PAGES!
Steve Jobs
by Walter Issacson
Simon & Schuster
2011
I read a lot of biographies. But I don't usually get to read a biography about someone two years younger than me. That means I can remember everything in it and put it in my own time perspective. Steve Jobs was two years younger than me and in a very real way helped shape what others will someday look back on and credit my generation with. My generation was the dawn of the digital age. We brought computing into everyone's home. We made animation seem three dimensional. We now carry thousands of songs around with us in a device not much bigger than a credit card. My generation, a generation that decided we could all walk around with an actual telephone on us, and it would also store our music, and take pictures, and scan the web. And who was deeply imbedded in the midst of all of this? Steve Jobs. In many ways, and in a real sense, the Thomas Edison of our times.
Walter Isaacson has done meticulous research and has put together a biography that was well organized, fair, was true to who Jobs was, and gave us a real insight into the workings of a very complex person.
It all started when Steve was adopted by the Jobs' in 1955. And his father Paul Jobs did what many men of the era did; he bought cars, fixed them up, and sold them to make a few bucks. That's what my dad did, that's what Paul Jobs did. But Paul Jobs taught young Steve that one should never skimp on what's under the hood, what's not seen. It is a matter of pride.
Some might say the real story starts when Steve Jobs met Steve Wozniak. Maybe. But there was also the episode wherein Steve Jobs needed a part for some gadget he was working on and he looked up the number of Mr. Hewlett of Hewlett/Packard (a local company in the area) called him and asked him to help get the part. Mr. Hewlett gave young Steve a job and he got to be around some very smart electronics guys.
But when Steve Jobs met Steve Wozniak was truly one of the pivotal moments in 20th century history. Like when Lennon met McCartney, but on a computing level. Wozniak was the electronics wizard of the team that began humbly enough in the Jobs family garage. "Woz" was a shy, introverted electronics mastermind, who seemingly to this day has no idea what a genius he is. And if it weren't for the brash Steve Jobs we would never have heard of Steve Wozniak.
Jobs was the driving force, the visionary who knew what to do with the cool stuff Woz could do. And they started Apple in a garage but they wouldn't be there long.
Apple began making exciting computing equipment for the everyday user that looked great and was fun to use. When the Apple II came out, it shook the world. I could go on and on about Apple's accomplishments so I must warn you from the start that I am an "Apple worm" as I prefer to call myself. I started when I ventured to get one and have since converted my whole family. My dad is 86 years old and goes nowhere without his iPad.
The story of Steve Jobs is like a roller coaster ride. He builds this great company, he gets pushed out, he starts another company NeXT, it's crummy, he gets in and makes a company out of Pixar and makes movie history time and again, gets Apple back, and although it's on the brink of folding, brings it back bigger and badder than ever.
Where do we start? I guess logically, the iMac. The first computer that had that Jolly Rancher coloring and the looks of the Jetsons. That assures Apple is coming back in a big way. Now, it should be known that they had struck a deal with Xerox who had developed the technology of the digital interface, but didn't know what to do with it. It is pretty much acknowledged that left in the hands of Xerox, nothing would have ever come of it. Then the "sunflower" iMac, still my very favorite of all Apple products. I told my Dad to buy Apple computer at this time, at $35 a share. He didn't listen. Wish he would have because then came the iPod. Not only did this become the biggest product Apple offered, but it spurned the sales of iMacs. Others rushed to catch up, but Microsoft among others were caught with their pants down. Next Jobs saves the music industry that was dying a quick death because of pirating, and comes up with the iTunes store. The music companies that signed on, although understandably wary, flourished again. And then it was another idea that Bill Gates said wouldn't work, the Apple Store. (The Apple store in New York has more shoppers in a week than Macy's has in a month). Never ceasing to be amazing Jobs presents the iPhone. It is still the Rolls-Royce of cellular devices. Do you know why I once owned an Android? Because I couldn't afford an iPhone. Thankfully I have an iPhone now. But Android is cool. Those weird people in Wal-Mart need to feel like they have a cellular device too. (See? I said I was an 'Apple worm').
After the iPhone, and although it was actually way into the works before the iPhone, came the iPad. This again was revolutionary. It is so minimalistic and streamlined and beautiful. And so very functional. (Okay, at this point I need to be fair and mention that although my wife has an iPad, I have only a Kindle Fire, but that's okay. It does what I need. Netflix, HBO, Spider Solitaire....)
And let us not forget the Apps Store. Jobs railed against outsiders being allowed to create apps for his device, he was outvoted. Apps were just part of the logical next step in the digital revolution.
Jobs was a visionary. He saw ahead of time the "Digital Hub", that all of our devices should work in conjunction with each other. The iCloud - I still maintain it should have been called "locker room" a place where we can all keep our stuff in our "locker, but nevertheless Jobs saw this ahead of time. He got it.
What he never got was how to eat properly. I'm not trying to start a war with vegans, because honestly, y'all won't be around long enough to finish the battle. But he stayed true to his vegetarian beliefs and it cost him his life. Jobs was told he needed surgery. Instead he spent 9 months in a health food store instead of his Doctor's office. Those nine months were critical. Yes, he finally agreed to the pancreas surgery...too late....and then the liver transplant....a short lease on life... Eventually he began eating omelets as a feeble attempt to get the valuable protein his body required.
At the end of his life Jobs had a three hour visit with Bill Gates. Two of the most important men of the 20th century, and they made amends. They finally were just two guys that did their best. And they both changed the world.
Dear Dad: Apple now trades at over $600 a share.
Grade: A.
