Thomas Hillring's Reviews > Steve Jobs

I didn't know a whole lot about Steve Jobs before reading this book. I knew that he was kind of an asshole who stole ideas from people but that was pretty much it.

After reading this book I despise Jobs thoroughly. He was a sociopath, a bully, a thief of ideas and a crying little baby. And also a genius. Now, I don't agree with his design views on the closed platform that is Apple gadgets, but I see how his vision guided Apple from the brink of disaster to market dominance. His view that product is more important than profit is admirable, even if he hit a few duds in his time. He didn't cater to his customers, he dictated for them what they would want and that was his great success.

But at the same time, he treated the people around him like shit. He denied fatherhood of his daughter, even after a paternity test. He had his reality distortion field that meant he ignored things he didn't like, such as his cancer. He would probably be alive today had he not ignored the cancer diagnosis for seven months when he got it. The reality distortion field also made him think that his ideas were unique, even if he got them from coworkers or rivals. The theft of Xerox's ideas for a graphical UI, for example. He was screaming angry at Bill Gates for "stealing" that for Windows from him, even though he himself had stolen it from Xerox. Giant, giant hypocrite and asshole.

So he's a divisive figure. I appreciate certain things about him and I despise others. Walter Isaacson painted an honest picture and weaved between subjects expertly. Anyone who is even remotely interested in tech or interesting people should read this book.