[NewsPoster]

Although there is an official biography of Steve Jobs, made with Jobs' cooperation before he died in 2011, another tome on the life and thoughts of the mercurial Apple co-founder will be published later this month, titled Becoming Steve Jobs. The book is noteworthy due to Jobs' posthumous involvement, along with new interviews with Jobs' family, Apple CEO Tim Cook, design chief Sir Jonathan Ive, and former Apple and Pixar colleagues galore.

The book, announced by Daring Fireball's John Gruber, plans to take a different approach than Walter Isaacson's authorized biography from 2011. The authors, Schlender and Rick Tetzeli, will attempt to go beyond the "stereotypes" and thumbnail portraits of scattered incidents throughout his life, and answer the question of how Jobs' personality and philosophy evolved throughout his life to turn him from a self-centered but intelligent young man to one of the world's greatest business leaders and tech visionaries.

A number of current Apple and Pixar colleagues are interviewed in the book, including "right hand man" Eddy Cue, and Pixar heads Ed Catmull and John Lasseter. Friends and family are said to have been more cooperative with the new tome, which also attracted the participation Jobs' widow, Laurene Powell-Jobs. Further, Schlender and Tetzeli are noted tech journalists who have covered Jobs for more than a quarter-century, and are expected to bring a depth of tech understanding that was lacking in the Isaacson book (though this aspect may have been a conscious decision on Jobs' part, not wanting the book to be a "biography" of Apple or the Mac).

Jobs himself forms the core of the book, through some 25 years of interviews he gave to Schlender. The interviews, given at most of the major stages of Jobs' adult life, should help paint a more complete portrait of the Apple co-founder and his growth as a person from an upstart entrepreneur to billionaire visionary and thinker. Gruber, who has seen an advance copy, called the project "the Steve Jobs book the world deserves" and that some of stories "are going to be sensational."

(L-R) Schlender, Gates, Jobs from 1991

The book, which has the subtitle "The Evolution of a Reckless Upstart into a Visionary Leader," is now available for pre-order on both iBooks and Kindle for $15. A hardcover version can be pre-ordered for $21.78 from Amazon, and will retail for $30. The book is expected to launch on March 24.

[Spheric Harlot]

Headline says October, for some bizarre reason.

[Charles Martin]

Doh! Was writing another piece at the same time, got mixed up. Thanks for spotting that, I'll change it.

[Jeronimo2000]

Second word is "their", not "there", for some bizarre reason.

[Charles Martin]

Again, thanks. We really do appreciate it when readers spot typos, even though it is embarrassing.

[Jeff Simpson]

"The book is noteworthy due to Jobs' posthumous involvement..."

Am I missing something? Was a seance involved? Is Steve Jobs still working on projects at Apple posthumously?

[shawnde]

The irony of course is selling it as "kindle" edition and on Amazon !!! Haven't they become No. 2 enemy of Apple ?? If anything, it should be an iBooks exclusive, and be sold in RETAIL bookstores and perhaps Barnes and Noble.