Not a Book Review

For my favourite bio and failed attempt at organising a book club.

This book has been stashed away since my year as an invisible intern at an automobile company. A very nice girl Debbie discovered my interest in reading and passed me the then latest best seller. But given the hefty volume I never had the courage to flip through. Earlier this year, the very precious book club that I attend started to morph into a carousing event and some very talented people start to leave, which led to my quitting. Long story short, now I am no longer the beneficiary of the 'literary lovers' from the club who gave quite a few nice recommendations. I started to think about the book I always wanted to read but did, therefore, 4 years after my first encounter, I picked this one up. It was hefty for sure, but worth the time.

I have always respected Steve Jobs and his wisdom in design and as motivational speaker. I've been one of the lucky ones to have read/watched his 'Stay hungry, stay foolish' speech at an early age. Without fully comprehending the metaphor, I was determined not to settle and find 'the perfect job'. I changed my job for couple of times during the first 2 years of my career, through constantly questioning myself and tapping into my potential, as well as finding my true character I gradually gained the concept behind the definition.

And now it's time to get to know the genius who put the thoughts into my head in the first place. I have read pieces about him being quirky, and according to the outliers by Malcolm Gladwell, his success heavily banks on his upbringing, but maybe Walter Isaacson is even better at digging deep into the facts, the book pieces together a great bio and gives reasons on why he is the way he is and what becomes of him.

As I get to know him from childhood in Palo Alto, California, to Reed College Portland, Oregon, a clear picture of him started to unfold. Not only has he been the CEO of 2 most influential companies of the century Apple and Pixar, as known by most people, but his changing roles as an adopted son, a teen drop-out, an amorous lover, an advocate for sharp design, a weirdo with choose disability, a not so doting father, a husband and a cancer patient. Succeeded at an early age, he failed hard and bounced back. The book makes his life look like a roller coster. As usual, the followings are sentences I carefully dog-eared.

"Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication."

"Even though it faces the wall and nobody will ever see it, you'll know it's there, so you are going to use a beautiful piece of wood on the back. For you to sleep well at night, the aesthetic, the quality, has to be carried all the way through." (On the design of the back of the computer.)

"There's an old Hindu saying that goes, ' In the first 30 years of your life, you make your habits. For the last 30 years of your life, your habits make you.' Come help me celebrate mine." (On the invitation to his 30th birthday party in 1985.)

"People do judge the book by its cover." (On choosing the package of Macintosh.)

“He was incredibly phoney, a compete poseur....He pretended to be interested in technology, but he wasn't He was a marketing guy, and that is what marketing guys are: paid poseur.” (His opinion on Sculley, the chief marketing, but then he said to him :"I want you to work with me. I can learn so much from you." He knew how to pay to Sculley's ego and insecurities.)

When he was dating Joan Baez, a former lover of Bob Dylan, he thought a Ralph Lauren red dress was perfect for her. So he took her to see the dress, but didn't buy it for her. Yet he gave her computers, not the dress she couldn't afford.

"Steve believed it was our job to teach people aesthetics, to teach people what they should like...In our personal interactions, I couldn't abide his unkindness. I didn't want to hurt him, yet I didn't want to stand by and watch him hurt other people either." (His complicated long stretched relationship with his ex Redse. And she turned down his marriage proposal and broke up with him.)

"Jobs could be charming to people he hated just as easily as he could be insulting to people he liked."

"The older I get, the more I see how much motivations matter. The Zune was crappy because the people at Microsoft don't really love music or art the way we do. We won because we personally love music. We made the iPod for ourselves and when you 're doing something for yourself, or your best friend or family, you're not going to cheese out. If you don't love something, you're not going to go the extra mile, work the extra weekend, challenge the status quo as much." (On iPod's success.)

"'Simply handing over your iPod to a friend, your blind date, or the total stranger sitting next to you on the plane opens you up like a book.' All somebody needs to do is scroll through your library on that click wheel, and, musically speaking, you're nakend. It's not just what you like - it's who you are."

"I think honestly, when he is very frustrated, and his way to achieve catharsis is to hurt somebody. And I think he feels he has a liberty and a license to do that. The normal rules of social engagement, he feels, don't apply to him." (The design chief Ive analysed his earnest intensity.)

"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. Though barely able to speak, he ordered them to bring five different options for the mask and he would pick a design he liked."

"I'm disappointed in Obama...He's having trouble leading because he's reluctant to offend people or piss them off." (On his meeting with the president, he did not hold back.)

His great contribution in Toy Story and other pixar blockbusters, the great design of apple stores, the platform of apps, iCloud, Apple products and Apple itself.

Last but not the least, his letter to his wife Laurene Powell on their 20th anniversary, oh how I cried my Huanghe River tears:

We didn't know much about each other 20 years ago. We were guided by our intuition; you swept me off my feet. It was snowing when we got married at the Ahwahnee (Lodge in Yosemite). Years passed, kids came, good times, hard times, but never bad times. Our love and respect has endured and grown. We've been through so much together and here we are right back where we started 20 years ago - older, wiser - with wrinkles on our faces and hearts. We now know many of life's joys, sufferings, secrets and wonders and we're still here together. My feet have never returned to the ground.