Steve Jobs

Steve Jobs

If you're a user in the Apple ecosystem, of course you're aware of Steve Jobs. His daughter, Lisa Brennan-Jobs, has written a book about her life with Jobs. The following comments are from a technical newsletter I subscribe to. Just passing it on FYI.

Jim Hamm

On the eve of publication, what Ms. Brennan-Jobs wants readers to know is this: Steve Jobs rejected his daughter for years, but that daughter has absolved him. Triumphantly, she loves him, and she wants the book’s scenes of their roller skating and laughing together to be as viral as the scenes of him telling her she will inherit nothing.

Ms. Brennan-Jobs’s forgiveness is one thing. What’s tricky is that she wants the reader to forgive Mr. Jobs, too. And she knows that could be a problem.

It could be a problem because Jobs comes off at best as a jerk and at worst as a truly damaged human being. Neither of those is at odds with the Steve Jobs revered—sometimes with cause, sometimes undeservedly so—by Apple enthusiasts for his marketing acumen and technical foresight.

But his relationship with his daughter adds color and perspective to an overall picture of Jobs that is often monochromatic in its focus. And it’s impossible to ignore the fact that this book’s revelations come at a time when powerful people are being brought down by past disgraceful behavior. Should we think differently about Steve Jobs after hearing Lisa Brennan-Jobs’s side of the story?

Read the excerpt, read the article, read the book, and make up your own mind.

Mixed Reviews on jOBS

        "Here is a brief scene from the new Jobs movie, with some comments by Wozniak. The movie is getting mixed reviews. See here and here,"  Jim Hamm informs us.  "Whether you would like the movie or not depends, I suspect, on what you expect from the movie. It apparently isn't about the life of Jobs, but rather a snapshot in time. The actor, Ashton Kutcher, gets good reviews for portraying Jobs in a realistic manner.
        "I plan to see the movie when it's available. I have no expectations of it being a great, Oscar-potential, movie, but hopefully it's entertaining."  

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Apple's Six Best Decisions

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        "Here's an interesting article and observation by Ted Landau of Apple's six best decisions — and why they make Apple the company it is today."  Jim Hamm goes on to elaborate,  "My only quibble with Ted is that the iPad should be included in the list. But he goes in detail explaining why he left this device out of his nominees. Possibly many of us — well, me, anyway — tend to think of Apple as a Mac, or computer, company. Not so much anymore. Here is a quote from the article: 'Apple’s success depended upon moving away from its focus on the Mac.' Hence, the dropping of 'computer' from the company name a while back."

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Another Book on Apple

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        Here's another book on Apple.  Jim Hamm passes along this info, "The following summary was provided by the Apple Blog Newsletter. This book, Inside Apple: How America's Most Admired — and Secretive — Company Really Works,  by Adam Lashinsky apparently focuses more on the inner workings of Apple, whereas the book by Isaacson focused more on Jobs, as was intended. I'm looking forward to reading it."

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Steve Jobs 1955-2011

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        We were all shocked to hear of the death of Steve Jobs. Opening to Google's homepage this morning under the search box is the simple notation: Steve Jobs 1955-2011.  Clicking on the name takes us to the Apple website where a photo of Steve is posted.
         Jim Hamm writes, Many articles are appearing about the passing of Steve Jobs. Several of them are listed on the website 'All Things D.'  Here is one by Walt Mossberg, tech writer for the Wall Street Journal, and his remembrances of Steve.
        Jim reminisces, "Zee and I were at the MacWorld Expo (San Francisco) in February, 2008, where Steve introduced the MacBook Air. I, of course, rushed home and ordered one. We didn't make it into the conference room where Steve gave the presentation, and didn't see his presentation in person, but we got to see it on a screen in the expo hall. With Steve's flair for a dramatic presentation, I'll never forget him pulling the MacBook Air out of a thin, interoffice mail envelope and showing it to the audience.
        Jim closes with, "I hope Steve's creative spirit lingers at Apple for a long time."
        No doubt, there'll be many tributes and remembrances. Here's a quotation from the president of The Heritage Foundation, Edwin J. Fuelner, "As for journalism and reading in general, we have now gone back to where we started: the biblical tablet. The elegant slab we take with us wherever we go can do the same for us and take us, no matter where we are, anywhere in the universe our imagination wants to visit.
        ". . .  this half-Arab boy who was given up for adoption at birth and went on to drop out of college was able to transform the lives of individuals across the world because he lived and worked in this country."
     

Inside Steve's Brain

Jim Hamm sends us the latest from Cult of Mac, an "informative article . . . about Steve Jobs and Apple. It is chapter eight from Mr. Kahney’s book: 'Inside Steve’s Brain, Expanded Edition.' In this chapter Kahney comments on the hows and why-fors of Job’s penchant for wanting to control all aspects of Apple’s products through vertical integration. An interesting, if somewhat lengthy, read."