So I finished reading the biography of Steve Jobs yesterday, and I’m trying to process a book that highlighted the good, bad and awesome of America’s third greatest CEO (note: I’m biased, but I consider Elon Musk of SpaceX and Robert Bigelow of Bigelow Aerospace to better. And yes, I am a space geek! ).

Before I proceed I’ll let you know that there are spoilers in this post, so if you haven’t read Steve Jobs biography (and you must if you desire to own your own business in the future) then stop reading right now.

And if you’ve read the book, you’ll understand why I titled this post as it is (and no I will not explain it as I want you to read the book).

Simple is better

Steve Jobs had an uncanny ability to not only find out what people needed before they knew they needed something, but also reduced what ever tech he was creating down to its very essence.

I was surprised by the fact that he thought about the iPad before he envisioned the iPhone, and how he considered creating a music iCloud app for Android, but decided against as he didn’t want to make them happy.

I also loved the fact that he wasn’t extremely vain with his wealth, choosing instead to live in a simply elegant home rather than a supersized extravagant mansion.

iFail

If there was one area of his life I found to be truly appalling, it would be how he treated his oldest daughter.

Ignoring the fact that he didn’t even want to pay child support (even after DNA testing proved that the girl was his), he pretty much ignored her for the first decade of her existence. When he did acknowledge her, she was not exactly given the respect that she deserved.

I did find the fact that he threw tantrums to be hilarious, and while some of my friends viewed Steve Jobs as a manipulative liar (due to his “distortion field”), he seemed to only “play the opposition” when negotiating deals (although to Steve’s credit he was much more truthful, even if he was a little blunt).

Full of Awesome?

If you ignore Steve Jobs personal life and his love of cussing random strangers out (like that ice cream lady), Steve Jobs was a great man who changed the world for the better and saved the music industry from extinction.

While some things about him were perplexing (like the fact he declined to have surgery when he first discovered he had cancer), I can honestly say that the world would be a much duller place if he had never existed.

Although he will never win any awards for World’s Greatest Dad (note: his wife however should win the award for World’s Greatest Mother), he will go down in history as one of the greatest CEO of the 21st Century, with only Elon Musk and Robert Bigelow eclipsing him (as the 2 latter individuals are trying to expand humankind upon other worlds).

Translation: Superhero it is!

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So I finished reading a book called The Shack by William P. Young.

Overall I found the book to be slightly “emoish,” although it’s one of those few books that I find that can alter ones perception of God (regardless of your perspective or philosophy regarding him).

Like most books nowadays, I read it on my iPhone (thanks in part to ScrollMotion) which has really rekindled the bookworm within me–but more of that later (on another blog).

Anyways, The Shack started off really slow. I felt like I was watching a LifeTime show produced by the 700 club (which I would not recommend anyone watching–especially the latter).

Half way through the book started improving (although it was still slightly corny) but the end justified the $16 I paid for this book app on iTunes.

Overall the book tries to paint a very simplistic “I love you unconditionally” view of God, and his constant fascination of humanity.

What I liked about the book was it’s constant focus on improving relationships with friends and family. Love is a verb in this book (and not a noun) and whether you agree with its theology or not (note: many conservative Christians may not), The Shack pushes you to reexamine your relationships and do whatever is neccessary to improve them.

What I thought was lame about the book was it’s portrayal that independent people are somehow evil, which might not thrill those of you within the Libertarian group (myself included).

Overall the book was okay, and if I had to rate it I would give it 3.5 out of 5 stars (I would give it 4 if the intro wasn’t so underwhelming).

– Post From My iPhone

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