A book of quotations from Steve Jobs is out today, and it’s both a fun and inspirational read.
We will shortly, no doubt, be drowning in books about Steve Jobs. While some of these will undoubtedly be a complete waste of time, I am particularly looking forward to Walter Isaacson’s authorized biography, as I’m expecting the kind of honest reality that I so enjoyed in Paul Allen’s Idea Man. But the kind of book about an individual that I particularly enjoy are those that contain stories, anecdotes, and quotations from a particular individual, and we have just that in I, Steve: Steve Jobs in his Own Words, just released today by Agate Publishing. I reviewed a pre-publication .pdf of this book, and I must say that I found the concept well-executed and elements of it inspiring. I don’t want to get caught up the Cult of Jobs here; no perfect person has ever walked this earth; everyone makes mistakes and no on gets it right all the time. But some do eventually gain a certain wisdom that can provide at the very least guidance to the rest of us and, sometimes, the above-mentioned inspiration, and Steve Jobs was nothing if not one of those, evidenced simply by his body of work during his short stay on this planet.
The book is organized alphabetically by quotation, and there’s very little other history or commentary here, apart from an interesting chronology at the end. There’s of course his “And one more thing…”, one of the most brilliant marketing schemes ever. But there’s also the surprising “I end up not buying a lot of things, because I find them ridiculous.” Wow! I had forgotten about his legendary quasi-Spartan lifestyle. There’s the part about not doing traditional market research, which continues to surprise MBAs everywhere. And, of course, his very moving observation about death being the most wonderful invention of life, which I alluded to earlier. All of the quotations are cited, just in case you were wondering where it all came from, adding credibility and a certain scholarly stamp.
And there’s much more here – some of these quotes will, I’m sure, make it into a future volume of famous quotations. I have probably written enough on Steve Jobs for a blog on mobile and wireless, so I’ll stop here. But anyone looking for insights on one of the most influential minds in, well, mobile and wireless, and a lot more, will find this volume an enjoyable – again, if not inspirational – read.
