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1. Growth, Love, and Beauty: the Self-Made Soul of Apple
   Steve Jobs famously said, “You can’t connect the dots looking forward; you can only connect them looking backward.” *Becoming Steve Jobs*, by Brent Schlender and Rick Tetzeli, does a wonderful job of connecting the dots of Steve Jobs’ passionate life.With new first-hand accounts and insights into Jobs’ personal and professional growth, *Becoming Steve Jobs* offers a glimpse into the tremendous work it took for an “inconsiderate“ and “rash” young visionary to develop himself into a caring and deliberate leader who so deeply valued — and inspired in others — one thing above all else: a love of and dedication to creating the beautiful in work, in life.GROWTH.In *Becoming Steve Jobs*, we see Jobs develop. At times, we encounter him at his worst: an emotionally erratic young man sitting in a parking lot, literally crying in shame after losing control of himself in a meeting; an arrogant 20-something who thinks “he could probably do anybody’s job better than they could” (Schlender & Tetzeli); a pained adult having to finally end production on his beloved NeXT computers. We see his beginnings, and his faults. But we also see the steps he takes to grow, to overcome weaknesses and learn from mistakes. For instance, we see him genuinely apologizing for inappropriate outbursts. We hear from colleagues such as John Lasseter, Chief Creative Officer at Pixar, that he could inspire those around him “to do amazing things he knew he couldn’t do himself.” And of course we see his incredible comeback to Apple (after it purchases NeXT) and the fantastic computers he creates while there. Time and again, we see Steve Jobs neither as a lucky boy in the right place at the right time nor as a fully formed tech messiah with God-given talents. Instead, we see the growth of a self-made soul, a man who worked — and worked and worked — every step of the way to become a visionary leader.LOVE.From the words of those who knew Steve Jobs best, we learn that he was a man who profoundly loved his work:“Steve loved ideas and loved making stuff, and he treated the process of creativity with a rare and wonderful reverence.” –Jony Ive, Apple’s VP of Design and one of Jobs’ closest friends“He loved this company.” –Ed Catmull, President of Pixar“He loved it. He was like a kid.” –Lasseter on how Steve would excitingly show Pixar movies to all his neighbors“No one else I ever covered was so passionate about the creations of his business.” –Schlender & TetzeliAnd by so loving his work, Steve inspired those around him to do the same. As Apple’s current CEO Tim Cook says, “Steve cared. He cared deeply about things. Yes, he was passionate about things, and he wanted things to be perfect. And that was what was great about him. He wanted everyone to do their best work.”BEAUTY.Steve Jobs found beauty in “the marriage” of technology with humanities, and he accomplished that union in a world-changing way. It was his uniquely integrated technical and aesthetic vision that was at the core of the personal computer revolution, making possible the movement from million-dollar, bulky mainframes that could barely fit in an office, to inexpensive, beautiful smartphones that glide easily into our pockets. Jobs had an all-encompassing “love of beauty,” says his wife Laurene, and ultimately it was this love of the beautiful, his (self-proclaimed) joy in “making wonderful things” that drove him.Overall, *Becoming Steve Jobs* is an engaging biography of Jobs’ life that neither sugarcoats his shortcomings nor belittles his brilliance (as sycophants and cynics have no doubt attempted elsewhere). Rather, it confirms in a well-researched and well-told story what those closest to Jobs have said for years: that despite his weaknesses — many of which he grew to overcome — Steve was a great man, whose joyous success in the real world is, as Jony Ive so powerfully stated in a funeral tribute to his friend, “a victory for beauty, for purity, and, as [Steve] would say, for giving a damn.”

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2. Will the real Steve Jobs please stand up?
   I read and enjoyed Steve Jobs by Walter Isaacson. In fact, I have read all of Isaacson’s books and unhesitatingly recommend all of them. He is a great writer and a good biographer. Yet, when I read his STEVE JOBS, I could not help but feel that the portrayal was not as balanced as it might have been. Apparently many of the people close to Jobs felt the same way.This nagging feeling lead me to BECOMING STEVE JOBS: THE EVOLUTION OF A RECKLESS UPSTART INTO A VISIONARY LEADER by Brent Schlender and Rick Tatzelie. This excellent book is a more balanced approach to understanding one of the most iconic figures in our time. Mr. Isaacson’s Jobs, is mostly a static figure whose penchant for brazen brashness and wonton bullying did not change much during his lifetime. Schlender and Tatzelie, on the other hand, find a more human side of Jobs and carefully paint the portrait of a man, who learned from his failures and defied, “F. Scott Fitzgerald’s adage that `there are no second acts in American life” (chapter 13). And what a breathtaking second act it was.Ultimately, I think Schlender and Tetzeli come closer to the real Jobs than Isaacson. Certainly the flawed but evolved visionary they portray is more believable in the arc of his incredible life. Isaacson ultimately never explains how the boorish, messianic bully he describes was able to achieve the successes Jobs achieved at Pixar or during his tenure as Apple’s CEO. Schlender and Tetzeli’s case for why Jobs was successful in these endeavors is compelling.For what is worth, and certainly it should not be the deciding factor, those who knew jobs best believe Schlender and Tetzeli come nearer hitting the mark than Isaacson . In fact, Ed Catmul, Pixar CEO and 26-year associate of Jobs, felt so strongly that Isaacson did a disservice to Jobs that he devoted the last chapter of his runaway bestseller on his management philosophy, Creativity, Inc.: Overcoming the Unseen Forces That Stand in the Way of True Inspiration as a rebuttal to Isaacson. The fact that the chapter does not really fit with the rest of the book is an indication of how strongly Catmull believes that the record needed to be set straight.For readers especially interested in Jobs or Apple I would recommend reading both books. But if you intend to read only one I would suggest reading BECOMING STEVE JOB. However, be warned that this book is not principally a biography and much of the biographical detail of Jobs’s life is only lightly touched on or skipped over altogether. Nevertheless BECOMING STEVE JOBS is a fascinating read that I highly recommend.

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3. Anyone interested in the PC industry revolution, Apple, and most importantly Steve Jobs, MUST READ this book! Powerfully narrated, the book takes reader through an intimate, emotional journey of a great man who had the artistic vision for products which changed the world, and his passionate pursuit of it. Brought tears to my eyes while reading.

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4. If you’ve read the Jobs biography by Walter Isaacson and think this one here will be “more abou the same”, you might be wrong. This book is more focused on their professional challenges and, why not say that, I good complement of Isaacson’s book. A lot of missing parts of that book will be found here and, if you want to understand how Jobs changed his leadership style over the years this one is a great piece for that.Highly recommended.

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5. He had so many plans for the future Taken to soon who would have thought it possible the IPAD is quite amazing piece of technology It hasn’t changed since he passed away tells us how clever this man was I guess we’ll just have to wait for the next genius to come down on this earth Thank you Brent for giving us this book I’ll treasure it forever

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6. Un livre passionnant sur un personnage tout à fait en dehors du politiquement correct. Une victoire de l’obstination individuelle sur la cascade de régulations collectives. A recommander à tous ceux qui craignent le développement de Big Brother. La volonté d’un individu à se réaliser dans un monde où l’idée d’égalité devient un destructeur de projets et d’ambition il est réconfortant de vérifier que l’obstination, la détermination peuvent encore ouvrir les portes de la liberté.

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7. ですが、手放しの賞賛ではなく、ジャーナリストの視点で負の部分もキッチリ描いています。友人としてジョブズと20年以上付き合ってきた作者ならではの暖かくも客観的な人物像が興味深く読めます。ビジネス書として、アイザックソンの公式伝記よりも、個人的には、面白いかったです。

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