I never thought a non-fiction book about one of my heroes would affect me this much. Not until I finished reading Steve Jobs biography by Walter Isaacson did I realize how much I admire this guy.

My love of apple products started when I got my very first brand new laptop – a Mac. It was a hard decision, at that time, not a lot of my friends were using Mac and like everyone else, I was afraid to switch. I thought the OS is complicated – a fear of the unknown kicked in. I had to ask a few Mac users how hard it was and I got some good advice. In the end, I decided to buy a Mac. I had long gone through the apple fan fever: I upgraded my Mac, bought an iphone, upgraded to a newer iphone model, bought an iPad and gave out a lot of ipods to my siblings.

I was glued to Steve’s life…. I was mesmerized at how the story of Apple as a company unfolded before my eyes. And how the invention, decisions, designs and evolution of my apple gadgets was told in such a truthful and honest manner. I admire Steve even more… He’s a genius. I could not relate to him being a rebel, but I could relate to his passion: for work, for perfection, for his products and his company. I got to know this guy who is worlds away from my life but whose designs and taste had impacted the gadgets that surrounds me. I saw Steve as a very determined and motivated person, not someone who is perceived by the media as a mean bastard to work with.

Page after page, my admiration for him grew. I was in tears when he was in the most painful stage of his cancer, and when the author was describing how much he love his son. He’s a billionaire, Apple had succeeded in being the most valuable company in the world, but the simplicity of his house and his family life was described with earnest. Who has a plane and a beehive in the back yard at the same time? I’ve read a lot of reviews online as to how fellow readers viewed this book. Some says it’s lacking in context for some chapters and persona, but come on… It’s 63 years cramped into 600+ pages. Some stories would obviously not make it. But the more important thing is, he was portrayed with freedom : his flaws and character were narrated at the author’s point of view. Not his. Not his wife’s. They gave the author full control of what is to be written.

Asked why he opted to have an authorized biography, he said, he wants his kids to know him. That he was young once. In the process, we –the admirers of his products and company, also got to know him. Everything about Steve Jobs is inspiring. One could just hope to be at least half the person that he had become.

He was able to put a dent in the universe. A very well-crafted dent.