Walter Isaacson's Steve Jobs bio among Amazon's best books of 2011

I've written alot about Steve Jobs in the last couple months
And I've shed a few tears.

This book, however, was written for you or I. Almost everything Steve did in his life was done for us (I have an iPod, and a white MacBook here, and have been a Mac user since about age 8), so it's alright if in his last great act, he does something a little "selfish." Rather than give the world the secret to his mad crazy genius, he commisions a writer (a complete non-techie) to write a story about the most 'boring' part of Steve's life: His actual personal life.

I know. I know. "Huh? Steve had a personal life?"

Well, not really. And that's why he had this book made. It wasn't made for you or I. It was made for his lovely family, his loyal wife, and children. Decades from now, people will still be writing about the iPod. But right now. Right now. They are the ones who need his genius.

The rest of us can wait.

RIP, Old Friend. Thank you for everything. I know it wasn't easy. Boy you sure put a big ol' dent in the universe.

;)

I've been listening to the audiobook version read by Dylan Baker, which he did a fantastic job on. I'm nearing the last few chapters where it talks about Job's encounter with cancer. It shouldn't anger me, seeing as I never met the man personally, but it honestly does bother me how stupid he was to wait nine months before getting the surgery for his tumor. He was lucky enough not only to have gotten a rare, slow growing form of the cancer that could be treated and possibly cured, but also lucky enough to have caught it early through a routine kidney check up. Had he done the most sensible thing and gotten the surgery immediately, he may still be alive today, and his wife and children wouldn't have to go through what they're going through right now.

That stubbornness, that refusal to do the right thing really hits home for me. I hate watching people destroy themselves when they have the knowledge and ability to get help, yet they just refuse to do so for whatever illogical reason they come up with. I've seen friends spiral into depression, drug use, and once attempted suicide, and always felt so angry that I was powerless to help them, even when I knew they could be saved if they wanted to be.

Steve Jobs is indeed a visionary, and his intense focus and ability to bend reality around him lead to innovations that will be felt for decades to come. But as a person, that refusal to deal with reality ended up costing him everything. I know he must have regretted waiting so long, and that's what makes it so sad.