iCon: Steve Jobs, The Greatest Second Act in the History of Business is an
unauthorized biography by Jeffrey S. Young and William L. Simon about the return of
Steve Jobs to
Apple Inc. in 1997. It was published in 2005.[6]
The book's title is a
pun with one connotation that of Jobs as an
icon with attributes to be admired, while carrying the negative interpretation as I-(am a)-Con, as in a
con man, criticized for charisma used in harmful ways such as the "
reality distortion field". The non-capitalized "i" at the beginning is also in reference to many of Apple's products, such as the
iPhone,
iMac,
iPod, and
iTunes.
It is the followup to Young's 1988 biography, Steve Jobs: The Journey Is the Reward.[7]
As retribution for publishing this unauthorized biography, Jobs banned all publications from publisher
John Wiley & Sons from
Apple retail stores.[9][10] However, in its 2010 annual earnings report, Wiley said it had "closed a deal ... to make its titles available for the
iPad."[11]