Slashdot Mirror

← Back to Stories (view on slashdot.org)

Publisher Wiley's Books Pulled from Apple Stores

Posted by timothy on from the unhappy-campers dept.

getling writes "Looks like Steve Jobs is almost as unhappy about personal details being publicized as he is with Mac secrets. The book publisher Wiley, who is releasing a new unauthorized biography of Jobs has had its entire line of books banned from Apple stores as a result of their unhappiness with the content of the book. Wiley, publisher of the popular Dummies series of books, as well as the Bible series, is quite surprised, due to the fact that they view the book to show Jobs in a largely positive light ..."

4 of 677 comments (clear)

  1. Irony... by soapbox · · Score: 5, Interesting

    So isn't Apple/Steve sort of making the 'mercurial' and 'hot-tempered' point for the author? While the Woz has said that Jobs never treated him badly, he admitted that many people said they'd never work for Jobs again because of alleged mistreatment by Jobs (check out the mp3 of the HOPE keynote from 2004, in the Q&A, where an audience member asks about Jobs' behavior).

  2. Steve Jobs & Apple aren't synonymous by fname · · Score: 5, Interesting

    According to this, Steve Jobs owns 10.1 million shares (that figure may be pre-split) of Apple, or 1.2% of those outstanding. 10 million of those are restricted shares granted to him by Apple. Mr. Jobs had sold off all but one of his shares he received from the Next merger soon after it happened.

    So he's nowhere near a "majority" owner, and is only the second largest individual shareholder; at least 10 institutions control a bigger stake than Leader, aka Steve Jobs.

  3. Re:The private life of public figures. by chrysrobyn · · Score: 4, Interesting
    Number 1, they are not "his" stores. As CEO of Apple, he has a fiduciary responsible to Apple's owners (i.e., the shareholders). Pulling Wiley's books does not uphold this in any way; Steve Jobs is not Apple.

    Steve Jobs is Apple. When Apple hired Jobs, they hired his charisma, his contacts, his reputation, his expertise. The CEO of every company is a figurehead, a spokesperson, a representative in every way. If Steve believes that this book casts his leadership in a negative way, then it is very easy to believe that it casts the company in the same negative way.

    I say all this a long-time Mac user, Apple shareholder and overall fan of the company.

    So you know something about the Apple's Reality Distortion Field. Wait, no, that didn't happen when Jobs wasn't there. Right. It's Jobs' Reality Distortion Field. The man is the company.

    But ask yourself this: what good has ever come from governments or corporations bullying the press?

    Do you believe that Apple / Jobs are bullying Wiley? Do you honestly think that Apple's online store is responsible for a noticable percentage of Wiley's sales? I've seen their books in almost every English book store I've walked into in the past 5 or 10 years. When you go to the Apple store, you buy hardware. You buy books at bn.com, amazon.com or your local bookstore / coffee shop.

  4. Re:Sue, sue and sue by Vellmont · · Score: 3, Interesting


    the only question would be whether they gained more than they lost by pissing off Apple.

    Apple only has about 100 stores, and they don't sell primarily books. As far as retailers of Dummies books go, I'd bet Apple stores are a drop in the bucket. The only reason Apple has the books is to sell more computers. Dummies books being absent from Apple stores will hurt Apple more than it ever would hurt Wiley.

    --
    AccountKiller