Steve Jobs Done

After a weekend where I only managed a couple of chapters, I decided to cheat. I bought the audio version of the book from Audible and listen to it commuting to work. I then managed to finish the book within a couple of weeks. The whole audiobook was about 24 hours long from start to finish, over three chapters.

How did I find the book? To say that it was a real biography would be premature as Jobs is a private man and his life story were only told in tidbits. There was nothing to compare this book to and that made it difficult to just take all been written as fact. It was difficult to ascertain if the stories were narratives or told in the author's perspective. maybe in the next five or so years, we would learn a bit more. And this book would be a great reference to a more definitive read.

This was more a collection of anecdotes of the great man's life. There were many interesting stories in there, giving an interesting perspective to the enigma that was Steve Jobs. He was clearly not an easy man to cope with. A very difficult father and husband, but no doubt he is a legend. He transformed Apple into a tech leader. Twice.

There were also accusation in the online community about why Isaacson was picked as the writer in the first place? Was it because he is from the outside? Was it so that he would be able to see past the technical aspects of Apple creations and understood the flaws? Was he just merely a conduit to more Jobs propaganda? This just all add up to an interesting chemistry.

I would definitely recommend the book not just to all Apple fanboys or girls, but to anybody interested in tech. There were many to be learned about the tech industry here. How everybody were interconnected. And how much Jobs was an inspiration to the current crop of tech greats, as well as the old familiar faces like Bill Gates. They had a mutual respect to each other and it was great to read about how close they become towards the end.

Next read, Gary Neville autobiography. Unfortunately, there was no audiobook for that particular story.

The Big Read

As I mentioned, I picked up Steve Jobs biography yesterday and managed a couple of chapters before bed last night. It was rather absorbing, and tomorrow being a holiday, I might be able to burn through a few more chapters tonight. I was initially hoping to listen to the mp3 version of the book, but it won't be the same thing.

The first chapter revolve around issues he had with his parents - both biological and adopted. How he came close to his only real sibling - writer Mona Simpson. The impression I had was, Steve was a young arrogant man. He demanded high standards and looked down upon those who did not meet his expectations.

Looking forward to the rest of the book then …..

Steve Jobs 1955-2011

Arrived at work to learn about the passing of this great man. He has been unwell for a number of years. We were sort of like wondering if the end was near for him.

It seemed that he managed to keep his personal live off the limelight as there was not a clue on his condition despite the launch of iPhone 4S yesterday. There was no tribute or even a mention of the great man. And I suspected that that was his wish.

In every generation there would be a person who symbolised the period. JFK for instance before him. In my generation thus far, I can unashamedly say that it was Steve Jobs. I would always remember the day I learned about his passing for the rest of my life. Rest in peace Steve .....

iQuit

All this harping ons about Libya and the NATO agenda masked the real news of the day. It was not often that a visionary comes along and change the course of history. It may be through infamy - Hitler -, arts - Picasso -, Science - Einstein -, or sporting achievement - Mokhtar Dahari -, or leadership - George Bush - errrrr, I made some of them up.

Steve Jobs gone jobless and resigned as CEO of Apple, a company he started with 'the Woz' and another bloke who gave up his share soon after - thinking that the company was heading nowhere, mistake of the century if you ask me. Although he resigned to become the Chair of the Board, reading between the line, his cancer relapse had taken its toll, and he did the sensible thing by stepping down. Within an hour o the announcement, the Apple stock took a 5% dive.

It was clearly a sad day, at least for me. I have unashamedly claimed to be an Apple fanboy. I have the iMac, MBP, Mac Air, a couple of iPads, the iPhone, a few iPods etc. I used Mac exclusively in my working life as well as blogging and photography. It had made me very productive in doing my daily chores, and it was not just the hardware element. It was the integration of hardware, software and its tactile relationship. The whole Apple experience.

They are not perfect. There a some quirks with using an Apple system, but often there would be clever work-arounds. The products were innovative and seemed to propel the personal computer experience, and generally technology forward. And it took a visionary to realise that. It did help to have a couple of geniuses around in Jonny Ives and Scott Forstall around .... a couple of people that Apple would do well to retain post-Steve.

So, to Mr Jobs, enjoy your retirement. You certainly deserved it. You have certainly left a legacy. I salute you!