The front of the jacket, a black and white portrait taken for Fortune mag two years ago, is pretty generic by Jobsian standards. It’s the man we — and the corporate planet — know. Steve Jobs distilled to an icon. And being iconic is usually a good thing! But the manicured beard, the glasses, the turtleneck. It’s exactly what we’d expect. Too sterile, too staid. It’s Steve Jobs as a product — as a spokesman. Not as a technological pioneer the calibre of Henry Ford.
For that Steve Jobs, turn to the back. Steve Jobs in his 20s, cradling the original Mac. The firebrand. The dropout. The young genius.
Contemporary Steve is an integral part of the story — the man who saw his tiny company turn into the most valuable in US history. But when I think of the essences of Apple and the man who helped birth it, I don’t think of the Fortune magazine headshot. I think of the shaggy-haired guy on the floor, who, just by looking into his smug eyes, knew he was going to blow everything away. [Fortune]
Image: Simon & Schuster
Jon
Wednesday, August 17, 2011 at 10:38 AMAgreed, it does look like Steve the icon. I think a better shot for the front cover would have been Steve hanging out at coffee shop perusing his MacBook amidst employees from Cupertino.
olearymo
Wednesday, August 17, 2011 at 12:21 PMYeah that’s a pretty awful cover. That’s not Steve Jobs. That’s ‘Apple CEO Steve Jobs™’.
Jonny
Wednesday, August 17, 2011 at 1:32 PMI like it.
Rima
Tuesday, February 28, 2012 at 12:23 PMIn tech, it’s so easy to ovoelork point 4 (remember the human). Great design is as much about simplicity for the user as it is about looking good- something that Steve seemed to understand better than most.