Apple stores pull Wiley titles over new Steve Jobs biography

In its latest desperate attempt to control the media, and more specifically the presses, Apple has pulled all books published by John Wiley & Sons from its retail stores in protest of an unauthorized biography of Apple CEO Steve Jobs about to be released by the publisher.

"The books disappeared from Apple stores last week after a month of increasingly contentious discussions about publication of the book, "iCon Steve Jobs : The Greatest Second Act in the History of Business,'' author Jeffrey S. Young told The Mercury News.

The book, co-authored by William L. Simon, is said to offer "an unflinching account of the rise, fall and rebirth of one of Silicon Valley's most charismatic figures."

"It became increasingly clear that Apple was not happy with the publication of the book," Wiley executive Kitt Allan told The Mercury News. "Recently, the meaning of that became clear when Apple told us that our technology books were immediately being pulled from their Apple retail stores. But, of course, Wiley stands behind our authors."

Some of the titles being pulled include David Pogue's popular "Macs For Dummies," and Bob LeVitus' "Mac OS X Tiger For Dummies." Meanwhile, about half a dozen books by long-time Mac columnist Andy Ihnatko have also been dropped, including "The Mac OS X Tiger Book," "The Mac OS X Panther Book," and "The GarageBand Book."

"It stinks," LeVitus told The Mac Observer. "I'm sad that Mac users won't find my books at the Apple Store. At the same time I'm tickled that Wiley did the right thing in spite of the pressure. Since Amazon.com, Borders, Barnes & Noble, WalMart and many other fine booksellers carry my books and have lower prices, I don't expect to lose many sales (or much sleep) over the whole sordid affair."

You can pre-order your copy of "iCon Steve Jobs : The Greatest Second Act in the History of Business'' from Amazon.com for $16.47. It's expected to ship in May.