Becoming Steve Jobs, the alternate Steve Jobs biography that has been endorsed by Apple, is available today, packed with fascinating stories that we’ve never read before. Here are a bunch of interesting tidbits that will surely make you want to read on.
Highlighted by 9to5Mac, the following stories have never been told before — not even in Walter Isaacson’s official Jobs biography. They come from interviews with some of Jobs’ closest friends and colleagues, including current Apple CEO Tim Cook, and design chief Jony Ive.
Apple’s Purchase of NeXT
While many believe Jobs orchestrated Apple’s purchase of NeXT back in December 1996, it turns out that he was apprehensive about returning to a company that wasn’t doing at all well at the time — and he certainly had no plans to be CEO.
Avie Tevanian and Jon Rubinstein, “the two men whom Steve trusted the most at Apple… agree that Steve did not intend to become Apple’s CEO,” and neither thought they would be working for him, according to the book.
But a year later, Jobs told Brent Schlender, one of the authors of Becoming Steve Jobs, that just as Bob Dylan would “never stand still” and was “always risking failure,” the “Apple thing is that way for me.”
Jobs eventually decided that “I don’t really care, this is what I want to do to. And if I try my best and fail, well, I tried by best.”
Former Apple CEO Gil Amelia Wanted to Buy Newton
When Jobs closed down Apple’s Newton business in 1998, former CEO Gil Amelio wanted to buy the assets and keep devices like the MessagePad alive. But Jobs knew it had no future, and so he decided to spare Amelio further embarrassment after his failings at Apple.
“I can be mean, but I could never be that mean,” he said. “No way I would let him further humiliate himself — or Apple.”
Tim Cook Sent Thousands of Macs to Landfill
Back in 1998, 13 years before he became Apple CEO, Tim Cook sent thousands of unsold, unwanted Macs to landfill. Of course, this was before Apple was environmentally friendly, so Cook didn’t think twice about recycling them.
Bill Gates Was Responsible for Apple’s ‘Digital Hub’
Not many will remember Apple’s “Digital Hub,” the strategy unveiled alongside iTunes in early 2001. But Microsoft founder Bill Gates will — because he invented it.
At the Consumer Electronics Show a year earlier, Gates presented Microsoft’s vision for connected a whole host of digital devices, including computers, cameras, telephones, appliances, and even car stereos.
Jobs liked the idea so much that he quickly pulled together a bunch of Apple executives and ordered them to copy it — and the Digital Hub was born. But while it may not have been Apple’s idea, the Cupertino company certainly did a better job of implementing it.
Jobs’ Relationship With the Media
In the early days of Apple, Jobs evaluated the credentials of the journalists he met and made them feel like they were the ones being interviewed — even though he and Apple were the subject of the stories.
“Ultimately, he developed relationships where both Jobs and the journalists knew that they were using each other to heighten readers’ interest,” 9to5Mac reports. According to Schlender, “Steve always had an ulterior motive” when he called.
Journalists who didn’t play along weren’t looked upon favorably by Jobs.
He once called Joe Nocera a “slime bucket,” because “Nocera had landed on something few people, including Jobs, wanted to see—the fact that the Steve Jobs of 1986 was too raw, too self-centered, and too immature to successfully pull off the balancing act required of a big-time CEO,” the book reads.
When he later returned to Apple and became CEO, Jobs had a very strict media policy. He was the only one who would speak about Apple’s products in the press, and even then, he would only talk to select print publications — despite the rise of online media.
Tim Cook Offered Steve Jobs His Liver
Cult of Mac points to some more stories that are revealed in Becoming Steve Jobs, one of which is “Tim Cook’s generous offer.”
While Jobs was still CEO of Apple, Cook offered him him a portion of his liver when he found out Jobs was in need of a donor, and that they both shared a rare blood type.
Cook went through a whole bunch of tests, “far from the Bay Area, since he didn’t want to be recognized,” to ensure his liver would be compatible. But when he offered his liver to Jobs, it was turned down.
“Somebody that’s selfish doesn’t reply like that,” Cook told Schlender.
Steve Talked About Buying Yahoo!
Another interesting story highlighted by Cult of Mac is Jobs’ discussions with Disney boss Bob Iger about the potential acquisition of Yahoo!, which would have given Apple access to all kinds of patents and services that could have allowed it to launch its own search engine.
Jony Ive Was Almost Fired by Jobs
When Jobs first met Jony Ive upon returning to Apple in ’96, he planned to fire him.
“He came over to the studio, I think, essentially to fire me,” Ive told Schlender. It’s thought Jobs simply wanted to replace Ive with Hartmut Esslinger, the founder of Frog Design, who had previously worked with Jobs at both Apple and NeXT.
Jobs later said in one magazine interview that he liked Ive right away. “could tell after that first meeting that [Gil Amelio] had wasted his talent. Of course, Ive later went on to design some of Apple’s most iconic products, and became incredibly close to Jobs over the years.
Becoming Steve Jobs, which is out today, is filled with more interesting stories like these, and it promises to set the record straight about Jobs after Isaacson’s official biography did him a “tremendous disservice,” according to Cook.
The book is highly recommended for any Apple fan. Its official price tag is $30, but you can get it on Amazon for as little as $14, and through Apple’s own iBookstore for $13.
