Reading Reflection No. 1

After reading about Steve Jobs' biography, I learned a lot about his journey as an entrepreneur. It's very inspiring that he started Apple by building computers with one other person in his garage. He did not grow up wealthy and he had to start from nothing after dropping out of college. It is surprising and very interesting to me that he dropped out of college, his reason being a lack of direction. It is widely believed today that you absolutely need a college education in order to succeed, but Steve Jobs was the exception to that. Although most of what he did in his life was very admirable, I believe he fell short in some areas because of his attitude. He seemed to act entitled and patronizing to those around him, since he probably knew he was always the smartest guy in the room. Although, that attitude probably helped him reach his success. He definitely faced adversity when he began the company, since him and Steve Wozniak had to start their company from nothing and give up a lot to get it up and running.

One of his competencies was definitely how skilled he was with technology. His great ideas and his drive in combination with his extensive knowledge about technology definitely gave him a leg up. Growing up in what is now known as silicon valley, he was in the heart of the tech industry as it was developing, and his adoptive father showed him the ropes when he was growing up.

One part of the reading that was confusing to me was him leaving Apple. He was phased out of his own company after IBM passed them in sales and they failed to surpass them after introducing the Macintosh. Jobs was the best person for the job since he knew the company better than anyone and yet the executives replaces him.

My two questions for him would be: How were you so sure your business would be successful to the point where you sold a lot of your things to have money to fund it? If you could go back, would you finish out your college education?

I think Jobs believed that hard work is extremely necessary in order to succeed. He put his whole life on hold and took many risks in order to start Apple and I'm confident that it took hard work getting there, as well as hard work maintaining the success. I share this opinion that hard work is going to get you where you want to go. If you aren't passionate about the thing you're working on, it will be difficult to succeed since it is easier to work harder on something that you love.

Comments

  1. UnknownFebruary 24, 2018 at 11:56 AM

    Hey Emily!
    While I didn't choose to read about Steve Jobs, I feel that it would be one of the most interesting people to read about, due to all of his success in the tech industry. As you said, taking risks is a huge part of getting started, and confidence drives these decisions. I also thought your questions proved very meaningful, rather than simple questions that can be answered by yes or no. I honestly never knew that Jobs left Apple, so that part of your reflection surprised me. Ultimately you did a great job with this reading reflection post, keep it up!

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  2. UnknownFebruary 25, 2018 at 11:37 AM

    Hi Emily. I think Steve Jobs was a great choice to read about. His story is amazing. I should have chose him, but I did not. I have seen both movies about him so wanted to read about someone else. But, he truly was an inspiration and a self made man. All the risks he took were very bold. He was a pioneer.

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  3. UnknownFebruary 25, 2018 at 7:27 PM

    Hi, Emily! Another great post! I also think it's very interesting that Steve Jobs did not finish college. For a moment, I felt a little comforted because I often suffer from a lack of direction, but I think he knew what he loved and he was willing to sacrifice for it. In my case, I don't know what I like, so to drop out of college would make no sense.

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  4. zacFebruary 25, 2018 at 10:32 PM

    Hey Emily, I find that there are a lot of misconceptions when talking about Steve Jobs especially his beginning career with apple. He was not that tech savvy person people think he was, Steve Wozniak was the tech guy. Jobs was and should always be known as the best salesman ever. He sold unmade computers and motherboards to others when he was starting apple and barely had enough labor to make the computers to get by. He also was kicked out of apple because he pushed the computer boundaries while loosing the company millions in the process, yes they probably shouldn’t have kicked him out but he did have unreasonable expectations.

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