Hisham Sarwar
With a story related to Steve jobs with each book, Steve recommended 10 books with a takeaway lesson from each subject.
1. 1984, by George Orwell
Lesson: The book was an inspiration for the famous Apple “1984” Super Bowl commercial. That commercial pre-announced the Macintosh which turned out to be a revolution in computer history.
2. Atlas Shrugged, by Ayn Rand
Lesson: One of the last movies that Steve Jobs saw was Atlas Shrugged: Part 1. He was very inspired by the idea.
3. Autobiography of a Yogi, by Paramahansa Yogananda
Lesson: This was the e-book found on his personal iPad 2.
4. Be Here Now, by Baba Ram Dass
Lesson: Steve Jobs gave credit to this book by getting him to try the hallucinogenic drug LSD.
5. Cutting Through Spiritual Materialism, by Chögyam Trungpa
Lesson: Trungpa’s beliefs in reincarnation might have caused speculation about Jobs being reincarnated.
6. Diet for a Small Planet, by Frances Moore Lappe
Lesson: Jobs became a vegetarian after this read.
7. Inside the Tornado, by Geoffrey A. Moore
Lesson: Apple’s product release cycle is closely associated and inspired by Geoffrey Moore’s theory of early adopters.
8. Moby Dick, by Herman Melville
Lesson: In the book, the captain pursues his goal of killing white whales, that is something Jobs did with regards to Apple computers.
9. Only the Paranoid Survive, by Andrew S. Grove
Lesson: After this book, Steve was inspired to push on the gas and transform Apple from computer only company to explore other avenues such as phone, iPod, tv, etc.
10. The Innovator’s Dilemma, by Clayton Christensen
Lesson: iPhone and iPad were ripe for disruption.
