The Steve Jobs Archive’s first major release — a digital book titled Make Something Wonderful: Steve Jobs in his own words — will arrive April 11.
Despite the announcement coming in an email from the archive on April Fools’ Day, the news appears to be genuine. And that includes the part about the e-book, which is filled with Jobs’ emails, conversations, photos and more, being free online for all.
Make Something Wonderful: Steve Jobs in his own words comes out April 11 for free
The new digital book is akin to a memoir in that everything in it comes directly from the Apple co-founder himself in one way or another.
“Somewhere between a posthumous memoir and a scrapbook album, it is told through notes and drafts Jobs emailed to himself, excerpts of letters and speeches, oral histories and interviews, photos and mementos,” is how The Washington Post described the new work in an in-depth look at it Saturday.
The piece pointed out that Jobs was one of the most written-about figures in modern history. But with this e-book, his widow wanted people to hear directly from her husband.
“He has been written about, but this is actually his writing and his work. So there’s no intermediary,” said Laurene Powell Jobs. She provided an introduction for the e-book, which was edited by Leslie Berlin, the archive’s executive director.
The Steve Jobs Archive launched in September 2022 and marked Jobs’ birthday in February.
New e-book brings Apple design to mind
The archive’s email and webpage about the upcoming book are spare, showing an image of the book that may remind you of classic Apple design.
That’s in part because the book’s look came from longtime Apple design honcho Jony Ive and the firm he later founded, LoveFrom.
The archive referred to the book as another tool from Jobs that might be useful.
“Steve often referred to himself as a toolmaker, and we see this book as another tool from him, designed for people who want to make their own ‘wonderful somethings’ that push the world forward,” the archive wrote in its email.
Here’s some more description from the email:
It includes some well-known moments and familiar images, as well as emails, conversations, and photographs that have never been seen before by the public. Our hope is that it inspires in you the passion to create what only you can — and the confidence to share it with the world.
The archive website expands a bit on that: “Steve shares his perspective on his childhood, on launching and being pushed out of Apple, on his time with Pixar and NeXT, and on his ultimate return to the company that started it all.”
Apple employees will get a hardcover copy
The Post article notes that while Jobs foresaw the future of personal computing and widespread internet use, a lot of negatives have loomed, putting a damper on tech enthusiasm. Things like smartphone addiction. Social media misinformation. Fears about artificial intelligence.
And it quoted Tim Cook, whom Jobs hired in 1998, and revealed his plans for Jobs’ new book.
“Technology doesn’t want to be good or bad,” Cook said. “It’s in the hands of the creator whether it becomes good or bad.”
He plans to give a hardcover copy of the book to Apple workers to remind them that “the purpose of the company is to make the best products in the world that really enrich people’s lives and leave the world better than we found it.”
The archive assured subscribers they’d hear about it as soon as the e-book comes out April 11 on the archive website and Apple Books.
