Non-fiction 21 Dec 2005 02:58 pm
iCon
iCon
Jeffrey S. Young & William L. Simon
Steve Jobs is an amazing person, and this book is a great way to get to know a lot about him. From his early years in Silicon Valley, to the founding of Apple with Woz, to NeXT and Pixar and back to Apple, everything is there.
Sure, lots of material are not exactly original: that story has been told several times already, from several different points of view; some parts of the book read a bit like a summary of other books. It is still entertaining, though, even for those who already know the story.
There is a fair amount of new material as well, and material I was not familiar with: the Pixar years, for example, and what was happening at Disney at the time. Also, fairly recent, the story of the return to Apple and the subsequent successes is not one that has been told out of the newspapers many time: this book has it.
Steve’s eccentricity is highlighted in several passages, and not always is a very favourable light. He has his quirks, and can be a very difficult person to handle (or so I’m told; I have no direct experience of this); the book makes no attempt to hide his flaws.
In short, it’s a great business story, and also a great personal story. Jobs is certainly one of the most interesting characters in the computer (and music, and movie) business nowadays, and his story makes for great reading.
