Julian Dunn's Reviews > Steve Jobs

Anyone who works in technology -- and in particular, designers and product people -- will enjoy Isaacson's masterfully-written biography of the mercurial Jobs. Just as the man himself was full of contradictions, so are Apple's products. They provide a great user experience at the expense of expandability and hackability. Overall though, I think Jobs was right: the vast majority of people have no interest in hacking technology; they just expect it to work. To the extent that you're comfortable living within Apple's (high-priced) walled garden, you'll be happy. But don't try to escape the jail.

Personally, as a product person, I'm happy living in Apple's jail, at least for the time being. The billion dollar question, of course, is whether Apple will be the same after Jobs. Even a few years on, I think it's too early to tell. If Tim Cook can successfully launch some revolutionary products (and the iWatch does not count among them) then I think it'll be a good sign that Apple's innovation machine has passed from one generation to another. But Apple could easily become the next Hewlett-Packard, unable to evolve beyond the strong leadership and charisma of its founder.