Reading Reflection No. 1

1.     I chose to read “Steve Jobs” by Walter Isaacson because I use a lot of Apple products and admire their brand, so I thought it’d be interesting to read about its founder. One of the things about Jobs that surprised me most is that his career began at the gaming company Atari (I even used to play Atari games). What I admire most about Jobs was his attention to detail; if the design or color wasn’t perfect, he would take initiative to make the product how he envisioned. I least admired how he focused so much on his work and success that he often treated his coworkers and family as less-than. Not everything Jobs did was perfect, however, and he often faced failure and competition when it came to Bill Gates and his company. To combat this, Jobs focused on the simplicity and function of his technology, and as a result of his hard work, he and his company thrived.

2.     As I read the book, it became apparent that Jobs’ biggest competency was his attention to detail. If something wasn’t perfect when it came to the iPod or iPad, he would often get hot-headed and snap on unsuspecting Apple employees. Not until the product was the right shape, size, color and texture, then he’d release it to the world. And even during his releases, he was theatrical and persuasive. Even though it sometimes seemed excessive, it worked because Jobs knew the detail would matter.

3.     The book had a whole chapter about the relationship between Jobs and John Sculley, who was first a friend but then a rival. I guess I didn’t understand how Jobs would hire this man, lead him to believe he’d be chief executive of Apple, and then be his competition. The story of this relationship was definitely confusing and hard to follow.

4.     The two questions I’d ask Jobs would be: 1) If you could go back and change anything about one of your products, what would it be? 2) What do you hope the future holds for Apple? I’d ask these questions because I think before he died, it would’ve been interesting to see if maybe something didn’t live up to his expectations, and how he sees the company 20 years from now after his death.

5.     I think Jobs’ idea of “hard work” would be anyone who took his vision and executed it perfectly. If it was done with no errors, that was a result of hard work.