Steve Jobs: Hero and Villain in Building the Digital Electronics Era

"Steve Jobs" by Walter Isaacson

Simon&Schuster, 630 pages

In the many articles we have read about Steve Jobs since his passing on Oct. 5, some have been reverential toward the man who catapulted Apple and all its products to their current pedestals among consumers and investors alike.

Nevertheless, reading the biography of "Steve Jobs" written by Walter Isaacson one gets to grasp the man was no god. He was quite human in ways that may trouble some readers.

It was however, Jobs' wish that his children will get to know him more, that no matter how people recalled him as a difficult boss, an inspiring leader, a prodigal son, a reluctant and remorseful father, a reliable friend, cruel associate, and even as a shrewd businessman. Steve Jobs was saint and sinner, a hero and a villain quite like most of us in different situations.

Jobs knew this from the start when he coaxed Isaacson to write the book. Isaacson warned him that there would be people from his past that he would interview. Some 40 acquaintances: friends, lovers, and family speak their truths about Steven Paul Jobs. They indeed told how Steve Jobs changed their lives, unknowing that they, too, changed his.

Jobs emphasized in one of his conversations with Isaacson that he has his "trepidations about the project," the biography that took more than two years to write.

Isaacson said Jobs did not ask him what he was writing or what conclusions he had drawn. Jobs told him: "I know that there will be a lot in your book I won't like. ... That's good."

Jobs knew that as a meticulous journalist, Isaacson would not be patronizing him and the author indeed made a remarkable recollection of how Jobs lived and became part of the electronics revolution.

The book is not only a fitting tribute to the man behind the success of the Apple Inc. and his Mac products through the last 39 years. It also is a tribute to his family, friends, teachers and mentors, even with the brilliant staff and the industry associates that Jobs worked and fought with.

Pioneers of a New Era in Digital Electronics

The biography chronicles how Jobs and his friends, led by Stephen Wozniak, changed the world with their passion for electronics engineering.

As Jobs took center stage in the evolution of the Mac and the Apple Inc. as a company during presentations and public launching, it is but time that Wozniak, fondly called "Woz" gets the recognition, too.

Isaacson described the co-founder Woz as the shy, highly motivated, principled, ethical and kind-hearted friend, who with his engineering brilliance made the concept of personal computers possible to this day.

The author was able to trace how a high school friendship between Jobs and Wozniak blossomed from simple pranks, to being the scruffy electronics engineers at Atari, and later on as partners and co-founders at Apple.

Although there were times he disagreed with Jobs on principles, Wozniak still credits him for making business of his designs: "Every time I'd design something great, Steve would find a way to make money for us. It never crossed my mind to sell computers."

One of the fundamental facets of Jobs's character was his keen sense of intuition in knowing of a person's talent and what he is good at, and to the extent to stretching that to making use of that talent.

The book shared the stories of people who got a chance to work with Steve even to his last days at Apple. They noted of his callousness and abrasiveness because of his perfectionist mentality. To some of his co-workers and staff, this character of Steve helped shaped their own. To people like Andy Hertzfeld and Debi Colemann, who were among the original team members who worked on the Mac products with Jobs during the early years, he was a force to reckon with because he could persuade people to do the impossible.

Jobs explained: "I've learned over the years that when you have really good people you don't have to baby them. By expecting them to do great things, you can get them to do great things. The original Mac team taught me that A-plus players like to work together and they do not like it if you tolerate B work. Ask any member of that Mac team. They will tell you it was worth the pain."