Steve Jobs

If you have not read the book Steve Jobs by Walter Isaacson, you need to read it. Even if you are a Microsoft (MSFT) Windows person and not an Apple (AAPL), Mac person. Even if you use a Research In Motion (RIMM) BlackBerry, instead of an iPhone. You need to read this book.

It is not just the historical information, which is very, very extensive, going back to the grandparents of Jobs and continues to almost his death. It is not just the fascinating trivia about Jobs, including the drugs, the feet soaking in toilets, the veganism, and how he once turned into a carrot (you have to read the book!). By the way, there is a ton of trivia, and I really don't want to give any more of it away.

What makes this book great is the combination of a psychoanalysis of Jobs combined with an evolutionary business analysis of Apple, Inc. and its founder. One of the key elements of the book, at least in the first part, is the interaction and relationship between Jobs and Steve Wozniak. They are complete opposites in numerous ways, physically, mentally, emotionally, philosophically, behaviorally, yet they worked together so well and complimented each other almost perfectly.

This business and financial side of Apple was significantly covered in the book, but probably just as interesting, if not more so, is the personal side of Jobs and all the major players in his life. And what a life.

Here is a guy who basically created his own market, his own Industry. He is responsible for providing employment to over 60,000 people directly, and hundreds of thousands of workers indirectly. He has made millionaires out of thousands and thousands of employees and investors. Not bad for a dollar-a-year man.

Isaacson has done his homework for this book, not only through interviews of Jobs, but also his co-workers, staff, family, friends, and even enemies. The research is extensively annotated at the end. The book even includes over 20 pictures. This tome is over 600 pages long, perfect for summer reading, vacation reading, or just one-chapter-a-night-before-you-go-to-bed reading. It is even available as a Steve Jobs Kindle book. If you are looking for a book as a gift, either for a friend, family member, or even yourself, Steve Jobs is the book worth getting.