My name is Jali Becker, and I work for Agate, this book's publisher. Agate has had this book in the works since last spring. The book was originally slated to appear in March 2012, and but was moved up after Jobs resigned as Apple's CEO. The publication date of Jobs's authorized biography was also moved up in the same fashion. I hope this clears up any confusion about how this book originated.

What defines "a real contribution"? To me, a real contribution is posting a review that assesses the text based on its merit (or lack thereof) and not in relation to the profit motive.

I didn't look at this as a bio at all. In fact, I thought it might be a nice, well organized way to gain some additional insight into the the man prior to delving into the official tale of his life and (actual) contributions to the world.

I appreciate your review -- as well as the comment by Jali with the publisher. To the reviewer, you make an important distinction. I read an article that referred to this title as the authorized biography, so there is confusion out there. It's good to know that Agate didn't pull this together at the last minute. Yes, they had to know he's not been well and that the timing of this might coincide with many people seeking more information on Steve Jobs, but they are a business, after all. By the number of positive reviews, they've also given people something they want. I know I don't have the energy to go hunting through the last few decades of resources to try to find things Steve has said, yet I would be interested in reading them if someone else had done the work. So it's still a book with inherent value. If you look at it that way, then motivation for publication becomes someone else's issue.