New York Times:
Steve Jobs prized secrecy from his executives and employees during his tenure at Apple. Now his top lieutenants are speaking out — to help shape the legacy of Steve Jobs.
Through interviews and tweets, Apple brass, including the chief executive, Timothy D. Cook, are throwing their weight behind a new unauthorized biography of the Apple co-founder, “Becoming Steve Jobs,” which goes on sale on Tuesday. In the book, executives take aim at another title, “Steve Jobs” by Walter Isaacson, an authorized biography published shortly after Mr. Jobs’s death in 2011.
Not unexpected but interesting to think there might be a concerted, organized PR campaign, not just from the book’s publisher, which is to be expected, but also from Apple.
Walter Isaacson’s book was poorly, lazily written. It’s about time someone took him to task. Only surprising that those of you who knew Jobs well didn’t speak up.
It’s rather fascinating to read how irritated Apple’s brass is with the Isaacson book, since it was authorized by Jobs himself. Presumably Jobs would have been okay with it.
No. He wouldn’t have been. Above all else, Jobs was a discerning person. The book is poorly written.
“Walter Isaacson’s book was poorly, lazily written.”
Some of us called WI out immediately.
I still hold out hope that – for profit or otherwise – WI and his publisher redeem themselves by releasing the recordings WI made of his interviews.
The surprise for me was the near silence from the Apple bloggers. Sure there were some comments – both positive and negative. But the book was rife with already published backstories and so few insights (except bits about his children) that it makes you wonder how such a celebrated biographer could have gotten so little out of unprecedented access to The Man. The worst part is that he clearly didn’t understand Jobs or Apple design at all.
Much of the Apple blogging community occasionally resembles mid-1970s science-fiction tv/movie fandom. Afraid to criticize any public release too much for fear of having it all taken away. It’s one of the reasons why criticism of IDG’s handling of Macworld Expo was so limited.