Inside Steve's Brain

Features

• Cover Type: Hard Cover with 304 pages
• Published by: Portfolio Hardcover April 17, 2008
• Written in: English
• ISBN 10 Number: 1591841984
• ISBN 13 Number: 978-1591841982
• Book Dimensions: 7.2 x 5.4 x 1.2 inches
• Weighs: 11.4 ounces

From Publishers Weekly
Throughout his storied Silicon Valley career, Apple CEO and Pixar Studios founder Steve Jobs has been labeled, among other things, an egomaniac, a Zen Buddhist, a business mastermind, a sociopath and a music mogul. Blogger, author and Wired News editor Kahney, who has chronicled Apple in previous books (The Cult of Mac), attempts to plumb the depths of Jobs's prodigious mind in this engrossing biography. The author devotes much time to the sensational aspects of Jobs' life, including his demeaning and ferocious interactions with employees, his relentless high-mindedness and fanatical attention to detail, clearly demonstrating how his tyrannical and perfectionist impulses have have shaped the award-winning designs and consumer-friendly products that have made Apple a juggernaut. Though it doesn't penetrate the Mac man's psyche too deeply, and sections on tangential figures like Apple design guru Jonathan Ive and Apple Store visionary Ron Johnson can meander, those searching for a telling portrait of Jobs's management style and its impact on Apple will not be left wanting.
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Product Review
“Throughout his storied Silicon Valley career, Apple CEO and Pixar Studios founder Steve Jobs has been labeled, among other things, an egomaniac, a Zen Buddhist, a business mastermind, a sociopath and a music mogul. Blogger, author and Wired News editor Kahney, who has chronicled Apple in previous books (The Cult of Mac), attempts to plumb the depths of Jobs’s prodigious mind in this engrossing biography. The author devotes much time to the sensational aspects of Jobs’ life, including his demeaning and ferocious interactions with employees, his relentless high-mindedness and fanatical attention to detail, clearly demonstrating how his tyrannical and perfectionist impulses have have shaped the award-winning designs and consumer-friendly products that have made Apple a juggernaut. Though it doesn’t penetrate the Mac man’s psyche too deeply, and sections on tangential figures like Apple design guru Jonathan Ive and Apple Store visionary Ron Johnson can meander, those searching for a telling portrait of Jobs’s management style and its impact on Apple will not be left wanting.”
--Publisher’s Weekly(Apr.)

Reader Reviews
Unfortunately, this book doesn't come close to delivering on the promise of the title. Kahney extrapolates from a variety of sources but he ultimately offers no special insight into how Steve Jobs thinks. His guesses about Jobs' thought process might be informed and even occasionally insightful but, at the end of the day, they're just guesses. Rather than a glimpse of what's going on in Steve Jobs' brain, the reader is left with a glimpse of what goes on in the author's brain as he thinks about Steve Jobs. Not worthless by any means (the anecdotes are often entertaining) but definitely not what most readers are looking for.