ICon
iCon: Steve Jobs, The Greatest Second Act in the History of Business is a book that punches in two directions at once. Published in 2005 by Jeffrey S. Young and William L. Simon, it is an unauthorized biography focused on Jobs's return to Apple in 1997. The title alone tells a story of ambivalence. It nods to Jobs as a cultural icon, someone whose qualities invite admiration. But it also encodes a darker reading: I-(am a)-Con, as in a confidence man, someone who bends reality to his will in ways that can wound as well as inspire. That double meaning runs through everything the authors were trying to say. And the lowercase "i" at the front? That is a deliberate echo of Apple's own product naming: the iPhone, the iMac, the iPod, iTunes. Three letters, two interpretations, and one very powerful enemy. The story of how this book landed in the world, and what happened next, raises questions about power, publishing, and what happens when a subject decides he does not like what has been written about him.
Young and Simon chose their title with care. The word "icon" carries straightforward weight in the context of Silicon Valley: Jobs had built products that millions of people used every day. But the lowercase "i" pulled the title into Apple's own visual language, the same prefix the company had placed on the iMac, the iPod, and iTunes. That move made the book feel like an Apple product even as it criticized one. The second reading, I-(am a)-Con, pointed to something the authors called the "reality distortion field," a phrase used to describe Jobs's ability to convince people, including himself, that the impossible was achievable. The authors framed that charisma as a double-edged quality: it drove invention but could also be used in harmful ways. Young had been circling this subject for years. iCon was his followup to a 1988 biography he had written alone, Steve Jobs: The Journey Is the Reward, meaning he brought nearly two decades of accumulated perspective to the 2005 volume.
Alan Deutschman, writing in the San Francisco Chronicle, raised a pointed objection to iCon. His criticism was not simply that the book was wrong or unfair; it was that the book's content bore a notable resemblance to his own prior biography of Steve Jobs, The Second Coming of Steve Jobs. Deutschman had covered Jobs at length before Young and Simon's book appeared, and he saw the overlap as significant enough to address publicly. The nature of an unauthorized biography already places an author in contested territory: no cooperation from the subject, no official archive, and a reliance on sources who may have their own reasons for speaking. Deutschman's article in the San Francisco Chronicle added another layer of dispute, suggesting the authors had borrowed more than a subject.
Steve Jobs did not respond to iCon with a rebuttal or a public statement. He responded with retail power. As retribution for the book's publication, Jobs banned all titles from the publisher, John Wiley & Sons, from Apple's retail stores. That was not a small gesture. Apple's retail presence by 2005 was significant, and exclusion from those stores meant a real commercial cost for Wiley across its entire catalogue, not just for iCon. The ban extended beyond the offending book to every Wiley publication. It was a demonstration of how far Jobs was willing to reach when he felt crossed, and it illustrated exactly the kind of behavior the book's title had been designed to capture. The story did not end with the ban, however. In Wiley's 2010 annual earnings report, the company disclosed that it had reached a deal to make its titles available for the iPad. Jobs's own product had become the bridge back.
Common questions
Who wrote iCon Steve Jobs and when was it published?
iCon was written by Jeffrey S. Young and William L. Simon and published in 2005. It is an unauthorized biography focused on Steve Jobs's return to Apple in 1997.
What does the title iCon mean?
The title carries two meanings. It refers to Jobs as a cultural icon with admirable qualities, and it encodes the phrase I-(am a)-Con, implying a con man who used charisma, described as a "reality distortion field," in harmful ways. The lowercase "i" also references Apple product names like the iMac, iPod, and iTunes.
Why did Steve Jobs ban John Wiley and Sons from Apple stores?
Jobs banned all John Wiley and Sons publications from Apple retail stores as retribution for the company publishing iCon, the unauthorized biography by Young and Simon. The ban covered the publisher's entire catalogue, not just the book about Jobs.
Did Apple ever lift the ban on Wiley books after iCon was published?
Yes. In its 2010 annual earnings report, Wiley disclosed it had closed a deal to make its titles available for the iPad, ending the effective exclusion from Apple's platform.
What earlier Steve Jobs biography did Jeffrey S. Young write before iCon?
Young wrote Steve Jobs: The Journey Is the Reward in 1988, making iCon the followup volume published nearly two decades later.
Who criticized iCon for resembling an earlier Steve Jobs biography?
Alan Deutschman criticized iCon in an article for the San Francisco Chronicle, pointing out similarities between the book's content and his own prior biography, The Second Coming of Steve Jobs.