The Second Coming of Steve Jobs [Englisch] [Taschenbuch]

Deutschman is a terrific writer who zooms through a lot of esoteric Silicon Valley information in plain English. If you like to read biographies of Marie of Roumania, Edward Prince of Wales, Graham Greene, Madonna or any other public figure, you're going to like this book. It's a great story full of drama. Sure it tells some new anecdotes for computer devotees, professionals and groupies. Sure Jobs is the rock star of technology. But above all he seems to be a formidable charasmatic personality who contributed substantially to shaping our behavior at the end of the twentieth century. Time will tell if that's just a beginning, or if he's reached his peak.

Meanwhile his life is over-endowed with great stories and this book spins the tale. The man goes from working class to millionaire in three or four years; he goes from hippie zen boy to romantic dashing lover to family man in fifteen years (how many other forty-five year old men have reached that point?); he has already managed the invention of major hardware, software and manufacturing businesses; and he's developed an entire culture and way of life.

For me, three quarters through the book in one read on a rainy Monday, Deutschman offered two memorable observations. One refers to the fact that if Jobs had done a deal with IBM for the Next OS, we'd all be in a different place today. The other is that Jobs' personality is closest to a televangelist. I didn't know that piece about Next and IBM and it struck me as one of the weird turning points in computer history and made me sad for the clunkyness we struggle with on PCs today. Deutschman portrays Jobs' intensity as a personality; his changeability; his growth and maturing; and his inevitable conflicts.

I heard Deutschman speak about his book a few weeks ago and was expecting it to really trash Jobs. But it doesn't. It's a wonderful piece of a man's life. Perhaps we should compare it to The Mayor of Casterbridge, Thomas Hardy's great story of a rise and fall of a single human being.

This book might increase or decrease your respect for Steve Jobs, but no matter what, it is sure to entertain.

Needless to say, I am a died-in-the-wool Steve Jobs fan. In all fairness, the amount of information out there about the MAN is thin and disreputiable. His charm, 'reality distortion field' and his public dressing-down of employees are the stuff of legend, but little concrete has been found about the MAN.

A few years ago I read another biography, called (i think) "Steve Jobs and the NeXT Best Thing". It was a one-sided, blistering account of every failure Jobs made with his founding of Next, and seemingly NO good choices were made.

Picking up this book, The Second Coming, I was expecting more of the same. What I found was a fair, inciteful, and only slightly more vague than it could have been. The writer does seem to set the reader up as to many of Steve's strong points, and then makes a point to tear down Steve and portray him as almost an unfeeling monster. The narrative is a gentle roller-coaster ride between these two extremes, giving the impression that Steve is either a child, or possibly suffering from multiple personality disorder.

One thing to note is that Steve Jobs does not approve of this book, and as I understand sued to stop publication. Needless to say, HIS point of view and interviews with him are not part of the makeup of the book.

Overall, I find this to be an excellent, information packed book on one of the FEW businessmen I would consider a 'hero' to me. However, without Steve's direct input, this book comes across VERY strongly as a coloring-book picture colored from the OUTSIDE up to the outline of the man, not filling in the man himself.