BRAToSPHERE

Tag: review

  • STEVE JOBS – Book Review

    I like reading, and biographies/ Autobiographies are one of my favorite genre.

    Last year, sometime in October, I laid my hands on “STEVE JOBS”, by Walter Issacson, but like every other book, it was just gathering dust on my rather overcrowded desk.

    Looking at the massive book itself, intimidated me. 800 odd Pages! I need to prepare myself to read this I thought. This is going to take time.

    June first week, my eyes fell on this book, and I just could not hold the temptation to read it full. So what if it weighs a ton, and so what if it appears to be a massive brick. I am going to read it. And wait, if I get bogged down by the size of the book, I can always read it digitally.

    Starting from Jobs birth, and adoption, his young years, Hippie teenager days, Play with electronics, Founding Apple with Wozniac, Apple 1, Apple II, Macintosh, Ouster from Apple, Next, Pixar, back to Apple, Digital revolution, iPod, iTunes, iPhone, iPad and iCloud and Cancer.

    56 years of illustrious life.

    One thing that was truly remarkable about Jobs, and very well captured by the author in various instances, is the reality distortion theory.

    “The reality distortion field was a confounding mélange of a charismatic rhetorical style, indomitable will, and eagerness to bend any fact to fit the purpose at hand”

    The author is at his best not when probing Jobs’ personal psyche, but when describing his rather grandeur vision for Apple. “Simplify”, “friendly,” “intuitive,” and “seamless”, these were not options, but the core necessity of any Apple product. Steve Jobs was more of a design and creative guy than an engineer. He did not do much on the technical side, but was micro involved in the look and feel of the product.

    For Jobs, design was not surface or facade, but a penetrating, complete aesthetic: one that expressed the very essence of the product at hand. As would befit this totalizing view, Jobs was deeply concerned with the appearance of the inside of his products. Interiors that few customers would ever see( Jobs used specialized screws unresponsive to commercially available tools, Jobs ensured that the case does not open to anyone)

    Open and closed is another war that Steve fought with complete passion till his end. First it was Microsoft, and then it was Google. Steve always believed that hardware and Software should be totally integrated, and should be kept in a closed vault, to give the user a seamless experience. While, the other camp believed in making it more open, and allowing it to be run on various platforms, and different machines. Each of the approaches had their own pros and cons, and each worked for the one who was making it.

    Jobs always believed that the aesthetic, the technical, and the corporate were seamlessly joined. As Jobs affirmed at the iPad’s 2010 unveiling, “technology alone is not enough”: “it’s technology married with the humanities that yields us the results that make our heart sing.”

    Many a times, while reading the book, Mark Zucherberg seemed so much like Jobs. A rebel, anti-establishment, and embodiment of all the values that Jobs lived for. So, is the desktop war of 80-90’s between Jobs and Gates, moved to the network, between Google and Facebook. Wait and Watch, the story just seems to be repeating itslf.

    Coming back to Jobs, his design successes are legendary, but he was no Einstein. Rather than inventing outright, Jobs capitalized on the innovations of others, manufacturing not only products, but desire and obsolescence.

    Jobs Legacy would be established, looking at how Apple would turn out eventually. How would it fare, without him at the helm. Whether he has been successful at building a company that lasts, or a company that depends on one person, still remains to be seen.

    But one this, the guy was a visionary, and thought  much ahead of anyone else, and beautifully with the liberal arts, and created an irresistible desire for his products.

    (Trivia: Ended up reading the major part of the book on my IPAD2, and to say the least, it could not have been better. My first book on the IPAD, and it is about the person who made it!)

  • Revolution 2020 – Book Review

    Chetan Bhagat is still the rockstar of Indian writing, and his fifth book just reaffirms the same. A modest story set in a small town, with typical elements of love, Ambition, Corruption, system and YOUTH, laden with a liberal dose of sex. A total potboiler.

    The setting is again in a college, though in a different way this time. With a slogan like “Love. Corruption. Ambition.” , and a title like “Revolution 2020”, there was a fear that Chetan would tread the preachy path and come up with a boring book. But no, this book is a very much chetan bhagat book, full of masala.

    Of course, this time over, there is a subtle message intertwined in the book. The best part of chetan’s writing is the reflection of the keen observer that he is. Like, “ A girl replies back with a 🙂 🙂 🙂 when she has nothing better to text”. There are many girlies like this in the book, making it quite insightful into the psyche.

    The story of revolution 2020 is set in the small town of Varanasi, and it does strike a chord with the semi-urban aspirations and ambitions. It could be any similar town in India, and the story would not have changed much. Of course, Chetan does manage to internalize the town as much as possible to make the character building more strong.

    The book is about a poor boy called Gopal, who struggles all his life with money, family and the brutal entrance education system that we have in india. IIT, AIEEE, KOTA Coaching factory, he goes through everything making him what he eventualy becomes.

    It is about Raghav, Gopal’s friend and classmate who is a good friend till he cracks the JEE, and the distances start appearing.

    It is about a sweet girl called Aarti, who is torn between the two. A totally confused girl, who wants to fly.

    So is this is a story about the entrance exams? No? is it a love story? To an extent yes, but not completely. It is more a story about corruption and the system which forces you to do what you do. The expose of the corrupt education system and the archaic laws that exist in the country are very well highlighted, and it completely shows Chetan’s research on the subject.

    Though chetan was recently lashing out at Narayana Murthy for saying that coaching classes have led to the deterioration of the quality of IIT- and IIM-produced students, his book suggests exactly the same thing. The whole industry in kota is mocked at and is very well described.

    In Spite of  the book was filled with clichés, the ending was a decent surprise, and completes the whole drama very well. ( As they say, “agar sab theek nahi hai.. to picture abhi baaki hai mere dost!”).

    I hope this book is read by parents as much as it is read by the youth, to show the parents that getting an engineering degree is not the final respite to everything.

    Overall, I liked reading Revolution 2020 – an interesting and an easy read, and a page turner. Once I started reading the book at about 11:30PM last night, could not sleep till I was completely done with it.

    Note: To avoid being a spoil sport, i would like to withhold the story details

  • Chanakya’s Chant – Book Review (rating : 7/10)

    On a rainy evening here in Bangalore, me and Naveen were sipping beer and having chicken tikka at the oasis mall, when we realized that we need to rush. I had a bus to catch at 8:30, and it was already 7:45. It would take me more than half an hour to get to the bus stand.

    In spite of the rush, I could not resist getting into Shankar’s book store in the mall, for a magazine to aid while travelling. My eyes fell upon a golden color interesting looking book, and I could not help but buy it in a hurry and rush out to the bus station.

    CHANAKYA’S CHANT – ASHWIN SANGHI

    Very well researched. Creative. And catching.

    The book runs alternatively between 2300 years ago and the present day. One chapter speaks about the legend chanakya who helped unify India and bring in the golden rule of Chandra Gupta Maurya as the emperor of India, while the other is the present day account about GangaSagar Mishra, Chanakya’s modern avatar, with the same narrative, where his protégé is the oxford educated slum child Chandini, who becomes the eventual prime minister of india.

    The book narrates excellently the parallel stories of both Chanakya and Gangasagar, who with their cunning intellects, and manipulative techniques, twist their respective surroundings and political environments without an iota of self doubt or remorse.

    The writing style of the author ( Ashwin Sanghi, his first book the Rozabal line now commands a read!) is captivating,  especially the frequent use of proverbs, and quotations. The protagonist’s observations, and the dialogues are witty and sharp. Also, each of the episodes seems well planned out and executed to be fitting in the overall scheme of things.

    There are times when you feel that it is Chanakya (or gangaSagar) running the show, and their respective proteges are mere puppets in their hands. But I guess, this much was important to highlight the character of the shrewdest Brahmin india has known.

    Sanghi demonstrates very convincingly that the core of politics and strategy has not changed much with time, and the basics still apply. Information is still wealth. The parallels drawn between the two eras are also quite interesting – Chankya’s Vishkanyas versus Gangasagar dancer-whores and B-grade film starlets, Chanakya’s tantric versus the present day pavement astrologer.

    Twisting the facts, gossip, blackmail and removing of obstacles are all part and parcel of this dirty job, and very well depicted here. The book shows us that politics is not about only pulling each other’s hair, but involves much more and requires the understand of a lot of varied fields. Also the present day story hints at the present day happenings around us and gets the reader thinking.

    For example, R & S is shown as a business house bestowed by political favours. It is shown that the two partners display a public fight just to attract more political favours, and expedite their business growth. ( Ambani’s anyone?)

    In the last chapter, it is written that the husband dies in an air crash suspiciously. ( Sanjay Gandhi anyone?)

    The book fails on predictability, with the ending being anyone’s guess.  But the way to go about it is quite interesting. The book manages to keep the reader engaged and compelled to read through to the very end. Overall, this should be a must read book in your shelf this summer.

    Rating: 7/10