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Type of bind: Paperback
Dewey Decimal Number: 338
EAN num: 9780471787846
ISBN number: 0471787841
Label: Wiley
Manufacturer: Wiley
Quantity: 1
Page Count: 368
Printing Date: April 14, 2006
Publishing house: Wiley
Sale Popularity Level: 30328
Studio: Wiley
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Editor's Notes and Comments:
Product Description:
iCon takes a look at the most astounding figure in a business era noted for its mavericks, oddballs, and iconoclasts. Drawing on a wide range of sources, Jeffrey Young and William Simon provide new perspectives on the legendary creation of Apple, detail Jobs’s meteoric rise, and the devastating plunge that left him not only out of Apple, but out of the computer-making business entirely. This unflinching and completely unauthorized portrait reveals both sides of Jobs’s role in the remarkable rise of the Pixar animation studio, also re-creates the acrimony between Jobs and Disney’s Michael Eisner, and examines Jobs’s dramatic his rise from the ashes with his recapture of Apple. The authors examine the takeover and Jobs’s reinvention of the company with the popular iMac and his transformation of the industry with the revolutionary iPod. iCon is must reading for anyone who wants to understand how the modern digital age has been formed, shaped, and refined by the most influential figure of the age–a master of three industries: movies, music, and computers.
User popularity level:
Rated by buyers 
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I became a huge fan of Apple after purchasing a Powerbook in 2005. Unknowingly I became a disciple of Steve Jobs in doing so, and have become increasingly loyal to the brand as result. When purchasing the book iCon, I simply wanted to have a book about Steve Jobs that was as current as possible given the aggressive way the company promotes new products that revolutionize their market. I really really enjoyed this book. As noted in previous reviews it does have some redundancy if you've read early books about Jobs, but as a new member to the Apple World it was all quite compelling. Initially I was concerned that the book was simply the result of someone's negative view of Steve Jobs, but after completing it, I realized it seems like a fair and relatively unbiased view (although it seems clear that the writers aren't really big fans of Steve's personality). I really enjoyed reading about the development of Steve the businessman, and how he had to fail in a dramatic crash and burn fashion, in order to finally achieve the status that has resulted in his status as a true American Business Icon! I really liked how the author was able to articulate the lessons he learned and was showed how he applied them in his current role as Apple CEO. I think a lot of people fail to realize that the most successful business people are egotistical, they are cold and cut-throat, they require an inner strength and focus that often makes them unlikable to the average person, but it is with that strength of personality and cold focus that empires are created. I found myself absolutely enchanted by this book, I could not put it down, and have become more of a fan of Steve Jobs than I ever was before. A truly compelling read.
Rated by buyers -
This is certainly the most positive and best book I've read about Steve Jobs - in particular with some other biographies being rather scathing. I didn't have high expectations for iCon though I was very pleasantly surprised to be learning many new things and gaining insights into many of the situations Job's has faced over the years.
In a unique twist of fate, I found myself having dinner with one of the key figures in the book - in particular with regards to Apple, the creation of the Macintosh and the transition to Next Computer while I was reading this book. I was able to confirm with him many surprising things mentioned in this book and get even further insights into the events and situations.
I'd highly recommend reading this book if you are interested in Apple, technology, or even just insights into one of the most fascinating personalities in business in the 1970's, 1980's, 1990's, today, and quite likely well into the future as Job's continues to redefine computing, music, entertainment, and telecommunications.
Rated by buyers 
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Young and Simon provide an in depth and seemingly unbiased thrashing and congratulatory depiction of what Steve Jobs has accomplished. There is a lot about Jobs covered in this book, and those with an interest in the man behind Apple, the I-pod, and Pixar will find this book fascinating.
Among Steve Jobs accomplishments:
Created the Apple II, making Apple the very first computer giant
Created the very first windows platform with the Mac
Created the mouse
Funded Pixar against all logic becoming the largest animator in history
Made more money selling a failed company than he did in the original Apple IPO
Current largest stockholder in Disney, Pixar, and ABC
Negotiated the very first music store with the music industry in the wake of a long list of heavy failures by major companies to accomplish the same (and paving the way for countless since)
Beat cancer
Despite a long list of failures, is back on top
Created 7 blockbuster movies in a row
Among his failures:
Pissed off enough co workers/employees to nearly fill a stadium.
Blew a chance to develop the windows system for the PC - paving the way for Microsoft.
Wasted more money on failed projects than any computer company in history.
I had written a summary after I read the book that provides a full overview of the entire account. For those already interested in the book, I suggest reading the book instead of finishing my review. For those seeking a summarization of the content of the book, the rest of my review is for you.
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Steve was essentially the muscle early on behind his startup, where the other Steve (Steve "Woz" Wozniak) was the schematic genius. Jobs really couldn't build a schematic with the complexity that Woz could, but Woz could not convince, sell, market, raise money, or operate a business the way Jobs could. It was a perfect combination of skills. Early on they sold illegal boxes that permitted people to make free long distance calls. At that point, they realized there was money in developing their chips which up to that point had only been a hobby. They set out with no money to develop a computer, with Woz doing the designing and Jobs doing the business and sales. Jobs eventually sold 100 computers to a retail store, which when delivered would make them $25,000. They didn't get paid until they delivered, so Jobs negotiated to get all the supplies on credit using the agreement he had with the store as collateral. This was the start of Apple, and quite smart money management considering Jobs was still a teenager with long hippie hair and wore only jeans and t-shirts.
Apple was selling a lot of basic kits, but nothing of any great magnitude. With Woz being the brains behind the design of the actual computers, Jobs then took it up a notch. He would go to computer fairs all the time and he began to recognize what people were becoming impressed with. Most of the buyers of computers were what he considered computer geeks who had tech knowledge, so they designed the Apple I to suit them. Jobs recognized that these guys liked to get into the circuitry and see what was going on, so he had Woz design all the wiring in very organized straight lines, as opposed to soldering wires haphazardly, which was common at the time. It was the right call, and they sold enough circuit boards to get the Apple name out there. Next they designed the Apple II, based on Jobs view of what it would take to get into homes. For the early 80's, the Apple II was such a hit that the company went public and Jobs was worth $300 million by age 24.
At this point, Jobs could do no wrong. Things would change however. He was a visionary in one major way; he focused all his energy on what consumers wanted. This led to his products being known for their quality and design...something Apple is still known for to this day. The problem was that this often times took the focus away from budgeting, producing some fairly unrealistic costs. Apple eventually would put out products that were much better than anything out there but were not priced for the market they aimed at, thus becoming failures. This was evident in the subsequent two huge leaps Apple made at Job's direction. He was so shrewd that he made a deal with Xerox to view what they were doing behind closed doors in exchange for some big discounts on services Apple was working on for Xerox (Xerox was also an investor/owner). What they discovered was a user interface that inspired Jobs to come up with what we now know yesterday as windows and a mouse. This was revolutionary.
Apple went ahead with a windows style computer...two of them. The first, the Lisa, was the beginning of problems with Jobs. He was a visionary, but he also was at times a complete disaster when dealing with people. He was so convinced that what he was working on was the future ... Read More
Rated by buyers 
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This is a poorly written book. It is biassed toward Steve Jobs and tries to be sensational by exaggerating some events. There are sentences, which are very unfair to Mr. Jobs.
One third of the book is about Disney Corp. !! Why should we read about the fight in Disney Management in so much detail? It could have been explained in few sentences.
The second act of Steve Jobs is poorly written. The stories are taken from magazines. The book doesn't inform us about the new management team at Apple and their relations with Steve Jobs. I am disappointed.
Therefore, don't waste your time and paper. There must be better books about the second act.
Rated by buyers -
Great book...covers Jobs almost up to the iPhone. Hope they update it. Job's years at Pixar is one of the best parts of the book and shows how Job's is able to reshape one industry after another.
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