Steve Jobs, by Walter Isaacson

I took a break from reading fiction to read the Steve Jobs biography which is everywhere!  It was a quick and entertaining read, but I was surprised with what a jerk Steve Jobs was.  I blame it on his parents who always gave into his tantrums and allowed him to form his bad habits.  On the bad side, he treated people like crap.  On the good side, he pushed people to be better and was honest about their work which ultimately made his Apple products better.

I've never bought an Apple product, although I have looked into them.  But I could never pull the trigger on one because I hate the closed system.  I don't want to be forced to use iTunes, or the iPhone app store.  I like freedom, even though it's messy.  I make the same argument for capitalism vs. communism.

Steve Jobs is the closest thing to Plato's Philosopher King that I've seen, and it works for Apple.  But I think it works because Apple products are marketed as hip and sexy, and they're sold to people who aren't technically savvy and who don't care about open vs. closed systems.  But now that the Philosopher King is dead, I predict Apple will fall from grace over the next few years.