling it "character assassination" is going overboard.
His overuse of certain words annoyed me. I think he used the word "cherubic" several times when once is more than enough. "Prickly" was overused the most when describing Jobs. There are a few other words he overused that I can't remember right now, but while reading it became very noticeable. Like you said, the "Reality Distortion Field" was overplayed to no end. It came off as a book directed at middle school kids writing a book report more than a book aimed at adult readers. That might be fine concerning it's place in the long run, but I think there is a lot missing for people who are familiar with Jobs and Apple's history that I'd rather see another biographer tackle.
I've already read that and I agree that it's quite beautiful. But I don't see how that contradicts what I wrote. You and at least one other poster seems to find what I wrote to be offensive, which it's not meant to be.
I dunno, I thought we learned plenty by the way he treated his daughter Lisa.
Sounds like he didn't spend a lot of time with his family and that's all there is to it. The man was a super-workaholic. He did seem to regret it somewhat at the end... That he didn't spend time with his kids, that is.
Haven't finished reading it yet (ya I know, I'm slow)
but doesn't the book cover everything? what would be in the sequel? haha
but doesn't the book cover everything? what would be in the sequel? haha
This is why you always wait for Revision B of a book.
This seems to happen a lot with biographies. They almost always revise them with new material or corections after the first edition. Nothing new here. Pretty standard in the industry.
This seems to happen a lot with biographies. They almost always revise them with new material or corections after the first edition. Nothing new here. Pretty standard in the industry.
One back story I have been hearing for years was how various religious and anti-religious politics influenced the early Apple. That is Steve Jobs connection to the Berkeley psychiatry scene and how the launch of the original Mac was a covert effort to replace organized religion with technology. The evidence is in many places in the early Mac days down to calling the original designers of the Mac "Disciples" and those promoting the product as "Evangelists."
Supposedly Scully was not throwing just Steve Jobs out but this entire psych-techno cult out of Apple corporate and just get back to regular business. Also, after Steve was kicked out and started NeXT, he ended up embracing very religious people at the core of his development NextStep teams from Buddhist to even an Evangelical Catholic. These new found faiths has been said to be a big part of Apple's comeback after Steve and NextStep was back in the fold.
Let's get that in the sequel! At least Steve didn't die during Easter season.