Helen Lewis

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"Oh Wow": the life and death of Steve Jobs

The last words of the Apple founder revealed a side of him that was usually hidden.

By Helen Lewis Published 01 November 2011 11:32

If there's one thing I've learned from Walter Isaacson's biography of Steve Jobs, it's that there is no line between monster and genius: the Apple founder was undoubtedly both.

In my review -- to be published in this week's magazine -- I trace some of the "asshole" things that Jobs did: abandoning a pregnant girlfriend, "crowdsourcing" his decision to marry his wife Laurene, even parking in disabled spaces. But the biography also does a wonderful job of showing how the character traits that led him to those actions were exactly the ones that made him great.

Jobs believed the normal rules didn't apply to him. He refused to put up anything less than perfection, creating a team of "A players" at Apple. He made sure his products were as beautiful on the inside as the outside, even if no one would see it. He was also unafraid to tear up months of work if he had a better idea.

The result is that by the end of the book you can't help admiring him, even if you're not a fully paid-up member of the Cult of Apple (I've only got an iPhone and a MacBook, so I think that makes me a Christmas and Easter churchgoer). His death from pancreatic cancer is told simply and movingly: Isaacson does not flinch from the fact that Jobs's stubborness -- he believed that his vegan diet would halt the spread of his tumours -- meant he died earlier than he needed to. But nonetheless, the way Jobs dealt with his diagnosis revealed a side of the great showman we might never otherwise have seen.

Jobs spoke about his cancer in his 2005 Stanford commencement address:

Remembering that I'll be dead soon is the most important tool I've ever encountered to help me make the big choices in life. Because almost everything -- all external expectations, all pride, all fear of embarrassment or failure -- these things just fall away in the face of death, leaving only what is truly important. Remembering that you are going to die is the best way I know to avoid the trap of thinking you have something to lose. You are already naked. There is no reason not to follow your heart.

Now, his sister Mona has revealed his last words, in a eulogy reprinted in the New York Times:

Even now, he had a stern, still handsome profile, the profile of an absolutist, a romantic. His breath indicated an arduous journey, some steep path, altitude.

He seemed to be climbing.

But with that will, that work ethic, that strength, there was also sweet Steve's capacity for wonderment, the artist's belief in the ideal, the still more beautiful later.

Steve's final words, hours earlier, were monosyllables, repeated three times.

Before embarking, he'd looked at his sister Patty, then for a long time at his children, then at his life's partner, Laurene, and then over their shoulders past them.

Steve's final words were:

OH WOW. OH WOW. OH WOW.

I'm sure there will be some people who aren't moved by that -- but I'm not one of them.

Tags: Steve Jobs apple

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23 comments

Fri, 2011-11-04 09:31 — JonathanJK (not verified)

@Jay, because he was so stubborn when it came to treating his cancer. The book is enlightening regarding this.

@Maxinemf, you know what's weird, Jobs didn't do anything with that money. He wasn't extravagant, his children lead normal lives. It simply wasn't important to him.
If you read the book, SJ had the very latest in medical treatment, even going as so far to have his cancer DNA sequenced; only 1 of 20 people at the time. It does seem his stubbornness was what killed him (if you go by the book).

Sat, 2011-11-05 10:08 — Erin (not verified)

My Grandad, a brave man and a paragon of the small society in which he lived at the time (so much so they dedicated a bench to him in a local park) died of Lymphoma after being exposed to Asbetos decades before. His last words were too much for him so he jesticulated instead - We had no idea what his moves meant for a long time till I spoke to someone that knew semphore - My Grandad was in the Navy in the second world war - his last words were "all is well". I think this a more deserving romantacism of death than all this Steve Jobs' hype. He designed some stuff and said some nice things and also worked some people to a less dignified death than he had. There are more important things in the world than Apple.

Tue, 2011-11-01 21:00 — Freeman2

Does anyone really care? He got things made that people buy. I've got a couple of them, but I was never interested in him as a person.

Tue, 2012-03-20 14:40 — karmar

PikeyMikey, "Perhaps he was saying "oh ow" because having seen my grandfather die of cancer I know that it can be very painful"

How very arrogant of you to assume that someone's nearest and dearest wouldn't be able to distinguish between anguished cries of agony and expressions of wonderment. I always find that kind of blinkered cynicism absolutely astounding. And very sad.

Tue, 2011-11-01 21:52 — Yolanda M. Gutierrez (not verified)

Customer Reviews › "This is a book that inspire, motivates and is amazing! This book motivated me to continue to create and use the tools to keep surviving. I am a PhD Graduate in the field of " Interdisciplina ry Nutrition" I do wnat to work with and for "apple" that is i want to work for Steve Jobs. He will hire me After reading the book, is something I got the intuition for. A professional with ideas and a vision. What is Apple next product for 2012.? After 45 years in my profession, I sense what it should be. I want an interview with Mr. Warlert Issacson to help me direct my ideas to Mr. Cook. Thank you. Dr. Yolanda M. Gutierrez. UCB Graduate. PhD., MS. A Mom who beliefs in the integrated approach of tecnology and art for the issues of nutrition, obesity, diabetes, cancer and interdisciplina ry science education for the masses. Yolanda M. Gutierrez. 2203 Armada Way. San Mateo. CA 94404. home phone: 650-341-9398. My very first computer that I still use is the very first "Apple: use frienly not intimidated tool to survive." › Steve Jobs

Thu, 2011-11-03 16:58 — maxinemf

I read somewhere that Steve Jobs had left 7 billion dollars in trust to his family. Surely he would have been better off donating that money to medical research. Had he done so, SJ might have been alive today. Like other contributors. I certainly do not understand why SJ is hailed as a hero; all he did was make a phone more sophisticated.!! Apparently it costs 20 dollars to make an Iphone n China!!!!

Wed, 2011-11-02 03:48 — Mr. Divine (not verified)

Helen: Have you idea what Yolanda is on about? You're one of tec nerds ... is it some sort of computer language?

Tue, 2011-11-01 12:10 — Lee (not verified)

I feel sympathy for him in the way that I did for, say, Colonel Gaddafi as he was dragged to his death by an angry mob. There is always something grim about death, no matter who it happens to or how. I can't exactly relate to either guy as a paragon of virtue though.

Tue, 2011-11-01 12:10 — PikeyMikey (not verified)

Perhaps he was saying "oh ow" because having seen my grandfather die of cancer I know that it can be very painful

Tue, 2011-11-01 12:19 — Elpenor Dignam (not verified)

Thank you for sharing that heartwarming reflection PikeyMikey.

Thu, 2011-11-03 11:27 — Tom Owens (not verified)

It's fascinating how globally polarised Steve Jobs is/was. There are, of course, the initial knee-jerkers deifying and condemning him. Beyond this you find a massive grey area. It's like a game of draughts, "Steve Jobs made beautiful devices" is countered with "But he allowed the use of sweatshops" is countered with "Then he advanced the whole world technologically" and so on and so forth.

I think the line begins to blur when you try to separate the man from the company. He was so involved in the entire iterative process that it's difficult to believe he wasn't aware of the darker side of Apple.

My view (not that anyone cares) is that he was exactly what is needed to succeed in a capitalist-commercialist system. A person who had an obsessive eye for ergonomics, aesthetics and HCI and the drive and amoral approach to see his designs take shape, regardless of cost.

Tue, 2011-11-01 13:08 — VP (not verified)

Re the "asshole" things - no mention of sweatshops or child labour?
Such corporate cruelty too "asshole" to mention when deifying one of its proponents?

Tue, 2011-11-01 13:37 — Keir

'I think that makes me a Christmas-and-Easter-churchgoer'

Of course you are, Helen. Like the others.

I knew it wouldn't be long before someone tried to imply that Jobs had a deathbed vision of a trinity. It's a heresy from the same rebellious camp that produced Christ's Mass and Ishtar (Easter).

Tue, 2011-11-01 14:02 — jingles (not verified)

maybe he saw god

Tue, 2011-11-01 14:05 — Keir

Just the one, then.

Tue, 2011-11-01 16:40 — David (not verified)

Who the hell actually cares? Why is this man, whose products are made in vast factory cities in China, where workers regularly kill themselves, hailed as such a hero?

Tue, 2011-11-01 16:48 — Leedsnil

Oh spare us this overwrought guff, please. One sympathises with his family, but he was what he was - an extremely talented though hardly unique late-capitalist who understood perfectly how quasi-religious posturing can make people want (and grossly overpay for) stuff they don't need. At least Bill Gates has combined philanthropy with his capacity for making money. But then Bill lacks mystique, and is therefore an unworthy subject of this sort of guilt-tripping, Blairite genuflection to Capital.

Tue, 2011-11-01 17:00 — la potenza della speranza (not verified)

I have an Imac and a Macbook. Sure they cost a bomb but I've had them for 3 years and do not see me replacing either for a log time yet. Brilliant machines, worth every penny. I wouldn't thank you for an ipad though. Gimmicky piece of junk

Thu, 2011-11-03 17:57 — Jay Baker (not verified)

I'm not sure how citing his veganism is evidence of "stubbornness leading to his death"?

Tue, 2011-11-01 18:21 — Arthur O'Connor

Yes - he was indeed a clever mortal who did good for the world and he should be given credit for that and be excused for his venial sins. Could anybody enlighten me as to what arithmetical function is represented by the * - in my era at my level of education it had no function that I knew of.

Sat, 2011-11-05 02:38 — iThink (not verified)

(...)...I know what he saw... the white light... he knew, they knew, if not, that his end was coming. He saw the white light, he knew it was coming for him. He only wished he could leave this cruel world of torture, and have his soul rest in eternal peace. Up there in heaven with many other famous if they had not already been reincarnated...

...

Thank you Steve Jobs.
Thank you for making Apple what it was today. And for moving innovation as we know it.
You will always be remembered... not only as a man... as an innovator... He was more than any words could describe... he was... Steve Jobs.

1955 - 2011
R.
I.
P.

You will be missed... by many. ='(