Steve Jobs's review of his biography: Ban it

By Katie Hafner

Story last modified Sat Apr 30 04:20:00 PDT 2005

SAN FRANCISCO--No one can accuse Steve Jobs of indifference.

In an image-obsessed fit of pique, Apple Computer has banished books published by John Wiley & Sons from the shelves of Apple's 105 retail stores--all because of Wiley's plans to publish an unauthorized biography of Jobs, Apple's chief executive.

It is not clear whether Jobs or anyone else at Apple has read the book--"iCon: Steve Jobs, The Greatest Second Act in the History of Business," by Jeffrey S. Young and William L. Simon, which will go on sale next month.

The very ambiguity of the title--Icon, or I Con?--is the first clue that the work may not be hagiography. But in the publisher's view, the specifics are probably beside the point.

"It was clear they didn't want us to publish the book," Susan Spilka, a spokeswoman at Wiley, said.

In recent months, Apple showed its penchant for secrecy by suing a Harvard student who operates a Web site for Apple enthusiasts, accusing him of trying to induce Apple employees to divulge company trade secrets. It also filed lawsuits to stop leaks of company information on several Web sites that traffic in Apple news.

The action against Wiley seems meant to shield Jobs's personal privacy, not the company.

But as far as advance publicity goes, Jobs and Apple could not have done a better job in generating buzz for the book in Silicon Valley and elsewhere.

Frank Sanchez, the head buyer for Kepler's, a popular bookstore in Menlo Park, Calif., said the store initially ordered five copies. After news of the fracas was reported on the front page of The San Jose Mercury-News on Tuesday, he bumped the order up to 25.

"You know the old saying, 'There's no bad publicity,' " Sanchez said.

Wiley, in response to increased interest in what it calls an "intimate look at a controversial leader," has decided to double the book's initial press run of nearly 50,000 and race it to stores on May 13, a few weeks ahead of its original publication date.

The reaction is no surprise to people who know Jobs well, and certainly not to his many biographers over the years, who have seen his combativeness when it comes to guarding his private life.

"I think he's trying to show people he's serious about protecting his privacy," said Debi Coleman, a co-managing director of SmartForest Ventures in Portland, Ore., who worked closely with Jobs in the 1980s, when she was in charge of Apple's manufacturing. "And now he has the power to do something like pull books."

Parts of the new book are a rehash of Young's 1986 book, "Steve Jobs: The Journey Is the Reward," (Scott Foresman & Company). Young and Simon updated the older book with new material about Jobs' return to Apple, his success with Pixar Animation Studios, his bout with pancreatic cancer, and his marriage.

Written without access to Jobs or people close to him, the book has little new information and will disappoint readers hungry for fresh insights into Jobs.

Yet what the authors lack in firsthand sources they compensate for with attitude. One chapter in the uncorrected proof is titled "iPod, iTune, Therefore I Con." To introduce the section that discusses Jobs' cancer, they write, "Even on Mount Olympus, the gods of Greek legend were not invulnerable."

And in describing Jobs's manner with his employees, the authors describe "the aura of fear Steve carried with him like a dark cloud," adding, "You didn't want to be called in front of him to do a product presentation because he might decide to lop off the product, and you with it."

More than a dozen books about Jobs and Apple have been published over the years.

The biographies, in particular, rankle Jobs, who likes to maintain tight control over all information emanating from his universe, especially anything about his personal life.

"It fits his pattern," said Alan Deutschman, author of "The Second Coming of Steve Jobs" (Broadway Books, 2000). "Steve likes to be in control, and a book by an independent journalist is nothing you can control." Deutschman said Jobs had not spoken with book authors for the last 20 years.

Deutschman faced similar opposition when his book went to press five years ago. Jobs called Peter Olson, chief executive of Random House, to try to persuade him to stop publication of the book. Jobs did not succeed.

Apple's action against Wiley is reminiscent of other fits of corporate pique toward the publication of unflattering portraits.

This month, General Motors withdrew its advertising from The Los Angeles Times because it was irritated at the newspaper's coverage of GM. Chrysler withdrew ads from Car and Driver because of a 1983 article that recounted damage to a Dodge after it hit a steer at 60 miles per hour.

But in this case, the retaliation is hitting other authors who have never run afoul of Jobs. In the last few days, some two dozen popular technical titles, including "Dr. Mac: The OS X Files" and "GarageBand for Dummies" (as well as "Macs for Dummies" by David Pogue, a columnist for The New York Times), were removed from Apple store bookshelves and returned to Wiley's distribution center in New Jersey.

Spilka said that Wiley books sold in Apple stores represent a "tiny fraction" of the annual sales of the company's professional and trade book division.

"It's a sad state of affairs," said Robert LeVitus, author of "GarageBand for Dummies" and other Apple-related titles. "I didn't do anything. I just happened to be standing in the wrong place at the wrong time and got nuked."

In the technology world, even the book's title is raising eyebrows. "With the capital 'C' it reads like, 'I con people; I'm a con man,'" said Jason Snell, editorial director of Macworld magazine in San Francisco.

But Young said the title was not intended to convey negative overtones, and that it was a playful twist on Apple's iPod and iMac. "He's become an icon, bigger than life," Young said.

Katie Cotton, a vice president for corporate communications at Apple, declined to comment about the book or whether Jobs had seen it. And Jobs did not respond to an e-mail message asking for comment.

In a lengthy telephone interview, Young, 53, spent much of the time excoriating Jobs.

"This guy is out of control," Young said. "I'm just a little guy. I'm just one of many guys Steve has destroyed over the years.

"I think he's lost it. He faced mortality, and he knows without some massive change Bill Gates will be remembered as the important person in the computer business, and I think he's lost it over that.

"He has an amazing ability to con people," he said.

Whatever Young's opinion, industry insiders doubt that the book or Apple's retaliatory move will alter how Jobs is viewed in Silicon Valley.

"It is not possible, aside from things unimagined, to damage his reputation," said Mitchell Kertzman, a partner at Hummer Winblad Venture Partners in San Francisco. "Steve is on such a roll in both of his companies, he's earned the right to do whatever he wants."


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