Times Steve Jobs profile report raises Apple PR ire

Apple’s battle to keep the private life of the company’s incredibly secretive CEO continues, with The Times this morning publishing a profile of the rock-star CEO.

It seems Apple’s PR people attempted to prevent publication of this report, despite that it contains little that isn’t already widely known. And while it makes an attempt at balance by discussing the “bad” and “good” sides of the famously mercurial Jobsian character, it concedes the remarkable impact of the man and all his achievements.

In the opinion of this commentator, that the report fails to examine any of the personal reflections Jobs shared during his famed Stanford University speech is a shame. Jobs came his closest yet to true self revelation during that speech. (We’ve posted the speech below so you can remind yourself of it before taking a look at The Times’ report).

The report carries a statement from Bryan Appleyard, who characterises what many tech industry watchers believe on Jobs, saying: “I don’t want Jobs to die because my computers and iPhone are, indeed, “insanely great” compared with the dismal competition but, more importantly, because he is an extraordinary figure. I don’t use the word “genius” about businesspeople, but in Steve Jobs’s case I’m prepared to make an exception.”

Why did Apple attempt to spike this report?

We’re hoping it was for fear of a negative slanted account, a fear the report fails to realise. We’re also hoping that Jobs has used some of his time during his recent health-focused months away from the company to get some work done toward publishing his own, fully-authorised bio.  You'll also note that they speculate that an Apple-Google merger is in the works as well as about 300 references to Jobs' narcissism.

We’re of the opinion that - wherever you sit on the love/hate Apple fence - Jobs has proved himself a remarkable man, and as such he should make available his viewpoint on his life’s story. We think it could be an inspiration to the next agent of disruptive change.