Apple is throwing itself behind the latest biography to tell the life of late co-founder Steve Jobs, ahead of its release on Tuesday. “Becoming Steve Jobs” by Brent Schlender and Rick Tetzeli has elicited a response from Apple’s often-quiet press team, as to why it chose to provide interview access for the completion of the book.
“After a long period of reflection following Steve’s death, we felt a sense of responsibility to say more about the Steve we knew,” Steve Dowling, an Apple spokesman, told the New York Times. “We decided to participate in Brent and Rick’s book because of Brent’s long relationship with Steve, which gave him a unique perspective on Steve’s life. The book captures Steve better than anything else we’ve seen, and we are happy we decided to participate.”
This is obviously a dig at Walter Isaacson’s official biography on Jobs that was released shortly after his death in 2011. Tim Cook, Jobs’ successor as CEO at Apple, said last week that Isaacson’s best seller did a “tremendous disservice” to the Apple founder.
“It didn’t capture the person,” Cook said. “The person I read about there is somebody I would never have wanted to work with over all this time.”
Apple software boss Eddy Cue also hopped on Twitter with praise of “Becoming Steve Jobs”, saying: “Best portrayal is about to be released — Becoming Steve Jobs (book). Well done and first to get it right.” Apple’s iBooks account also tweeted last week that “‘Becoming Steve Jobs’ is the only book about Steve recommended by the people who knew him best.”
Already several juicy excerpts and whole passages have been posted online.
Schlender and Tetzeli told the New York Times that getting Apple’s cooperation wasn’t easy. When first approached about the book in 2012, Apple told the writers that executives would not give any interviews. Apple changed its mind 18 months later, they said.
‘Becoming Steve Jobs: The Evolution of a Reckless Upstart Into a Revolutionary Leader’ will be available on Tuesday. Apple offered a sample of the book. In addition to a banner on the iBooks Store’s rotating carousel, Apple is heavily promoting the free sample through iTunes marketing emails as well.
Published by The Crown Publishing Group and written by veteran Wall Street Journal and Fortune reporter Brent Schlender and Rick Tetzeli, Executive Editor with Fast Company, the 464-page read “felt a responsibility to say more.”
You can pre-order yours via Apple’s iBooks Store and on Amazon’s Kindle Store for $15 a pop. The hardcover edition from Crown Business is available on Amazon for $21.78 (regularly $30).
Source: New York Times via MacRumors