It's a curious fact that, unlike previous advances in communications technology, the computer revolution has produced only one real celebrity. As movies, radio and TV came along, each spawned dozens of superstars, but with computers, electronics and the Internet, it's only Steve Jobs. Yes, we know who Bill Gates is, but he is regarded only as some fabulously wealthy tycoon -- similar to Warren Buffett or C. Montgomery Burns. But soon, there will be more celebrity profiles written about Steve Jobs than about Elvis or Marilyn Monroe combined.

Unfortunately, such books are seldom literary masterpieces, and "Inside Steve's Brain" by Leander Kahney seems thrown together to make a quick buck. It contains little information that has not seen print many times, and it's certain that Steve Jobs, always wary of the press, provided no more cooperation to Leander Kahney than he would to "Tiger Beat."

Marketed as a sympathetic look at Chairman Steve, the book dishes no dirt. There's no dish at all. Instead, we get yet another history of Apple Computer, a history of Pixar, an interview with Apple's senior vice president for industrial design, Jonathan Ive, the same accounts of the releases of the iPod and the iPhone that you read in the newspaper, and a fulsome testimonial to the Apple Stores. All this may be of interest to someone who is very young or who has just returned from a long journey to a distant galaxy, but the rest of us already know what Jobs said to John Sculley to lure him away from Pepsi Cola. (Hint: something about selling sugar water.)

In the place of any new information, Mr. Kahney relies on traditional techniques used by schoolboys who must submit a book report for a book they didn't quite read -- padding and repetition and padding and also repetition, a remarkable amount of repetition.

For instance, on page 142 we learn that "When Jobs hired Ron Johnson from Target to head up Apple's retail effort, he asked him to use an alias for several months lest anyone get wind that Apple was planning to open retail stores. Johnson was listed on Apple's phone directory under a false name, which he used to check into hotels."

In case the reader has forgotten this information by page 207, we are again told, "At first Johnson couldn't tell anyone he was working for Apple. He used the alias John Bruce . . . and a phony title to stop competitors from getting wind of Apple's retail plans."

Readers who give serious study to this book will certainly wish to use their yellow highlighters on the amazing fact that the Apple Stores are, ". . . not too big and not to small." Those who have been too timid to enter an Apple Store will be glad to learn on page 203 that, "There's no pressure to spend any money, and the staff is happy to answer any question." And those who are unable to form any short-term memories will be delighted to learn on page 204 that, "There is no pressure to spend, and the staff is friendly and helpful." A sentence later it is revealed that, "Apple's stores are no-pressure hangouts where the customers can play with the machines . . ." All of which makes one relieved that Apple has enough sense not to hire such a hack to write the copy for its ads.

If you have been misinformed and assume that people are interested in computers as furniture, Leander Kahney provides a lightening-bolt of a revelation: "Customers rarely buy computers for the hardware alone; they're more interested in the software it can run." This stuff's gold, people, gold! But as for Apple's iLife suite of applications -- iPhoto, iMovie, and GarageBand-- "They haven't proven to be killer apps."

So if the book is nothing but threadbare history of Apple and a panegyric to the pressure-free marvel of Apple Stores, why is it called "Inside Steve's Brain"? Because the glory contained inside is that Leander Kahney ends each chapter with a list of "Lessons from Steve," and these are surely the most inspiring truisms you've ever read. Perhaps you'll want to copy these onto flash cards and carry them in your hat band:
* Seek out opportunities.
* Don't worry where the ideas come from.
* Don't be afraid of trial and error.
* Embrace the team.
* Don't lose sight of the customer.
* Concentrate on products.
* Seek out the highest quality.
* Don't force it.
* Find an easy way to present new ideas.

Each of these "Lessons from Steve" (none of which were ever spoken by Steve, of course) is so inspiring that any one of them could replace the "Work Smarter, Not Harder" sign in your cubicle. If he is capable of dispensing such scintillating wisdom, surely "Wired" magazine is too lowly a station for a man of Leander Kahney's talents. I believe it's only a matter of time until he moves up to a medium most suited to his gift with words: say, the covers of matchbooks, washing instruction tags on garments, the safety warnings which begin the owner's manuals of cheap appliances.

I recently finished reading this on my Kindle, thanks to the author for providing a digital version on my request. He asked me to provide a review so here's my feedback:

I think this book was a fairly solid attempt at a large overview of the Steve Jobs phenomenon. It's clear that the author has immense respect and love for the man that has created so many visually stunning tech products. The book gives a well-rounded perspective on how Steve's mind works and provides great bulletpoints at the end of each chapter to allow the user to attempt to "think like Steve," which I thought was very clever.

Having said that, there is a very large amount of repitition occuring in the book that could have been resolved with a decent editor. It just seems unncecessary to copy/paste, verbatim, pieces of information that have been provided earlier in the book. Also, there isn't particularly much depth to the information, which I assume is kind of the point...the focus is on the reader take-away rather than on how "awesome" Apple really is.

Finally, I felt the book ended rather abruptly. I'm not saying he should add fluff, but it did need a good conclusion that ties all the pieces of the novel together and provides a narrative for the man and his methods.

The author does a good job entertaining, but swings wildly from style to style. At times this book is a self help book with catch phrases and bullet points. Other times it is an interview or a history. Some may think this keeps it fresh, but I think it results in a stilted, odd read. Additionally, it's poorly edited with fact/story repeats way to close to one another. The whole thing feels rushed.
All that said, however, the book is enjoyable for a gadget geek and/or apple fanboy.

If you can stand repetition after repetition of the same sentences and concepts, then you may be able to get some interesting information out of this book. The author goes on and on with the same quotes of Steve Jobs, the same examples. I get the impression Leander Kahney is assuming his readers are a bit dummies or affected by ADD and they need to be reminded every few pages what the book is about.

Apart from the poor style, the book includes some useful information and draws a good picture of the complex personality of Steve Jobs.

Not since I read Marcus Aurelius' Medidations have I been so distratected
by repetative prose.

This book was a fun read, but is not without flaws. Numerous typos, repetition, and somewhat random jumping about marred an otherwise excellent book. If you're a Mac fan, you'll still enjoy it!

This book is truly excellent. Well-written, well-researched and very readable. You will learn everything you even wanted to know about recent history of Apple from this book.

However, book does not go into first release of the Mac back in 1984 and does not talk about people on whose shoulders Steve Jobs is standing today: primarily late Jef Raskin and Andy Herzfeld. Back in the 80s, Steve was only half of a visionary he is today. In this book, Steve states that he wants to make a dent in the universe. Well, he could have made a dent in the universe (a big one) back in the 80s, had he not almost destroyed Mac project and had he not driven away some of the key Mac people from Apple (Jef Raskin in particular). Please read the interview with Jef Raskin in "Programmers at Work" (also published in the 80s). You may find a used copy on amazon or just look up Susan Lammers' blog (also titled "Programmers at Work") where she is posting the interviews from now out of print book on a regular basis. Once you read the perspective from the 80s and "Inside Steve's Brain" you will realize how much Steve himself changed and learned over the years - for the better.

You also may want to check out "Apple Confidential" for more details on Apple.

It is a pity however that Jef Raskin was not involved in Apple after 1997 and that he and Steve apparently did not get along. A dent in the universe back in the 80s could have spared us all from the Windows.

For disclosure, I do not own a Mac presently but I do enjoy following Apple's (r)evolutionary path, including all the Lemmings who line up with blankets in front of Apple's stores, "thinking different" in unison.

Unfortunately, this book doesn't come close to delivering on the promise of the title. Kahney extrapolates from a variety of sources but he ultimately offers no special insight into how Steve Jobs thinks. His guesses about Jobs' thought process might be informed and even occasionally insightful but, at the end of the day, they're just guesses.

Rather than a glimpse of what's going on in Steve Jobs' brain, the reader is left with a glimpse of what goes on in the author's brain as he thinks about Steve Jobs. Not worthless by any means (the anecdotes are often entertaining) but definitely not what most readers are looking for.

I love this book. It seems to be a fair representation of Apple and Steve Jobs. If you are a fan of Apple, or are at least a little curious about the company and its co-founder, then give this book a read.

Sure, there are repetitions, brochure-like language, and the sense of magazine articles being pasted together in this book. But the latter parts: the creation and the naming of the iPod, the Sony situation, proprietary vs. open-standards, etc., make this book worth reading.

Inside Steve's Brain was a fun and fast read. Author Leander Kahney did a fantastic job summarizing the thought processes Apple CEO Steve Jobs has gone through over the years. Whether it was the start-up period with Woz, when Jobs got tossed out of his own company, his time building NeXT and his subsequent return to Apple, it's all covered here. This is particularly remarkable given the small size of this book (less than 300 pages).

I'm not an Apple fan but this is the second Jobs-related book I've read in the past several months. The other one was Option$, the parody by Fake Steve Jobs. While Option$ was more entertaining, of course, Kahney's book is quite engaging as well. His writing style makes you feel you were right there in the garage, the office or the boardroom setting he's currently describing.

Here are a few of my favorite excerpts:

British comedian Charlie Booker said..."If you truly believe you need to pick a mobile phone that 'says something' about your personality, don't bother. You don't have a personality. A mental illness, maybe -- but not a personality."

Regarding Apple employees...Despite the zeal, employees are distinctly un-cultish. They consciously avoid the cultish types. At a job interview, the worst thing a prospective employee can say is: "I've always wanted to work at Apple," or "I've always been a big fan."

To explain why employees and coworkers put up with him (Jobs), critics invoke the Stockholm Syndrome. His employees are captives who have fallen in love with their captor.

The (Apple) stores are insanely profitable. One Apple store can make as much money as six other stores in the same mall combined -- and can pull in almost the same revenue as a big Best Buy store, but with only 10% of the floor space.

"We said, we want our stores to create an ownership experience for the customer," explained (Apple's Ron) Johnson. The store should be about the lifetime of the product, not the moment of the transaction.

The Intoduction was good, historical, covered a lot of Steve Job's history. The rest of the book was good and interesting but somewhat repetitious. All in all a good bock for Mac lovers.

If you are a fan of Apple then you must also be a fan of Steve Jobs. If that is the case, I think you will enjoy this latest book by Leander Kahney - Inside Steve's Brain. Leander Kahney is also the author of The Cult of Mac and Cult of iPod.

In his latest book, Leander talked about what made Apple so special, with Steve Jobs at the helm. If you think that working under a fussy and demanding boss is a bad thing, think again. The bright side to this is that your work will be much more refined and of higher quality. And that's why Apple's products are so different from the rest of the competitors.

Overall, this book is an easy and interesting read and made me rethink about the quality of my work. If you are always curious about Steve Jobs and how he works, I strongly recommend this book. I have enjoyed it greatly and I am sure you will too. And one more thing, hug your fussy and perfectionist boss the next time you meet him at the office - he drives the best out of you.

--
Wei-Meng Lee,
Technologist & Founder, Developer Learning Solutions
[..]

Author of:
* Professional Windows Vista Gadgets Programming (Wrox)
* ASP.NET 2.0 - A Developer's Notebook (O'Reilly)

I've read people bashing this book since BEFORE it's debut, but if they'd actually READ it, it's a fairly flattering portrait of Steve Jobs' handling of Apple. I've heard that Mr. Jobs HATES books written about him, but all in all this is a good read and sheds a good light on his "managerial style".

Definitely worth a peruse!

If you like Apple or Steve Jobs, you should probably read this book. It's got a lot of interesting stories that give you background into some of the most important innovations and inventions of the last 20 years. You learn about the creative, business, product development, and marketing side of Apple that isn't explicitly apparent. You learn about why and how they keep things so secret and you learn about why their team is so good at creating world-changing products.

However, the one negative of the book is the way the author jumps all over the place. Stories sometimes seem to be randomly placed one after another with no logical transition. The author can also get very repetitive, re-introducing certain people such as Jonathan Ives numerous times. It's almost as if he took different magazine articles and put them into his book without removing the introductions. Besides reintroducing people, the author also makes the same points over and over to the point where you feel a sense of deja vu. Finally, I found it awkward when he went on an unprovoked bashing session against HP when discussing why their recent advertising campaign with the hands doing cool things would never measure up to any Apple ad. I thought it was a pretty decent ad.

At first, I felt this was a great book to read. In the beginning, it was very hard to put down. But by the end, I felt a little cheated. Every time a magazine comes out with an article about Apple or Steve Jobs, I jump at the chance to read it. After reading this whole book, I realized that this book is mostly a compilation of all those magazine articles I read. Then again, the author is a magazine editor so what can I expect?

If you like Apple or Steve Jobs, you should probably read this book. It's got a lot of interesting stories that give you background into some of the most important innovations and inventions of the last 20 years. You learn about the creative, business, product development, and marketing side of Apple that isn't explicitly apparent. You learn about why and how they keep things so secret and you learn about why their team is so good at creating world-changing products.

However, the one negative of the book is the way the author jumps all over the place. Stories sometimes seem to be randomly placed one after another with no logical transition. The author can also get very repetitive, re-introducing certain people such as Jonathan Ives numerous times. It's almost as if he took different magazine articles and put them into his book without removing the introductions. Finally, I found it awkward when he went on an unprovoked bashing session against HP when discussing why their recent advertising campaign with the hands doing cool things would never measure up to any Apple ad. I thought it was a pretty decent ad.

Anyway, this book is great to read. I found it hard to put down. The crazy thing to think about is that they're going to have to keep churning out new editions with every new Apple innovation that comes along.

If you're interesting in knowing more about how Steve Jobs has been managing Apple or Pixar, this book is for you!

This book is NOT about Steve's crazy, nasty habits like always parking in handicapped spaces (although the book does mention some of his excesses). As a matter of fact, the author is a bit biased about Apple, but that doesn't impact on the reading (it's not like he tries to hide Steve's flaws either).

This book is about how has Steve's personality had an impact on Apple's culture. How did he manage to orchestrate Apple's turnaround when he came back in 1997. How does he unleash innovation at Apple.

As an added bonus the book contains a lot of tidbits about Apple / Pixar / NeXT history.

A great read!

This book is amazing.
I read one chapter in a bookstore, and proceeded to stay on the couch for 3 more hours.

We all know that Steve Jobs is incredible- this book offers an insightful glance inside the philosophy and strategy that has led to his monumental success.

As an artist and designer, the marketing advice alone is invaluable, not to speak of Steve's creative process and his method for harnessing creativity in others.

Buy this book + study it closely- it will be well worth your time and money.

Salam All,

I just finished that book today, April 27, 2008 , 8:38pm (Pacific Time).

Here is what I learn and planning to do:

1) It tells you how to be "Perfectionist", by keeping your "Bozoness" for Product Testing... as I read in this book... Steve Jobs read the product by himself, by playing with it and I am gonna quote him "If I can't use it, then user won't able to use it either" it is like ... Walking in Users' shoes and then seeing the Super-star stuff... iPod and iPhone.

2) Management, handling the people is the best way he is doing. But I will give him 4 stars, because .... What I learn is ... Steve disrespect the people in front of others, and I think it is harsh and not humane.

3) Oh ... One more thing ;) .. Innovation ... yup! thats teh superb thing Apple do, create the existing stuff in to a master-piece... and become a Trend-Setter! thats what the beauty of the Apple Inc. way to go Apple , without Steve Jobs, Apple is a piece of cool sketches without color and usefulness.

Mudassir Azeeemi
San Francisco, CA

This book is an absolute pleasure to read. I especially loved Leander Kahney's approach to Steve Job's character, as well as reading some more about the behind-the-scenes stuff, particularly when it involves other members of the Mac/NeXT team.

1. I like the fact that this is a hardback of a smaller size... saving paper. Its a cool format, and I don't mind the smaller typesetting within.

2. This book offers some things here and there for those who already know a great deal about Steve. If you are new to all things Steve, then I think this book glosses over many important background details. It walks a strange line... written sort of for those who already follow, and sort of for new comers. This is why I only offered 4 stars. It tries to be all things to all readers, and that doesn't seem to work here.

3. Overall its a very good read, the chapters are succinct and offer some never before revealed tidbits of design decisions, etc.

I recommend this book even though its not quite sure who it is trying to cater to.

Read this author's Cult of Mac. Great book. This new book is great. Very penetrating when it comes to knowing Steve Job's business philosophy. But the book cover design and the small print, bad paper quality make the user-experience TERRIBLE, not like the use of Apple Products.

If you can wait, the paperback version may be better...Packaging wise!!!

Formerly - ACCESS DENIED but thanks to Leander Kahney - we get in the back door! Kahney directs the unveiling of a frontal cortex we might all like a piece of! Where's the idiot who wants to turn down that invitation? Kahney's style lures you in and holds you, locked on his verbal click wheel; his riveting material is delivered in a subtle, satirical frame. The book is bigger than Jobs - huh, how could that be? This is a discerning account of `how to do it - really really well' and that is a must for those who have anything to say!