By Walter Isaacson. Fascinating read. Highly recommend.
“This is shit!” “This sucks!”
These are Jobs’ 2 favorite saying his entire life.
“Jobs has an “almost willful lack of tact”. It was more than just an inability to hide his opinions when others said something he thought dumb: it was a conscious readiness, even a perverse eagerness, to put people down, humiliate them, to show he was smarter.”
Steve Jobs is a VERY unlikeable man. So unlikeable that I would/will think twice before I decide to buy an Apple product.
When I was about a third of the way thru the book [when Jobs got ousted from Apple], and all I could think about is how I hoped Jobs fails. Fails at whatever he is going to do next. Then…I realize, I know the outcome. And I’m disappointed. I’m bummed that such a HUGE prick ended up being financially successful and he has all these devoted followers.
That said, I’m also shocked that he commissioned this book. However, like many politicians and other “celebrities”, he must have had illusions of grandeur. I guess he was unaware of what a jerk he is, and unaware how knowing more about him is NOT a good thing for his adoring masses.
After this book came out, I read a commentary [on the below mentioned blog] about calling him an asshole vs jerk. The commentator said that an asshole was a jerk with class. Thus, Jobs was a jerk.
I wonder where prick falls on this description gauge. I’m thinking a prick is worse than a jerk.
Asshole – - – - > Jerk – - – - > Prick
If so, then Jobs is a prick.
I hardly knew anything about Jobs, but in February I read “10 Unusual Things I Didn’t Know About Steve Jobs” by James Altucher, my fav blogger.
And then after he passed there were a ton of articles about him, a 2 part “60 minutes” interview with Isaacson and other promo’s re this book.
I’ll assume most people have read/seen these and are familiar with what is now “common knowledge” about him.
The below are other tidbits I found interesting.
* Mannn, is he a cry baby. He is hugely rude, guised under being brutally honest. However, there is a severely mean way to be honest and a nicer way to be honest. Jobs is severely mean. Yet…he seems to cry at the drop of a hat. I worked for years in a tough, Corporate America work environment. I can’t imagine the response should someone in a high position be seen to cry once, let alone all the time. What a bully and a wimp.
* Jobs is working at Atari. Out of the blue, he walks into the CEO’s office to tell him he’s quitting to go find his guru. CEO’s quick and funny response? “No shit, that’s super. Write me!”
Then Jobs asks him to help pay. “Bullshit” was the response.
* Apple originally started with Jobs, Steve Wozniak and Ron Wayne [with 10% ownership]. Then Wayne got cold feet and backed out. Had he stayed in, he would have been worth $2.6 billion by the end of 2010.
* I’ve read stories where Bill Gates would code all night and go to a big meeting/presentation/lecture unkempt and smelly, but I haven’t read that that was his usual way of life. Could be, I just don’t really know. Jobs, on the other hand, had the mistaken belief that since he only ate fruit, he only needed to bathe once a week. He had to work the night shift at Atari cuz NO one wanted him around during regular working hours. Around the time Apple had their IPO was when he started bathing daily.
* Jobs thought rules didn’t apply to him. Such as, he never put a license plate on his car, and he always parked in the handicapped parking spots.
* Jobs looked at 2,000 shades of beige for the Macintosh, but didn’t like any of them.
* “Real artists sign their work”. When the design for the Macintosh was locked in, Jobs held a ceremony where he had the design team sign a piece of paper with a sharpie. These signatures were engraved inside each computer.
* When Jobs was ousted from Apple, he sold all but 1 of his 6.5 million shares for $100 million.
* After the Pixar IPO, Jobs was worth$1.2 billion.
* At Apple the 2nd time, Jobs is known for making $1 a year. Less known is that when he came back his hand-picked board bought him a jet that he personally designed, and then offered him 14 million options. Jobs took the jet and then demanded 20 million options! A few years later when these options were out of the money, he demanded more options at a lower price [he did give the original options back].
* Why don’t Apple products use Adobe Flash? Because back in 1999, Jobs wanted Adobe to make new Mac versions of Adobe Premier and Photoshop, which was popular on Windows computers. Adobe turned him down, which stunned Jobs. Adobe said there weren’t enough users to make it worthwhile. Jobs was furious and felt betrayed. He held a grudge and never forgave Adobe.
* Dylan was Jobs favorite music artist. His fav Dylan song? One Too Many Mornings.
* After he launched the iPad, he received about 800 emails in 24 hours. Most of them complaining. He wrote people back “Your parents would be so proud of how you turned out.” So, he can tell any and every one “This is crap”, but if someone said it to him, he’s insulted and needs to insult the giver. Can dish it out, but can’t take it. Again…he’s a bully and a wimp.
* When Jobs finds out he has a tumor on his pancreas, he refuses to have it removed. Everyone begged and pleaded, but he thinks that his diet will make it go away. 9 months later the tumor had grown and spread, he then decides to have it removed.
* He doted over his oldest son, Reed, and ignored his 2 daughters, Erin and Eve [and REALLY ignored and abandoned his first daughter, Lisa]. He “lights up” when Reed walks into the room [NOT when his wife enters]. When diagnosed with cancer, the 1 goal he had was to be alive to watch Reed graduate from high school. That kept him going. If his wife tried to get him to do something, and usually he wouldn’t [he's a rebel, after all], she would enlist Reed for help.
* In November 2010, he wasn’t eating, and had to be fed via an IV. He was down to 115 pounds. At thanksgiving in Hawaii [each year they visited over the holidays], they were staying at a place where everyone ate in a communal dining room. Jobs was there looking emaciated, rocked and moaned in pain during the meals, and didn’t touch his food. Amazingly, this never leaked out.
By Mindy Kaling.