If you want more on this, I recommend Steve Jobs and the Next Big Thing by Stross. I’m not sure, but it might be the only extensive book about Next other than this new one.

Though it’s essentially a long hit piece. The author really had it out for Jobs.

In fact it’s a completely uncharitable book now that I think about it. Hopefully this new book will be a lot less biased.

▲ pjmlp 2 hours ago | parent | next [-]

While maybe biased, also shows a bit about the real Steve Jobs without the distortion field, and why Apple hardware costs what it costs, even when the delivery isn't up to the premium price.

	▲	kamaal an hour ago \| parent [-]
		>>the real Steve Jobs without the distortion field A lot of things come in full package, same person putting in the same effort(if not better) in a different place/situation doesn't give the same results. I once worked with a senior engineer/leader at a electronics company who delivered great products/results and ran the shop to literal perfection for like a decade. The company got sold, and he moved on. He was just not able to replicate the same success after that ever, despite by his own admission he tried even harder else where. Despite the fact that Jobs was like the greatest ever, Im sure without Apple, its culture and overall company inertia he wouldn't be able to do much either. This is also why if you have some kind of a winning combination you are better off sticking with it even if its not entirely perfect. Anything else could be way worse.

▲ WillAdams 2 hours ago | parent | prev | next [-]

Nifty book by Rob Blessin and his son Luciano, _Inside NeXT_ which is worth looking up:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NJvxze8gZq8

▲ endemic an hour ago | parent | prev | next [-]

Jobs really did make a lot of boneheaded decisions when running NeXT; this book just calls him out on it.

▲ redanddead 2 hours ago | parent | prev | next [-]

Why did the author have it out for him?

Jobs' life story makes me reflect on the choices we make in life. My impression is that yeah he changed the world, but he was really embattled with himself and the world, and he made a lot of enemies, partly because he stood on his principles and beliefs, come what may, but I'm sure there's more to the story

▲ WillAdams an hour ago | parent [-]

One can see a little bit about this in the stories from Folklore.org, e.g.,

https://www.folklore.org/Tell_Adam_Hes_An_Asshole.html

	▲	redanddead an hour ago \| parent [-]
		I've seen variations of this line so often from incumbents `"Oh, some Apple folks", he addressed us in a condescending tone"` I remember reading an account about NVIDIA from its Riva-128 days very early on where the incumbent 3DFX (later acquired by NVIDIA) came over to their booth with a condescending tone, and the Riva made 3DFX's flagship product look like a toy It's always the damn condescension, it seems to trigger greek tragedy endings and honestly world changing products -- the Mac, the GPU, it's always some asshole disrespecting an underdog to the point of rage

▲ jorisw 2 hours ago | parent | prev [-]

Another book that focuses on this period is Becoming Steve Jobs

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hedgehog0 2 hours ago | parent | next [-]

I love “Becoming Steve Jobs” much more than the official biography.

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JKCalhoun an hour ago | parent | next [-]

I bailed on the official bio when I got to the part where Jobs is (belatedly) crediting his adoptive father with showing young Steve the importance of (paraphrasing) "giving as much attention to the parts of the product that the customer will never see".

It was clear at that point that this would be a Jobs-directed bio and I saw no point in continuing to read that.

	▲	trvz 33 minutes ago \| parent [-]
		I think it was about the back of a cabinet, and that attitude certainly exists in woodworking. It's reasonable for learning to appreciate that as an adolescent to have a big impact on a person. And even if that book were fully dictated by Steve Jobs, it can still be valuable to know what such a person thinks (or claims to think) about things.

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jorisw 2 hours ago | parent | prev [-]

Same

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dmazin 2 hours ago | parent | prev [-]

Yeah, that's definitely my favorite book about Apple/Steve Jobs.