Steve Jobs

By: Walter Isaacson

Narrated by: Dylan Baker

Length: 25 hrs and 18 mins

Publisher's summary

Featuring a new epilogue read by the author.

From the author of the best-selling biographies of Benjamin Franklin and Albert Einstein, this is the exclusive biography of Steve Jobs.

Based on more than 40 interviews with Jobs conducted over two years - as well as interviews with more than a hundred family members, friends, adversaries, competitors, and colleagues - Walter Isaacson has written a riveting story of the roller-coaster life and searingly intense personality of a creative entrepreneur whose passion for perfection and ferocious drive revolutionized six industries: personal computers, animated movies, music, phones, tablet computing, and digital publishing.

At a time when America is seeking ways to sustain its innovative edge, and when societies around the world are trying to build digital-age economies, Jobs stands as the ultimate icon of inventiveness and applied imagination. He knew that the best way to create value in the 21st century was to connect creativity with technology. He built a company where leaps of the imagination were combined with remarkable feats of engineering.

Although Jobs cooperated with this book, he asked for no control over what was written. He put nothing off-limits. He encouraged the people he knew to speak honestly. And Jobs speaks candidly, sometimes brutally so, about the people he worked with and competed against. His friends, foes, and colleagues provide an unvarnished view of the passions, perfectionism, obsessions, artistry, devilry, and compulsion for control that shaped his approach to business and the innovative products that resulted.

Driven by demons, Jobs could drive those around him to fury and despair. But his personality and products were interrelated, just as Apple's hardware and software tended to be, as if part of an integrated system. His tale is instructive and cautionary, filled with lessons about innovation, character, leadership, and values.

©2011 Walter Isaacson (P)2011 Simon & Schuster

Incredible

This book is a perfect representation of the man, the myth, and the legend that is Steve Jobs. Gained a new respect and appreciation for him and his his path. Thank you Steve.

Great book

Good and Interesting, this is the history of this huge man, highly recommended, enjoy it

Amazing Man, Inspiring Story

Not a dull moment in this book. I recommend it to anyone interested in business or marketing.

Well... there goes half my day!

I downloaded this book at about 3PM, and thought I'd listen for an hour or so. Here it is now, about 7PM, and I can't seem to stop. Yes, I did stop to write the review, but I'll be right back listening just after I'm done here. Jobs is as close to an Edison as we will know in our lifetimes. Not a Tesla, nor a Pharnsworth. That job was originally held by Wozniak. And if you don't know the aforementioned inventors, you should.

If you have any interest at all in this tale, I dare say it's worth your time. Even if it falls off a cliff from here (doubful) I'd consider it well worth the money. Reader and story work well together. And I can't wait to hear what happens next. Gotta go!

Not to be missed by tech and biz folks

Compelling life, talent and tragedy. Even the personal relationships are fascinating. Gates, Woz, Makula, wives and girlfriends, kids. Didn't expect that on top of the great product stories.

I shed a few tears at the end

i was never an Apple fan or followed any of the tech gossips but the story of Steve Jobs offered a new insight and changed my feed with a profound respect and appreciation of his struggles and triumphs at Apple. I'm also feeling less conscious or guilty for acting like an ass to get the results I want.

Great book

Listened to the book while at work, highly enjoyed listening to all of the business encounters Steve Jobs encountered and over came. Great book and I highly recommend it!

Love my Iphone and Ipad but not Steve Jobs

I am glad to have the products but I would never have worked for Steve Jobs.I wouldn't want for people to remember me for being such an ass!!

Fascinating story til the end!

What three words best describe Dylan Baker’s performance?

A little too cynical sounding for me in his narration. I really wish the author had read it instead.

Any additional comments?

The book dragged on for me, but I found the story of Steve Jobs so fascinating I'm really glad I read it. I love that it shows how this kid that doesn't sound like he has a promising beginning ends up making this incredible company despite, or because?, he's so brutal in running it. It was fun living in the area he lived in and listening to this as I'd run by the Apple complex too, it made it so real for me. The message I most liked from the book is the idea that you can do anything you put your mind to, you can push your limits and can change boundaries.

Genius detailed

Any additional comments?

I have been a Steve Jobs fan ever since I bought a Mac IIci in the mid-80's. I think we all know that he was a quirky genius, so none of that came as a surprise. What I enjoyed was Isaacson's excellent job of fleshing out the details of Jobs' life. He showed the complex human side of this remarkable genius. Brilliant as he was, Jobs was still human, and it was interesting to learn the details of his life story.

I do have a major complaint about the narration. I found the snarky, sarcastic reading both annoying and over done. Snarky and sarcastic have a place, but every sentence? If only I could have heard a few passages read in a normal tone of voice. The bad-acting reading over-dramatized the material and made every sentence seem like an extreme event. I enjoyed the author's read of the introduction--too bad he didn't read the entire book. What better than to have the writer read his own words. After all, he knows the intent of what he wrote. Dylan Baker, in my opinion, had no clue. I love audio books, but this is one that I think I would have enjoyed more had I read the written version instead.