Steve Jobs

Smartly, I put myself on the hold list for this Steve Jobs biography by Walter Isaacson even before the book was released. I only had to wait through 5 people who had a faster trigger finger than I.

Unless you've been living under a rock for a number of years, you know who Steve Jobs is. Chances are good that you own or have at least encountered one Apple product, and probably more than that. You've likely seen Toy Story or another Pixar movie. Yeah, he was behind that too. Jobs may have dropped out of college but he was so smart it's sickening. He had a work ethic that wouldn't quit and a drive that was unmatchable. You probably know all of this already too. What I didn't know before reading this biography was just how intensely he lived his life. Jobs would become so focused on certain aspects of his products and business that nothing else really mattered and those who stood in the way inevitably became collateral damage. But, that's how you build a technological empire. Even through his battle with cancer, which he lost this year, he was still present in all Apple had to offer.

I'm not going to re-hash his whole life story here. What I'll tell you is that this was in incredibly interesting, albeit long, read. I found his rise, fall, and rise fascinating. While some of this 500+ page biography is a little slow, as a whole it's definitely worth reading whether or not you think you're interested in the Silicon Valley and its beginning or how Apple became the juggernaut it is today. Give this one a shot. People will think you're both smart and hip if they see you reading it!

Rating: * * * *