Steve Jobs vs. The Book

At Macworld a few weeks ago, and the man who is loved by many – Steve Jobs – decided to make a fool of himself; repeatedly. First, he decided to snob a Mac fan -Violet Blue, one of the internet generations stars; she is an author and a sex-educator, who is a big Mac fan. She decided to see if she could speak to el Jobso; here’s how it went down, in her own words.

"I saw that Steve Jobs was just hanging out on the Macworld Expo floor, not in conversation, not talking to anyone, and poking at his iPhone in the middle of the wandering public, so I walked over. Thinking a girl--in this case, a fangirl, me--will never get anything if she doesn't ask for it, I lightly touched his arm and said, 'Hi.' He looked at me, and I blushingly asked if it would be OK for me to take a picture with him. I didn't say my name or give credentials or anything else, I was just any girl. He told me curtly, flatly, that I was rude. And turned his back to me."

Needless to say, Steve Jobs is not a very nice person. In fact, it is pretty much a known fact that the man who – along with Steve Wozniak – started Apple, is a meanie to us little people.

So when Jobs made this following comment, I was just a little outraged. When asked what he thought of Amazon’s Kindle – the ebook with the very book-like graphics – his response was curt; “It doesn’t matter how good or bad the product is; the fact is that people don’t read anymore,” he said. “Forty percent of the people in the U.S. read one book or less last year.”

Now you’ll have to forgive me; I am, in as simple and plain terms as possible, a bookaholic. I love books with a passion that has been with me my entire life. I have never thrown out a book – whether it be to good-will or the rubbish – and I have a collection that rivals that of a small library.

My life is lived on the computer, and I am a tech-head too. But there is only one thing on this planet I could not live without, and that is books. So when Steve Jobs decided to comment blithely on the Amazon Kindle, I decided to step up to the plate.

You see, while the U.S. may not be the home of literary endeavor and book-worms, they aren’t as simple-minded as some would have you believe. In fact the figure that Jobs gives – 40% - is incorrect. Randall Stross, an author based in the Silicon Valley and a professor of Business at San Jose State University, wrote an article that appeared at Cnet and the New York Times. He referred to a survey conducted in August of 2007 by Ipsos Public Affairs for The Associated Press. They found that only 27 percent of Americans had not read a book in the previous year.

However what was more interesting was that the same percentage read more than 15 books, and 8 percent read 51 books or more. In fact, when excluding the Americans who hadn’t read a book, the average books read were 20 a year.

In other words, Steve Jobs needs to get his facts straight. ‘Lies, damned lies and statistics’ is a combination that seems to have found its home in Steve Jobs. Why give a recommendation to a product that will take people away from mindlessly enjoying your own product; ie, the iPod.

Is that what this all comes down too? I wouldn’t put it past him, considering his own personality, and the success of the iPod. And don’t get me wrong, I love the portable media age; when I’m walking I have my iPod, because otherwise walking in to lamp-posts and in front of busses with my nose buried in a book will leave me wondering what happened to Moby Dick.

And while I am a book man first and foremost, and will probably not end up buying a Kindle (granted, it could be the $399 USD price tag and the US-only functionality), when you come out and attack books, you aren’t making any friends. Why so? Because it is a (predicted) $15 billion industry in the US alone!

Posted by Josh Hill.

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http://www.nytimes.com/2008/01/27/business/27digi.html?_r=2&ref=business&oref=slogin&oref=slogin

Comments

[Dizzle]

My, my what a rant. Guess what? I listen to MORE BOOKS than ever because of my ipod and audible.com.

But don't that get in the way of your rant.

And BTW Ms. Blue is NOT a "sex educator" - she is a promoter of pornography. (you don't even have the facts of what happened correctly). Are you married? Would you like your picture distributed all over the Internet with a chick bearing a nametag that says "Open Source Sex"? She wasn't just "some girl" who "blushingly" (and again I really doubt Ms. Blue blushing about anything - have you seen her work?) asking Steve for a picture. He didn't say she was rude. He said "that would be rude." What does "that" refer to? Fact is we don't know. It could be that he was in fact speaking to someone else and it would be rude to interrupt that. Maybe it was because thousands of people have already asked, and it would be rude to grant one request and not the others. Or maybe, just maybe, "that" would be rude to his wife and family.

I wouldn't buy a Kindle because it is butt-ugly. I am hoping Steve changes his mind on a reader. Because then it wouldn't suck.

But again, lets not let facts disturb the rant.

[Sancrows]

Interesting article; Why the rant?

[Morf]

As Werner Herzog put it...
Those who read, own the world, and those who watch television lose it.

Still true?

[Nathan]

Hmmm, if this girl really wanted to know why Steve would be "rude" to her it might have something to do with the fact that she (and many people) would take an off the cuff remark about books and turn it into some kind of crazy rant that ends up in the NY times.

[Dizzle]

Well Nathan at least it isn't as bad as the slathering gossipfest that is going around about Steve's "was he inebriated" comment. Apparently people aren't reading enough satire or hyperbole to recognize it.

[keith jones]

Eric Schmidt: Mafia puppet, child P-rn profiteer

Dr. Schmidt is bad news for apple users: http://endmafia.com