Book Review: Steve Jobs - The Man Who Thought Different

Title: Steve Jobs - The Man Who Thought Different
Author: Karen Blumenthal
Publisher: Square Fish
Rating: 4

Synopsis (via Goodreads): "Your time is limited. . . . have the courage to follow your heart and intuition."--Steve Jobs. From the start, his path was never predictable. Steve Jobs was given up for adoption at birth, dropped out of college after one semester, and at the age of twenty, created Apple in his parents' garage with his friend Steve Wozniack. Then came the core and hallmark of his genius--his exacting moderation for perfection, his counterculture life approach, and his level of taste and style that pushed all boundaries. A devoted husband, father, and Buddhist, he battled cancer for over a decade, became the ultimate CEO, and made the world want every product he touched. Critically acclaimed author Karen Blumenthal takes us to the core of this complicated and legendary man while simultaneously exploring the evolution of computers. Framed by Jobs' inspirational Stanford commencement speech and illustrated throughout with black and white photos, this is the story of the man who changed our world.

Review: I am participating in another year of my school's "reading battle" called Battle of the Books. Not only do I enjoy this competition because I have the best team in the world, but I also get to read a handful of books I probably wouldn't have before. Biographies never really were my thing, (I'm more of a fiction girl), but this one kept my attention for the most part.

I've had my iPad for a couple of years now, and I never really thought about what exactly triggered the idea of the tablet in Steve Jobs' mind. This, along with many other facts about Steve Jobs and the Apple company, surprised me. I don't exactly know why I was stunned by some of Jobs' behavior or the development of Apple because I never was on the inside of the whole operation, but what would have offended others inspired me.

Steve Jobs strived for perfection. This makes sense due to the fact that most, if not all, Apple stores are spotless. Not only did Apple products need to be simple for all to use, but they also needed to look flawless. Jobs hated power buttons, therefore, the first models of iPods lacked them. Jobs didn't always like his employees' ideas right away, but would more than likely warm up to them on a later date. He built Apple from the ground up, the idea born in a garage. He was fired from his own business, started a new one (NeXT), became the largest shareholder of Disney-Pixar after Pixar's several movie successes including Toy Story and Cars, and, finally, made a deal with Apple scoring him his old job back. How can Jobs not be an inspiration?

I was pleasantly surprised after reading Steve Jobs - The Man Who Thought Different. Karen Blumenthal did a fabulous job mapping out Steve Jobs' journey from meeting Woz to presenting his last Apple product. Now, I just have to get myself a copy of the new movie, Jobs. The similarities between Jobs and Ashton Kutcher are ridiculous. Seriously though, Ashton Kutcher and Steve Jobs could be related. (Image from allthingsd.com)