[Macpilot]

So I ordered this book "iCon: Steve Jobs - The Greatest Second Act in the History of Business" and have run across some stuff I think the authors have wrong. There are also comments that seem to imply things without just coming out and saying them. Much of the book just paints Steve badly. Rather petty. No wonder Steve didn't want any of this publisher's books in the Apple Stores.

Page 84:

Referring to the Mac team in 1982:

"...there were no blacks, few Hispanics, and, other than Steve's personal assistant, no Asians."

Page 93:

Referring to the legendary quote from Jobs to Scully:

"Are you going to sell sugar water for the rest of your life when you could be doing something really important?"

According to all the other books I have read on this subject, it went like this:

"Do you want to sell sugar water for the rest of your life, or do you want to change the world?"

Page 101:

Referring to the Mac on its release in 1984:

"The machine had no software to speak of."

It came with a drawing and writing program.

Page 101:

Referring to the amount of software for IBM PCs:

"...the IBM PC, a computer that had thousands of programs on the shelves."

I hardly think there were "thousands" of programs.

Page 101:

Referring to the configuration of the original Mac:

"The problem was that the computer didn't have enough memory, and the internal hard drive didn't have enough storage space."

The original Mac had no internal drive.

Page 142:

Referring to the NeXT Cube:

"an underpowered machine"

OK.

Page 143:

Referring to Steve's presentation to Disney's bigshots:

"Steve launched into a Powerpoint presentation..."

Was Powerpoint around in 1989?

Page 145:

Referring to the amount of NeXT software:

"...software never materialized for it..."

The NeXT step came with an email application, dictionary/thesauras, and other apps. Improv and Wordperfect were available for it too.

Now I have to finish the second half if this average book.

[d4nth3m4n]

bummer, that was one of the few on my list for what little time i can find this summer.

keep us posted as you get through it.

[k2director]

I wonder how it's selling. I thought it would come out with a bang given all the press it had beforehand, but so far haven't run into anyone that's read it or talking about it. I browsed it at Borders, though, and a lot of its material seemed to be a rehash of other stuff I've read, or just scratched the surface of what makes Jobs interesting.

[AuPhalanx]

Originally Posted by k2director

I wonder how it's selling. I thought it would come out with a bang given all the press it had beforehand, but so far haven't run into anyone that's read it or talking about it. I browsed it at Borders, though, and a lot of its material seemed to be a rehash of other stuff I've read, or just scratched the surface of what makes Jobs interesting.

That's pretty much what I did: I read the book in my local Waldenbooks. I was going to buy it, but it was a lame book with nothing new to offer anyone who had read other Apple/Jobs biographies. Heck! If one watched "Pirates of Silicon Valley" they'd be one step ahead of the book. I thought that the writing was lackluster and as the OP pointed out, the fact-checking was questionable.

Two good books about Jobs are:

Insanely Great

and

The Second Coming of Steve Jobs

There are plenty of books out there about the rise (and "fall") of Apple that are very good, too, but I really enjoyed the books I linked. Of course, there is plenty of Steve bashing in the books, but let's face facts: Steve was (and still could be) a real douche at times. I actually think that a lot of his antics are pretty funny and add to his charm, but that's just me. YMMV.

Have fun... Tony.

[JoshuaZ]

I still enjoy my 'Mac Bathroom Reader' even if it is about 12 years out of date.

[Super Mario]

Originally Posted by Macpilot

Referring to the Mac team in 1982:

"...there were no blacks, few Hispanics, and, other than Steve's personal assistant, no Asians."

.

Steve Jobs parents are Egyptian Arab and Jew, so Steve is African and Asian!

[TheJoshu]

Try this review of iCon, by Second Coming author Alan Deutschman.

[AuPhalanx]

Originally Posted by TheJoshu

Try this review of iCon, by Second Coming author Alan Deutschman.

Thanks! That was a good read--and a good review.

Have fun... Tony.

[moonmonkey]

Originally Posted by Super Mario

Steve Jobs parents are Egyptian Arab and Jew, so Steve is African and Asian!

Israeli (which is neither in Africa or Asia), someone's info is wrong, hope its not me.

[AuPhalanx]

Originally Posted by moonmonkey

Israeli (which is neither in Africa or Asia), someone's info is wrong, hope its not me.

From the infamous Wikipedia, this is what was written about Steve Jobs:

Born to Joanne Simpson and an Egyptian Arab father (name unknown) in Green Bay, Wisconsin, Steven Paul was adopted soon after birth by Paul and Clara Jobs of Mountain View, Santa Clara County, California. His biological sister is the novelist Mona Simpson.

Now, the continents according to Wikipedia are:

There are six large continental plates, which give the following geologically recognized continents, from the largest to the smallest:

Eurasia mostly on the Eurasian Plate
Africa on the African Plate
North America mostly on the North American Plate
South America on the South American Plate
Antarctica on the Antarctic Plate
Australia on the Australian Plate

Thus, Super Mario is not incorrect. Egypt is located on the African continent and Israel is located on the Eurasian continent.

Have fun... Tony.