Not long after the death of Steve Jobs on October 5, 2011, Walter Isaacson's in-depth biography, "Steve Jobs" introduced to the world a version of the late Apple co-founder and CEO that it had never known before.
While the book itself and the biographer's October 24 interview with CBS's "60 Minutes" were intensely illuminating on their own, Isaacson sat down on "BBC Breakfast" on April 4 for yet another interview, shedding a little more light on what it was like to work with the famous tech icon.
Among other things, Isaacson discussed how he came to write the biography in the first place and how, surprisingly, the infamously controlling Jobs essentially gave Isaacson "free rein" to tell his life story as the biographer saw fit. He also told BBC's Charlie Stayt and Naga Munchetty just how focused Jobs was on creating flawless Apple products and how this affected his dealings with others, explaining,
He taught himself to stare without blinking so he could talk people into things -- they called it the reality distortion field....He would make people believe they could do the impossible, which is why he was such a charismatic business leader.
Although charismatic, it seems Jobs wasn't so easy to please. His desire to reach perfection was so intense that it extended beyond the sleek signature external look of Apple products to their insides, too. Said Isaacson:
When he would stare at you and be rough, it would be because he would say, 'I want the boot-up time of the Macintosh to be 10 seconds shorter,' or 'I want the screw inside -- those screws -- to actually be more beautiful.' And people say, 'Well, Steve, you cannot see the screws inside the Macintosh.' He said, 'Yes, but you will know. We have to be artists.'
Released on October 24, Isaacson's 571-page biography revealed some very surprising facts about Apple's co-creator, demonstrating just how much access he had to Jobs' life.
For example, Isaacson had written about how President Bill Clinton had asked Jobs' advice on how to handle the Monica Lewinsky scandal. According to the biographer, Jobs had told the president: "I don't know if you did it, but if so, you've got to tell the country."
In addition, Isaacson had explained that Jobs had initially refused surgery that could have saved his life from pancreatic cancer and, instead, treated his illness with non-invasive therapies. (Check out more surprising facts from Isaacson's book here.)
Watch the video above to learn more about Isaacson's experience telling Jobs' story. Then, make sure to flip through the slideshow below to check out other fascinating reads about Steve Jobs.
