by Luke Rajczuk
Made by Alex Gibney (Enron, We Steal Secrets) this is the most recent documentary on the life of Steve Jobs the founder of Macintosh/Apple venture. A visionary and a defined trendsetter Jobs equipped the world with his vision of what’s a must have in terms of electronic devices. From a sleek-looking mouse, iMac, iPhone and iPad to an intelligent iWatch the range is vast and cherished by many.
Watching ‘The man in the machine’ is like making the viewer choose between the character of Steve as the impressive visionary, successful entrepreneur with a restless hippy mind and a lonely man not really capable of sharing emotions with the closest people who can’t accept his own daughter and indulges with tax evasion to strengthen the Mac empire.
The film’s well-built and shows the pros and cons of chasing after money, ‘American dream’ style, that’s for sure! In the past few years there’s been a number of either documentaries or feature films about the iPhone man. Is it good? Do we need to know? Is it exemplary or just an admonishment to future generations? It surely is an example of how not to give up and face all sorts of challenges life throws at us. Despite, as we now know, not being the perfect father, husband or empathetic communicator Mr Jobs did change the way we perceive a computer, which he made into a cool-looking piece of furniture or i-phones we gently touch to interact with each-other.