Apple's Steve Jobs Is A Tough Assignment

NEW YORK (MarketWatch) -- It's never easy for a journalist to cover an icon. A superstar can come across as moody, pampered and egomaniacal, whether it's a rock 'n' roll hero, a movie idol, a world-class athlete -- or the bright and mercurial business visionary, Steve Jobs.

Consider the ups and downs of Newsweek columnist Steven Levy, the author of last year's "The Perfect Thing: How the iPod Shuffles Commerce, Culture and Coolness" from Simon & Schuster. For a quarter-century, Levy has been chronicling Apple Inc.'s co-founder and mastermind behind the Macintosh computer, Pixar animated films, the iPod and more.

When Levy, 56, first interviewed Jobs in 1983, he was a hungry magazine freelancer. Jobs was, well, Jobs. In other words, he was as opinionated and occasionally as irascible as ever.

Jobs promptly launched into a diatribe about a Rolling Stone piece about MTV that he'd just read. "I had to tell him," Levy recalled with a wan smile, 'Steve, I wrote that story.'"

How did Jobs react to that? "He certainly didn't say 'I'm sorry,'" Levy replied.

Levy has been fascinated by Jobs ever since. "He has charisma, a special sense of importance. He could say his opinion was right even when other people say otherwise."

It's that brand of self-confidence (which a cynic might call arrogance) that has hailed Jobs as one of the most innovative and successful business leaders in modern times. Apple went public when much of the establishment still saw it as a precocious startup.

Jobs has left the company and come back to run it again. He's also had to weather setbacks, such as problems with customer service and the stock-option scandal that darkened his image last year. Still, "it looks like [Jobs is] going to get through it," Levy said.

Apple constantly makes news. On Tuesday, Levy wrote this on Newsweek's Internet site: "When I got an e-mail invitation on Sunday to an EMI press conference with an appearance from Apple CEO Steve Jobs, several possibilities came to mind. Was this the long-awaited announcement that the Beatles (who are EMI artists) were finally agreeing to sell their songs digitally? Was it an April Fool's joke? Or was EMI responding to Steve Jobs' earlier plea, posted on the Apple site some weeks ago, to drop restrictive digital-rights management software from its songs?

"We learned this morning that it was the latter option. And while the press conference didn't have the zing of a Beatles event, dropping DRM is by far a more significant step than giving people the option to pay for moptop music online."

Apple scruffs

Over the past two decades, Levy has been one of a handful of journalism's most durable and dedicated Apple chroniclers, whose ranks include John Markoff, Brent Schlender and Walt Mossberg.

Jobs eventually rewarded Levy's patience. In January 2005, Levy asked him to cooperate with a book project about the runaway success of the iPod.

By then, the executive no longer needed publicity for himself or for the iPod; it was an established financial success and a cultural phenomenon. Jobs could have lived without the aggravation of giving Levy interviews or subjecting himself to an outsider's scrutiny and facing the possibility of trade secrets leaking out -- especially at a time when foes such as Microsoft Corp. were poised to create competitive products.

Perhaps Jobs felt he owed Levy a solid or wanted to acknowledge the journalist's fair reporting over the years. Levy noted that Jobs was "super nice" about granting approval for the project. He needed Jobs' blessing to get behind the company's walls and understand the iPod saga.

"To be honest, I didn't need all that much from him," Levy said. "But I did need more from Apple to go behind the scenes."

Levy, who wrote a lively and detailed account, was nonetheless chagrined when some critics suggested that he had been too kind to Apple. "It was a ery favorable book," he concedes, "because I really like the iPod. If I'd been more critical, would it have been a better book?"

It's always a touchy point when an author seems too complimentary to a famous subject. Levy thought about it and said: "I asked myself, 'Did I ease off [Jobs] when I should have nailed him?' I don't think so."

He stresses that the book was about the iPod and wasn't a tome about Apple's colorful history. "The options scandal came up after the book went to bed," Levy added.

I asked Levy to tell me something about Jobs that no other journalist might know. He answered immediately: Jobs "got misty" over Johnny Cash's death. "That was a moment he might not have shared with other journalists."

Jobs and Gates

Inevitably, when tech people talk about industry leaders, Bill Gates' name comes up. But he and Jobs have little in common as interview subjects.

"Jobs has something he wants you to know about and you don't have to worry about gaps in the conversation," Levy pointed out. "With Gates, you have to be really well prepared."

Exactly how well prepared? "He once threw a pencil at me," Levy remembered fondly.

That occurred around the time of Microsoft's infamous antitrust battles with the U.S. government. "We had a disagreement," Levy recalled. "It was funny."

I mentioned that Levy should've saved the pencil for posterity. "I could've sold it on eBay," he chuckled.

Naturally, the journalist in Levy relishes hearing one of them talk about the other. "Steve, of course, envies Bill's market share," he said.

Levy also related that Gates once chastised the media in general by saying: "You guys think Google is so cool -- they can't do anything wrong. These are Johnny-come-latelies who get too much credit." (Microsoft spokesman Nick Sherill said that the company had no comment.)

At first, Levy didn't jump when an opportunity arose to write a book about the iPod. Then he concluded that it was crucial because of the popularity of the device and its impact on the music business and popular culture.

"I resisted," he recalled, "till I realized, 'This is book.' I'd have felt bad if someone else did it."

MEDIA WEB QUESTION OF THE DAY: Do the media cover Apple and other tech subjects well?

WEDNESDAY PET PEEVE: Don't you just love it when celebrities, who court the press when they need attention, try to reinvent the game to suit their purposes? Consider former New York City mayor Rudy Giuliani, who has been leading in the polls to be the Republican presidential nominee in 2008. He objects to the increasing scrutiny of his third wife, Judith. This protest comes after Giuliani himself elbowed her into the fray by suggesting that if elected he'd listen to her opinions at cabinet meetings. "Attack me all you want," Giuliani said. "But maybe, you know, show a little decency." Candidate, heal thyself!

THE READERS RESPOND: "Just wanted to say thank you for mentioning the clueless antics of the Washington press corps in your Monday Report Card. Murrow must be spinning in his grave." Chris Orrock

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By Jon Friedman