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Apple Praises 'Becoming Steve Jobs' as 'Better Than Anything Else We've Seen'

Monday March 23, 2015 7:22 am PDT by Joe Rossignol
becomingstevejobsApple continues to offer praise for Becoming Steve Jobs, the unauthorized biography of the late Apple co-founder set to be released on Tuesday. A spokesperson for Apple told The New York Times that the upcoming book is "better than anything else we've seen," and several executives at the company agreed to be interviewed for the title because they "felt a responsibility to say more" about the Steve that they knew and worked with.
“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, said. “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.”
Apple senior executive Eddy Cue tweeted last week that Becoming Steve Jobs is "well done and first to get it right" in regards to reflecting on Jobs, after he called the film Steve Jobs: Man in the Machine "an inaccurate and mean-spirited view of my friend." Apple CEO Tim Cook also dismissed Walter Isaacson's official biography of Jobs as a “tremendous disservice” to the Steve that he knew, adding that “the person I read about there is somebody I would never have wanted to work with over all this time.”

While it appears that Apple is now set on changing the narrative surrounding Jobs posthumously, the company initially showed no interest in participating in Becoming Steve Jobs, co-written by authors Brent Schlender and Rick Tetzeli, executive editor of Fast Company. Apple refused to provide the tech journalists with interviews in 2012, but changed its mind 18 months later, according to The New York Times.
“I think our patience and quiet perseverance was what eventually won them over,” said Mr. Schlender, who covered Mr. Jobs for almost 25 years. He said he wanted to write the book because he felt there was a side of Mr. Jobs’s personality that had never been captured by journalists. While the authors fact-checked portions of the book with Apple and other sources and showed the finished volume to the company, Apple wasn’t allowed to have “any editorial input whatsoever,” Mr. Tetzeli said.
Jobs passed away in October 2011 following a lengthy battle with a rare form of pancreatic cancer. Becoming Steve Jobs: The Evolution of a Reckless Upstart Into a Revolutionary Leader will be available through Amazon on March 24 in hardcover and digital formats. Both official excerpts and leaked content from the biography has surfaced in recent weeks, and a sample of the book's prologue and first chapter is available through iBooks in select countries.

Tags: Apple, Becoming Steve Jobs
[ 86 comments ]


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yesjam
60 months ago
Personally, I am more interested in reading a subversive book which calls into question the image of Steve Jobs than one which caters willingly to the likes and dislikes of the team at Apple. Even though the Isaacson book was tough to read at points, it allowed me to think critically about my own idolization of Steve Jobs and finally allowed me to come to my own, better formed conclusions.
Rating: 21 Votes
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Naimfan
60 months ago
Read: "Most favorable to Apple and Jobs . . ."

I look forward to reading it.
Rating: 10 Votes
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Debaserness
60 months ago
Rare form of cancer

I have noticed here recently that the article authors will refer to Steve Jobs' cancer as a "rare form of pancreatic cancer" without providing more information, implying that the rare form of cancer was deadlier. In fact, most pancreatic cancer is vicious and kills quickly, but Jobs had the rare, very treatable, kind.

Other than that nitpick, I look forward to the book. I thought Isaacson did not bring his A-game on the authorized bio.
Rating: 8 Votes
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Rogifan
60 months ago
I think it's a mistake for Apple to so publicly endorse this book. Makes the book come across as less objective and and biased to paint Jobs in a favorable light.
Rating: 7 Votes
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jm001
60 months ago
IMO it seems the execs have it wrong. Issacson's book was written with the cooperation and blessing of Jobs. Sometimes we look back at past events with rose coloured glasses which it seems the execs at Apple have an ample supply. Issacson's book seems to be the most balanced.
Rating: 5 Votes
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Tsuchiya
60 months ago
I'm surprised Cook was unhappy with the Isaacson book. Sure it spoke about the unsavoury aspects of Jobs, but on the whole it was more positive than anything else. Isaacson fell under the reality distortion field.
Rating: 4 Votes
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MH01
60 months ago
Might throw it on the Kindle and read in my spare time.
Rating: 4 Votes
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MacVista
60 months ago
I would not expect Apple to discourage anyone from buying this book, it is sold in iTunes.
Rating: 4 Votes
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Chupa Chupa
60 months ago

i'm not one to leap to jobs' defense at any given moment, but i'm more than willing to jump to the defense of people like Jobs... most passionate creative types are somewhat unbalanced.


Why would anyone need to defend Jobs? Who could? He was clear one of the most influential important people of the 20th century. His place among Edison, Ford, Einstein, etc. is sealed. I've been enamored with Apple since the Apple II and really the Mac and was elated when he returned to save the company.

Honestly, I didn't see the Isaacson book as a hit piece or love letter. It was about as honest a book as one should expect, and from an author who has made a career of writing balanced novels of historically great people.

MY original point is that he was still a person with flaws just like any of us; like any other person of great societal accomplishments. I accept that and don't really care for a revisionist history coming around to sanitize his wrong doings.
Rating: 3 Votes
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kalsta
60 months ago
What this discussion is highlighting for me, is that all humans have faults—those we love, those we hate, and everyone in between. And one big fault humans tend to have, is to be over-simplistic in our opinions and judgements of others. He's a great guy. He's an ***hole. She's a wonderful woman. She's a *itch.

One thing I'm liking about this book so far, is that the authors are really trying to make the point that Steve Jobs is not so easily classified, and that the typical myths and legends haven't painted a very complete picture. They're going to some pains to capture the complexity of his character (both good and bad) and to set the scene for the conversion they believe he went through—his 'wilderness experience' if you like—which is the theme implied by the title itself, and explored early in the book. I'm still not very far through the book (having only just bought it on iBooks a few hours ago), but so far I have to say I'm liking it a lot.
Rating: 3 Votes

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