Posted on November 2, 2011 at 10:29 am
Steve Jobs – The Biography
Well it took just over a week, but this morning I finally finished Steve Jobs by Walter Issacson.
I decided to write a blog post about this for two reasons, one to discuss the book and two to speak to how I consumed it.
First up, the book was very good, if not very predictable. I basically would surmise that anything you thought about Steve Jobs is probably true. He was quite “prickly” and a downright ass most of the time, but it would seem that basically his vision was exactly what he always said it was and it’s as I’ve said before, why I love my Mac and all my Apple products. There is a viewpoint, a philosophy, a soul to the products that Apple creates, it’s clear that it was not just Jobs, but everyone at Apple creates these products because they understand this “DNA”, but it was Jobs who pushed it, who started it who made it possible.
And the DNA is juxtaposition of technology and a philosophy, which is a part of every Apple product, just as it was a part of Jobs himself. A hippie at heart, always in search of inner peace and zen who became a innovator of technology and a billionaire, two things that don’t seem to go together.
Apple’s products, much like Jobs have a polarizing affect on people, you either get and embrace the “whole widget” philosophy or you don’t, you either think he was a genius or you don’t, but the one thing that rings true is… people are always talking about both the product and the man and that’s a legacy I think you can be proud of.
Now on to the how… I’ve made no secret both to people in this blog, in my podcasts and in person how much I love Audio Books. They are a great way to read, while you’re busy. There is much to be said for sitting down with a book and just reading. Shutting out the world and focusing on just one thing, but in my life that’s not always practical.
My best mate was kind enough to gift me a copy of the book on the most appropriate medium, the iBookstore. I tend to buy digital books via Amazon because of the number of ways there is to consume the book, but I was happy to get a copy. I sat down and started to read, I fell away from my reality and into Steve’s life and then… a text, an email, a phone call, work, podcasting… well life got in the way.
Due to this, I tend to read at night, in bed, when I’m tired, which led to several nights of my iPad hitting me in the face as I dozed off. And it dawned on me that I should probably think about just listening to the book.
Lucky for me another great pal, surprised me with a gift of the book via Audible! How great was that… both mediums… for me to choose from, or rather in this case to use in conjunction with each other.
I decided to do just that, listen AND read. I told myself that I’d only stop listening or reading at a major chapter marker to make it easier to go back and forth and you know what? It worked, fantastically. Listened on my drive in, at work, on the way home, while playing Forza 4 etc. and then every evening, I read a few pages and when the power was out during the freak snow storm we had, I read for HOURS and HOURS. It was wonderful.
It led me to think about something that Chuti said on Oh My Pod! Daily, that Apple should sell a combo of an iBook and an Audio Book for a reasonable price, I think this would rock but it’s unlikely to be a price I’d pay. I mean let’s be honest, I probably would not have done what I did this time by paying for something twice, but it got me to thinking again about a feature that the Kindle has on some books… read aloud. Now don’t get me wrong, the reading aloud is not the best and no where near what an audio book is, but maybe Apple could some how use one of the voices on OS X (Alex for example) to let my iPad read to me. I for one would pay a bit more for a book if that was possible.
Wishful thinking I’m sure but what do you all think?
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