Apple brass get behind 'Becoming Steve Jobs'
The new unauthorized biography, “Becoming Steve Jobs,” comes out Tuesday, March 24 on iTunes and Amazon.com. In the new book, Apple chief Tim Cook says Walter Isaacson’s “Steve Jobs” did a “tremendous disservice” to Jobs. The new book, written by Brent Schlender and Rick Tetzeli, has been heavily endorsed by a number of the Apple brass.
For example, Apple’s chief of software and Internet services, Eddy Cue, said on Twitter last week, “Best portrayal is about to be released – Becoming Steve Jobs (book). Well done and first to get it right.” Apple’s iBooks account also came out on Twitter in support of the new book last week, saying “‘Becoming Steve Jobs’ is the only book about Steve recommended by the people who knew him best.”
It is rather unusual for Apple to engage in such book-on-book criticism, and shows that Apple wants to reshape the posthumous image of Jobs as a kinder spirit, rather than the one-dimensional temperamental and pushy chief that Isaacson made him out to be. Apple gave the authors of “Become Steve Jobs” interviews with four different execs, including Tim Cook.
This support was not quick to come by, Schlender and Tetzeli said in an email interview with The New York Times. When they first approached Apple about the book in 2012, they were told that the executives of the company would not give any interviews. They didn’t give up, though, and Apple eventually agreed to grant the interviews.
Apple spokesman Steve Dowling had this to say about the book:
After a log period of reflection following Steve’s death, we felt a sense of responsibility to say more about the Steve we knew. 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.
If you want to catch a sneak peak of the book, the first chapter is free right now as a sample on the iBooks store. Check it out here.
