Steve Jobs asked Walter Isaacson, already the biographer of Benjamin Franklin and Albert Einstein, to write his life story, and then gave him extensive access while promising not to control the result. Isaacson conducted more than forty interviews with Jobs over two years and spoke with over a hundred friends, relatives, competitors and former colleagues. The book appeared weeks after Jobs died in October 2011.
It follows Jobs from his adoption and childhood in the orchards of what became Silicon Valley, through the founding of Apple with Steve Wozniak, his ousting in 1985, the years at NeXT and Pixar, and his return to rescue Apple. Isaacson details the creation of the Macintosh, the iMac, iPod, iTunes, iPhone and iPad, and Jobs's long battle with pancreatic cancer.
The portrait is admiring but unsparing. It shows the reality distortion field, the obsession with design and simplicity, the fusion of technology and the liberal arts, and also the cruelty to colleagues and the troubled relationship with his first daughter. The book became one of the best-selling biographies ever and the basis for a feature film.
Book details
| Author | Walter Isaacson |
|---|---|
| First published | 2011 |
| Original language | English |
| Genre | Biography |
| Type | Non-fiction |
| Pages (approx.) | 656 |
| Setting | Silicon Valley, California |
Themes
- Innovation
- Design
- Leadership style
- Ambition
- Technology
Who should read it
Anyone interested in Apple, product design or the complicated personality behind some of the most influential consumer technology.
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