Jonathan Brown » Culture

Review of ‘Steve Jobs’ by Walter Isaacson

Jonathan Brown — Tue, 15 Nov 2011 21:40:02 +0000

I’ve been sitting on this review for three weeks. I started reading ‘Steve Jobs’ by Walter Isaacson at about 11:45PM on Sunday, October 23. I finished it at around 4:00AM on Wednesday, October 26. Suffice it to say, that’s the quickest I’ve ever read any book that was over 600 pages. I read it, appropriately, on my iPad.

If Steve Jobs were a fictional character, he’d be one of Shakespeare’s tragic heroes—brash, narcissistic, ambitious, bratty, and willful. He thought he could change the world he lived in just by thinking about it. Whether by willing an engineer to do better (which often they did) or by implementing his vision technology, he did in fact change his world and the world around him. He could even will himself to believe that truth didn’t exist—his first daughter, Lisa, and his cancer. He was a walking contradiction. Consider:

A hacker, hippie who wanted to turn everything he saw into commerce
An orphan with a fear of abandonment who abandoned and then denied paternity of his own child
A defiant, anti-authoritarian who ended up building a draconian company
An anti-materialist who created products hordes of people lust for
An obsessive control freak who, at times, had no idea how to control himself
A man whose results were about making profits, but he didn’t care about money and lived simply
A man who sought out father figures, but didn’t end up being much of one himself
A man so smart, yet so stupid–thinking diets would make him clean enough that he didn’t shower, or that they could cure his cancer

The book reads more like a history of Apple than a book about a man. There are bits and pieces that aren’t about Apple, NeXT or Pixar—his adolescence, peeks into his family life, his love life—but Steve Jobs and Apple are one, and above all, this is that story.

For those looking to get a deeper understanding of how Jobs treated people and his philosophy on design and creating products, the book amply does that. My take-aways are:

Jobs was even more of an asshole than I already knew
Jobs was even more integral in the development of Apple products than I knew
Jobs cried a lot

While it’s clear that the core of Steve Jobs is a passion for perfection whose fear of abandonment and betrayal guided much of what he did, the decisions he made, the people he palled around with, but we never get to the core of why he treated people as he did. There’s no real explanation for his behavior. The best we can figure is that’s “just how he is.”

This baffled even his dearest friends, including his “design soul mate”, Jony Ive:

“He’s a very, very sensitive guy. That’s one of the things that makes his antisocial behavior, his rudeness, so unconscionable.”

Of course Steve’s “reality distortion field” is a frame for a lot of interactions with Steve. It was a powerful force. Time and time again people are quoted as saying they were fully aware of it and still got trapped by it. Andy Hertzfeld, the primary architect of the original Macintosh Operating System, most eloquently defines Jobs’s “reality distortion field”:

“The reality distortion field was a confounding mélange of a charismatic rhetorical style, indomitable will, and eagerness to bend any fact to fit the purpose at hand.”

Death, like a light blanket, is draped over the story of Steve Jobs. Not only because the writing of the book commenced after Jobs became sick, but also because the story ends just weeks before he died. Jobs had a lot of premonitions early in his career. One of those was that he always thought he would die young. Isaacson writes,

Jobs confided in Sculley that he believed he would die young, and therefore he needed to accomplish things quickly so that he would make his mark on Silicon Valley history.

This notion of an early death as a reason to work fast and hard is repeated a few times in the book, recounted by multiple people.

There are many interesting and entertaining passages in the book that provide a lot of insight into how Steve Jobs and Apple worked. Mike Markkula, Apple’s first investor and third co-founder, wrote a one-page paper called “The Apple Marketing Philosophy” which turned out to be the guiding principles that stuck with Jobs inside and outside of Apple. The philosophy stressed three main points, which I’m paraphrasing:

Empathy. Understanding what the customer needs
Focus. In order to do a good job, unimportant opportunities and distractions must be eliminated
Impute. Perception is everything and the best stuff must be presented in a way to avoid shoddiness

And then there’s Bill Gates, a recurring character throughout the book as Jobs’s best frenemy. I think the book helps Gates’s reputation by positioning him as Jobs’s polar opposite–the calm, stable, thoughtful, level-headed competitor. That’s not really who Gates was, but that’s what Isaacson makes him seem like compared to Jobs. Gates has quite a few zingers which I found endearing. My favorite quote from Bill Gates comes in an interview with the Washington Post regarding Jobs’s NeXT computer:

“His product comes with an interesting feature called incompatibility. It doesn’t run any of the existing software. It’s a super-nice computer. I don’t think if I went out to design an incompatible computer I would have done as well as he did.”

And then there’s a lovely passage involving Wendell Weeks, the CEO of Corning Glass, the company that made the Gorilla Glass used on the iPhones. When Jobs attempted to contact Weeks by phone, his assistant answered and refused to connect him even after explaining, “No, I’m Steve Jobs.” Jobs complained to Weeks that it was “typical East Coast bullshit” to which Weeks then called Apple and asked to speak to Jobs and was told, “to put his request in writing and send it by fax.” Classic.

When Jobs finally met with Weeks, Jobs insisted that the glass wasn’t good enough and tried to explain how to make glass.

This amused Weeks, who of course knew more than Jobs about that topic. “Can you shut up,” Weeks interjected, “and let me teach you some science?”

One would think, when facing death, that it changes you in some respects. There are quite a few passages in which Jobs breaks down crying when reflecting on moments and people in his life. It seems like he did truly care and had some regrets, but death didn’t change his stubbornness or his taste. When recovering from a liver transplant…

Even when he was barely conscious, his strong personality came through. At one point the pulmonologist tried to put a mask over his face when he was deeply sedated. Jobs ripped it off and mumbled that he hated the design and refused to wear it.

I think taste and a designer’s eye can be learned over time. Some people are just born with it and it’s so buried, so engrained in their spirit that it defines them. This is the case of Steve Jobs. He had an opinion on everything and wasn’t afraid to speak his mind regardless of who it was or what the object was. When Jobs met with record label executives for the first time…

After four slides, he waved his hand and broke in. “You have your heads up your asses,” he said.

Even if you’ve closely followed Steve Jobs over the years, the book is an interesting read. But I can’t help but be disappointed. It seems like Isaacson missed an opportunity. At times I wondered when I’d learn something new about the early years of Apple, and other than the courtship and betrayal by John Sculley, it reads like many of the Apple books I already own.

But there’s a deeper reason why I was disappointed. I didn’t get a sense of finality. Unless I totally missed it, he doesn’t even mention the date Steve Jobs died. Isaacson didn’t include any post-mortem thoughts or any sense of the magnitude of his death and the media coverage and global outpouring that followed. It seems to me that’s a pretty important part of the Steve Jobs story. It just feels like Isaacson took the easy way out.

Google’s Tribute to Freddie Mercury

Jonathan Brown — Mon, 05 Sep 2011 04:58:26 +0000

I love when Google does these tributes.

Freddie Mercury Google Doodle – YouTube.

No related posts.

Getting Started with the Paleo Diet

Jonathan Brown — Wed, 31 Aug 2011 19:56:14 +0000

One week ago I started the Paleo diet (otherwise known as the “Caveman” diet). I’ve been listening to Dan Benjamin’s great 5 by 5 podcasts, and while Dan doesn’t preach the Paleo lifestyle, he drops enough hints here and there that his life has changed for the better since he started living Paleo. So I decided to give it a try.

After researching this “diet” it became clear that this is not a diet at all–it’s a lifestyle. The average human intake over the last 5,000 years is the real fad diet. Foods have been introduced to our chain with the advent of agriculture that we’re not supposed to eat–including the manufactured animals that are fed byproducts of our own agriculture!

So the gist of the diet is to revert back to the eating habits of our paleolithic ancestors, pre-agriculture. The theory is that our bodies were fine-tuned over 2+ million years of evolution to persist on a diet based on hunting and gathering–grass fed beef, poultry, pork, wild caught fish and shellfish, vegetables, fruits and nuts. No wheat. No grains. No rice. No legumes. No gluten. No fructose. No carbs. And that means no bread. Apparently, farming is killing us. Who knew?

My goal is not to lose weight, but to feel a little bit better most of the time. I started reading Robb Wolf’s book, The Paleo Solution, about a week before I started to ensure this was something I really wanted to try.

During the first four days I had constant hunger and a mild headache. Nothing I ate, no matter how much I ate, made me feel satisfied and fulfilled. That made me cranky.

By day five the headaches were gone, but I still had constant hunger. The book said that I was supposed to feel more satisfied after a meal and would rarely ever feel hungry, so I was a bit confused.

Over the last week I’ve strayed on two occasions which were situational. Warning: excuse alerts! On Friday I had some waffle fries because I was driving two hours to Jacksonville to visit my Gramma and it was more convenient than alternatives (and I didn’t want to feel hungry for two hours while driving, sue me). On Saturday I took my daughter to Dairy Queen, which was a treat for me when I was a kid spending the summer at Gramma’s, so that was a nostalgic thing.

Other than those two instances, I’ve remained true. I’ve had nothing to drink besides one glass of unsweetened iced tea, water and coffee. I’ve had very substantial meals of meats and veggies with light snacking of carrot sticks, some turkey lunch meat and mixed nuts. Even gluten-free, wheat-free brownies are okay (I think).

Sunday I took a swim and did a few laps in earnest, and afterwards felt light-headed and shaky–exactly how I felt when I didn’t eat before a workout. I chalk it up to blood-sugar issues getting used to what’s going on with my body.

Things really started clicking last night when I noticed I felt good. I wasn’t hungry. Nothing hurt. My mind was clear and stress and anxiety levels were non-existant.

I’ve noticed some physical changes as well–my face is slightly thinner and I’ve lost a little from my abdomen region. As long as I don’t drink afternoon coffee, I sleep much better. I sleep a lot more deeply the first few hours with much less tossing and turning, and I’ve naturally risen way before my normal wake-up time (like before 6AM!) a few times. These are all benefits that are expected from the diet.

So here we go on to week two. I’ll post updates as I get along.

Vacation Out, Reality In

Alex at the Adler Planetarium, Chicago

Jonathan Brown — Tue, 30 Aug 2011 10:02:01 +0000

Photography dads, you know what this is about…trying to get your child to pose as you get your camera setup. Good times!

Posted from my Flickr account.

Guitar Frets: Environmental Enforcement Leaves Musicians in Fear | Postmodern Times – WSJ.com

Jonathan Brown — Fri, 26 Aug 2011 14:12:37 +0000

This is crazy. So one of the few storied manufacturers left in the US has to deal with this kind of crap every few years? We have no shot at rebuilding our manufacturing base with the overreaching environmental community, I’m afraid.

On border patrol and customs:

It’s not enough to know that the body of your old guitar is made of spruce and maple: What’s the bridge made of? If it’s ebony, do you have the paperwork to show when and where that wood was harvested and when and where it was made into a bridge? Is the nut holding the strings at the guitar’s headstock bone, or could it be ivory? “Even if you have no knowledge—despite Herculean efforts to obtain it—that some piece of your guitar, no matter how small, was obtained illegally, you lose your guitar forever,” Prof. Thomas has written. “Oh, and you’ll be fined $250 for that false (or missing) information in your Lacey Act Import Declaration.”

Guitar Frets: Environmental Enforcement Leaves Musicians in Fear | Postmodern Times – WSJ.com.

Hat tip to @stringsn88keys

My New Guitar

Day at Typhoon Lagoon

Jonathan Brown — Sat, 26 Jun 2010 22:13:56 +0000

Alex and I went to Disney’s Typhoon Lagoon for the day. I thought it was an excellent opportunity to put iPhone 4′s new cameras, video quality and iMovie for iPhone through its paces. The entire movie was produced on the iPhone 4. Not bad…for a ::cough::phone::cough.

No antennas were harmed during the production of this movie.

Posted from my YouTube account.

Ladies and Gentleman… The Bartles!

Jonathan Brown — Thu, 24 Dec 2009 06:35:12 +0000

Each year on Christmas day my family gathers in the recording studio to record a Beatles song with intentions to reproduce the instrumentation, sounds and performances as closely as our talents allow. This year, we’re releasing our first album recorded between December 1998 and December 2008. We called it Crappy Road. Check out The Bartles!

My New Guitar

Jonathan Brown — Wed, 14 Oct 2009 23:22:14 +0000

My First Guitar - Chiquita Travel

Believe it or not, I’ve been trying to play the guitar since I was six years old. After a few years of playing old school rock band—a baseball bat for a guitar and lunch boxes and dinner trays for drums (pots and pans are so cliché)—my older brother and I had perhaps the most awesome (early) Christmas ever. I received a Chiquita travel guitar, red, very much like the picture to the right—and equally as awesome as the one Michael J. Fox used to blow up Doc’s massive speaker in Back to the Future—and my brother got a practice pad drum kit. And we started our second band, or the first with real instruments, which ever way you want to look at it.

Fast forward twenty-six years…now I run an I.T. department and my brother still beats on pots and pans (literally) and anything else that makes a sound when you hit it, including real drums. And he gets paid! That’s crazy, right? I mean, people actually fly him around so he can play drums for an hour or so. Get a job, man!

Over the last twenty-six years I’ve owned quite a few crappy guitars. I’ve had a Silvertone acoustic (my Dad’s old guitar), Fender Squire II, Yamaha acoustic, Yamaha nylon string classical and an electric Epiphone Special. All of them equally tawdry, inferior touch and sound, but good enough for me to barrel my way through fake books and what not to amuse myself.

My Gibson ES-137c

I’ve always wanted that one good guitar. A guitar that excites me, that stares me down and messes with my head. A guitar that I can’t put down. A guitar technically well-built with good intonation, electronics that don’t flake out, nice action and a unique warm sound. A guitar that will make me want to practice scales!

After a little inspiration (a viewing of It Might Get Loud), I decided now was the time to go get myself a real guitar. My dream guitar is a Gibson ES-335, but even used they are still very expensive and more than I’m willing to pay for a hobby. I searched local guitar stores for other semi-hollow bodies that fit my budget.

My older brother found my next guitar at a local shop. I’m not going to mention the name, because quite frankly, I think they really suck. He SMS’d me a picture and price, so I researched the model and put it in the back of my head. I continued to research other guitars.

Then last Friday evening, after dinner, I visited the guitar shop to see if the guitar my brother found was still there. It was, so I asked to take a closer look. I plugged into a Fender Blues DeVille and began noodling. I was sold. The guitar felt really good in my hands. It had great action and a big silky warm blues sound. After thirty minutes of the worst guitar-store riffing you’ll ever hear, I bought it.

It’s a 2003 Gibson ES-137 Classic. Lisa asked me if I was going to name it. The first name that came to my mind was Maud because it has a big fat butt just like the elephant Alex and I saw at the zoo earlier in the day. But really, who names their guitar these days? That’s cheeky.

The Beatles Let It Be Album

Jonathan Brown — Sun, 30 Aug 2009 14:33:17 +0000

I picked up the latest addition to my Beatles record collection this morning.

Posted from my Flickr account.

Summer Camp to St. Augustine

Jonathan Brown — Fri, 24 Jul 2009 03:05:18 +0000

I accompanied Alexandra and her summer camp to St. Augustine today. Alex, her friend, Nico, and I drove separately following the bus up to St. Augustine. Once we arrived, we were on our own. We visited Castillo de San Marcos (The Fort), walked down St. George Street, ate three meals (plus cotton candy) and finished our day at the Ripley’s Believe It or Not museum. It was super hot and being in The Fort was what I imagine a turkey feels like in an oven. All in all, a good time. My favorite moment? At lunch (technically our second lunch in two hours) when Nico decided that the 8 oz. New York Strip steak with two sides special was “calling his name.”