Book of the Day: "It's really hard to design products by focus groups. A lot of times, people don't know what they want until you show it to them."

Steve Jobs, co-founder of Apple, died five years ago today.

Jobs was one of the best arguments on two feet for the value of a liberal arts education. Though he was a Reed College dropout who knew little about technology, Jobs gathered coders, designers and retailers- all of who told him what he wanted was impossible- and showed them how to design products that were so visually stunning, owning one was a life experience, not just the use of a tool.

Jobs seems to have outlived a spiteful social media meme that portrayed him, at death’s door, indulging a long soliloquy about how all his power and wealth availed him nought, and how much happier he’d have been as a pentecostalist. The fact is, his influence on product design and retail environments will be felt for decades to come.

We have his biography for you today, a book so elegantly designed itself you’ll want to redecorate around it. Given that high potential associated cost, we’re willing to bargain.

Isaacson, Walter, Steve Jobs (Simon & Schuster, 1st ed., 1st printing, 2011). ISBN 978-1-4516-4853-9. The monumental life of one of the most influential figures of the last century. Hardcover, unclipped dust jacket, Very good condition, octavo, 627 pp. HBB price: $85.

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Henry Bemis Books is one man’s attempt to bring more diversity and quality to a Charlotte-Mecklenburg market of devoted readers starved for choices. Our website is at www.henrybemisbookseller.blogspot.com. Henry Bemis Books is also happy to entertain reasonable offers on items in inventory; for pricing on this or others items, kindly private message us. Shipping is always free; local buyers are welcome to drop by and pick up their purchases at our location off Peachtree Road in Northwest Charlotte if they like.

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