Reading Reflection 3

Steve Jobs



There were actually a lot of things that surprised me about Steve Jobs because my knowledge of him was very limited. I was most surprised by his hippie lifestyle, pilgrimage to India and excessive drug use. None of these were things I expected to read in this book. It was also really interesting to learn where the name “Apple” came from. I had no idea he was involved with PIXAR either.

I think I most admire his creative vision. He brought together unlikely, but highly intelligent and creative people to create products like nothing before. He is truly a technological visionary and has changed the way the world learns, communicates and runs. I also admire his ability to be different. He didn’t always conform or do exactly what society said he should. He thought outside the box, which is why the Apple products we know and love exist today. He also had the ability to bring things out in people, like getting Wozniak to sell his idea, rather than give it away. He might not have always used the best techniques, but he drove people to do more.

He definitely dealt with adversity, but also battled with a lot of inner turmoil. He was adopted and fought to accept this his entire life. He denied his own child and walked away from many relationships. He did things people could not envision, so there were always naysayers. He also struggled between holding celebrity status and trying to stay true to his non conformist beliefs. Some of his products were complete flops and his stubbornness seemed to have gotten in the way on many an occasion. He was even “ousted” from his own company, but those who worked with him felt this tough love was exactly what he needed. He didn’t give up though and no matter the obstacles, he brought his visions to life. Ultimately, he changed the way the world accesses information. He returned to Apple and produced technology the world had never even dreamed of (iMac, iPad and the iPhone).

Like Elon Musk, Jobs was intense and seemed to take this intensity out on people. He also had a very cold side to him which is shown in his complete disregard for people in many situations. He seemed to clash with a lot of people. He had a lot go growing up to do and once he matured a bit, he became more focused and was able to bring his creative visions to life. When he was running both Apple and PIXAR, he definitely stretch himself thin. He felt this had weakened his immune system and allowed the cancer to spread.

There wasn’t really anything confusing in the reading, but there were a lot of minute details that felt a bit unnecessary. It’s quite a long book, but it’s a very thorough glimpse into his life and ideas.

I don’t think he was afraid of hard work, but his definition of it was definitely different than Elon Musk. Elon is non stop, barely eating or sleeping. Jobs also relied a lot more on people to know how to do aspects of creating the product.

I would ask him two questions:

Ultimately, do you think your time in India helped shape your creativity?

Did you ever think you would change the way the world accesses information in the way that you did?