Unhappy Apple Yanks Books Off Store Shelves
The iPod is a hit. Macs are flying off the shelves. The share price has tripled in a year.
So why is Apple Computer Inc. so touchy these days?
In its latest fit of corporate pique, Apple pulled dozens of books by John Wiley & Sons Inc. from the shelves of its 103 stores, the publisher said Tuesday. Apple was unhappy with an upcoming book on its chief executive and co-founder, Steve Jobs.
The move heightens Apple’s reputation as Silicon Valley’s most thin-skinned company. In recent months it has drawn criticism for suing three website operators to learn the source of leaks about new products.
The latest flap began when Apple tried to block publication of “iCon Steve Jobs: The Greatest Second Act in the History of Business,” said Wiley spokeswoman Susan Spilka.
After Hoboken, N.J.-based Wiley refused to stop the book, Apple pulled all Wiley titles, including “Macs for Dummies.”
“We don’t think it’s in the best interest of their retail store customers or in keeping with the nature of our long-standing partnership,” Spilka said. “We hope that they reevaluate.”
A spokesman for Cupertino, Calif.-based Apple declined to comment on the company’s actions, reported Tuesday by the San Jose Mercury News.
Jeffrey S. Young, who wrote the book with William L. Simon, can’t figure out what made Apple executives so mad. He said the book was about how Jobs returned to Apple after being ousted and returned the company to glory, rewriting the rules for the music industry in the process. It deals with the CEO’s family and his bout with pancreatic cancer, but “It’s not a Kitty Kelley tell-all book.”
IDC analyst Roger Kay said Apple’s move could backfire and boost book sales. But it doesn’t surprise him.
“ ‘My way or the highway,’ is the cliche that fits the way Apple deals with the entire [business] ecosystem,” he said.
Kay knows something about that. He mildly criticized Apple last year for not having an entry-level Mac.
Although the company already had such a model in the works, Apple executives chewed him out and complained to his boss.
They still won’t return his calls.
