I'm currently reading the Steve Jobs biography but I have not finished it, so this comment is based on incomplete knowledge and you should take what I say with a grain of salt.
I will agree that the biography is far from perfect, and of course we can all find a bunch of things that we would have liked to see improved, especially knowing technology as intimately as most of us. But looking at the backlash against this biography I can't help but also feel that some of the criticism is a case of sour grapes, or maybe dashed expectations.
Leading into the release of the biography there were considerable excitement that finally someone would be able to tell the authorized story of Steve Jobs. This person had been granted unprecedented access to the man and people close to him, and had been working over a period of several years to put the book together. Finally, after the "smears" that were books like iCon, unauthorized and frankly pretty critical of Mr. Jobs we would finally get some real insight into his greatness.
And of course, a few weeks before the book is released the person is about passes away tragically at far too young of an age. I mean it sincerely when I say it was a pretty big loss. But look at everything written about the man in the days and weeks after, and the reaction to people who didn't toe the party line of deification. I mean even articles discussing Jobs' "dark side" then went to say how this was actually a positive and was integral to his success.
So now, finally, we can get our hand on the book we were all waiting for, the one where the biographer who actually got to talk to Jobs and people close to him reveals to us that, yes, he truly is as great as you believe. Actually he's even better, honestly he's the man of the century.
Instead, we get a portrait of a man with some very, very sharp edges, a mean ruthless streak that I think would startle most people on the other end of it, and of course a man who revolutionized several industries and did some pretty remarkable things.
It is definitely not the hagiography that I think some people secretly wanted, and I can't help but feel that this disappointment is behind a lot of the backlash. No biography is ever going to perfectly encompass anyone's life, especially so someone who has accomplished so much. But I also think that it is entirely fair to paint a portrait of the man that acknowledges his numerous flaws, the fantastic luck that accompanied some of his decisions, and the many failures he had. Because without this would his many successes, his vision, and his inspiring drive for perfection seem as impressive?
So in the end, I am actually enjoying the book and I am sure that someone else will come along and work from the notes and publish something even better. But to say that it is an utter mess, or a hack job, or any of the other brutal criticisms I have read is, in my opinion, pretty unfair.
The problem is that a work about Jobs's private life is not terribly compelling and the author of the work did not understand any of the important parts of Jobs's life enough to provide insight into them. Some of us were not looking for a long-form People Magazine article nor a hagiography.
I will agree that the biography is far from perfect, and of course we can all find a bunch of things that we would have liked to see improved, especially knowing technology as intimately as most of us. But looking at the backlash against this biography I can't help but also feel that some of the criticism is a case of sour grapes, or maybe dashed expectations.
Leading into the release of the biography there were considerable excitement that finally someone would be able to tell the authorized story of Steve Jobs. This person had been granted unprecedented access to the man and people close to him, and had been working over a period of several years to put the book together. Finally, after the "smears" that were books like iCon, unauthorized and frankly pretty critical of Mr. Jobs we would finally get some real insight into his greatness.
And of course, a few weeks before the book is released the person is about passes away tragically at far too young of an age. I mean it sincerely when I say it was a pretty big loss. But look at everything written about the man in the days and weeks after, and the reaction to people who didn't toe the party line of deification. I mean even articles discussing Jobs' "dark side" then went to say how this was actually a positive and was integral to his success.
So now, finally, we can get our hand on the book we were all waiting for, the one where the biographer who actually got to talk to Jobs and people close to him reveals to us that, yes, he truly is as great as you believe. Actually he's even better, honestly he's the man of the century.
Instead, we get a portrait of a man with some very, very sharp edges, a mean ruthless streak that I think would startle most people on the other end of it, and of course a man who revolutionized several industries and did some pretty remarkable things.
It is definitely not the hagiography that I think some people secretly wanted, and I can't help but feel that this disappointment is behind a lot of the backlash. No biography is ever going to perfectly encompass anyone's life, especially so someone who has accomplished so much. But I also think that it is entirely fair to paint a portrait of the man that acknowledges his numerous flaws, the fantastic luck that accompanied some of his decisions, and the many failures he had. Because without this would his many successes, his vision, and his inspiring drive for perfection seem as impressive?
So in the end, I am actually enjoying the book and I am sure that someone else will come along and work from the notes and publish something even better. But to say that it is an utter mess, or a hack job, or any of the other brutal criticisms I have read is, in my opinion, pretty unfair.