Books — Consumed

2023 · Steve Jobs Archive

Make Something Wonderful functions as a primary source document, bypassing hagiography to present Jobs' actual words across his career. The curation reveals his consistent frameworks around taste, craft, and the intersection of liberal arts and technology. The material spans from early NeXT-era correspondence to late-career Stanford addresses, creating a throughline of design thinking that remains practically applicable.

The publication design itself reflects Steve's editorial sensibility with generous whitespace, thoughtful typography, and clear information hierarchy. The format allows Jobs' voice to drive the narrative without intermediary interpretation. The digital version is freely accessible, aligning with the Archive's stated mission to make these materials available for future generations of makers.

What makes this collection valuable is its focus on process and principles rather than mythology. Jobs discusses failure, iteration, and the difficulty of maintaining standards in concrete terms. The book serves as a design brief and philosophical foundation for anyone building products or leading creative teams, stripping away the celebrity narrative to examine the actual thinking behind decades of influential work.