13A – Reading Reflection No. 1

The book I read was Steve Jobs by Walter Isaacson. Here is my analysis:

1.)

• What surprised me the most about Steve Jobs is the fact that the first official product he made a profit off of was a pranking device. I would have never guessed that someone as successful and professional as Steve Jobs would do something so childish. I guess we were all kids at one point.
• I most admired Steve's ability to turn any of his wildest thoughts into a reality. I think the idea of the Reality Distortion Field is not only creative but inspiring. This is what I believe to be Jobs' best quality.
• There is not much that I do not admire about Steve Jobs, understandably. However, if I had to choose anything, I would say that Steve Jobs is too outward with his thoughts and actions. One of my core beliefs as an entrepreneur is to operate with respect and to only worry about me. It seemed like when Jobs left Atari and Apple, he almost had a vengeance for those companies. If he focused that time into himself instead, he could've had even more accomplishments.
• Steve Jobs had many points in his career where he had to overcome adversity and he was able to each and every time. He did this using the mentality I mentioned before, the Reality Distortion Field. Every time Jobs was presented with a challenge that seemed nearly impossible for him to conquer, he would convince himself that he can alter the odds of the challenge in order to overcome it. Obviously Jobs cannot do such a thing, but that mentality gave him the confidence to take on any endeavor.

2.)

Steve Jobs had many competencies which helped him invent the most valuable technology in the world. Perhaps his greatest competency is his ability to analyze trends for the future and to run an accurate cost-benefit analysis for all decisions he makes. Steve Jobs has never made a poor decision with his money and investing. For example, Apple isn't even the reason Jobs is a billionaire. After Jobs left Apple, he purchased a majority share of Pixar before their run of legendary movies. Shortly after the premiere of the original Toy Story, Pixar unveiled their IPO. This multiplied Jobs' shares by nearly twenty-fold, making him a billionaire.

3.)

Most of the book was straight-forward to me and I understood a lot of the technological references because I am skilled with technology myself. One thing I still do not understand after completing the book is why Steve Jobs did not ever read the book his biological sister wrote him. Personally, the curiosity would kill me and I would eventually have to read it. It's a shame he wasn't able to read it before his passing.

4.)

If I could ask Steve Jobs two questions I would ask him this:

- When you were a kid with big dreams, did you ever see yourself actually making it this far?
I would like to ask him this because I have big dreams and I never know if it is just my imagination running wild or if it is a legitimate dream.

-If you were alive in 2019, would you do anything to change Apple?
I ask this from more of a political perspective. With growing concern for the environment and global warming, I wonder if Steve's compassionate core would outweigh his corporate greed.

5.)

I think Steve Jobs wouldn't necessarily be the biggest advocate for hard work. If I asked him if I should work hard I feel like he would advise me to work smarter instead of harder. All Steve Jobs' decisions and tasks aren't that difficult to overcome, they just require his absolute thinking.