Steve Jobs

By Walter Isaacson

1. What is the book about as a whole?

It's an extensive biography of Steve Jobs - mainly about his professional life though personal details are not spared.

2. What is being said in detail, and how?

The book is very extensive but here are some of the main takeaways about Steve Jobs, in order:

• Jobs is responsible for Apple's success and the release of the most successful products like Mac, iPod, iPhone, iPad...
• He believes deeply in the products he's building and is famous for his "reality distortion field" that has the power to force deadlines or convince key people to shift their priorities to make things happen
• Deeply integrated hardware and software are essential for the user experience
• A good product must feel intuitive
• Design and presentation are absolutely essential; even what is not visible must be pleasant
• He doesn't spare the truth; he often expresses his opinion in a rude but unmistakable way. So much so that he is often considered an asshole
• A players only, though the definition is subjective
• Focusing on few key things beats spreading thin - i.e. having less good products vs more but mediocre products
• Art and technology go hand in hand

3. Is the book true, in whole or part?

The book gives direct quotes from many people in his life. The author did an outstanding job of bringing together the main characters in his life through direct quotes and references. Steve Jobs felt like a real human - while presented as a genius, his flaws were not spared.

4. What of it?

It's truly remarkable that Steve Jobs influenced so many people, especially engineers. I realized I'd love to one day work for someone who so deeply believes in what they do. I have come to realize I have yet to find a life goal like that. The book influenced me to quit my job as I imagined Steve Jobs' opinion on TV ad data aggregation.

I also realized the benefits of having little patience for bullshit - and I should make sure there is none when presenting something to my stakeholders. This means that my presentations must be prepared in advance. I also loved the idea of avoiding PowerPoint - I will commit to never using it again.