Walter Isaccson in Amsterdam - Next Book Announced

Steve Jobs' biographer, Walter Isaacson, gave a talk in central Amsterdam last night, followed by questions from NRC journalist Tracy Metz and members of the audience. Interested to discover that in his many interviews, Jobs never mentioned any concerns about working conditions in the Chinese factories. Weird bearing in mind his fascination with Zen. He made tons of money but didn't really use it wisely. Bill Gates didn't make any beautiful products, but he's made more intelligent use of his wealth.

Interested to discover that Isaacson is now working on a new book looking at those who work at the cross-section of technology and creativity. He plans to write a narrative about the really creative people who developed computers and the Internet. Spent some time in Oxford going through the letters of Ada Lovelace and visited Bletchley Park to understand the work of Alan Turing and his Turing Test. He also talked about the discoveries of American Physicist John Vincent Atanasoff. Will be interested to see how he ties these stories together.