Steve Jobs Vowed to Destroy Android

In the fast-moving age, it appears two weeks is how long it now takes from lauding a deceased figure to taking a more critical view. Or at least that’s the case when you’ve got a biography to sell.

Walter Isaacson’s authorized biography of Steve Jobs, which includes details from what appears to be Jobs’ last interview, hits the shelves on Monday but early details are already in the public domain. The most notable come from the Associated Press, which has an advance copy of the book.

The big revelation is just how angrily Jobs reacted when he believed Android handsets were made using Apple concepts and technology, a move he described as “grand theft” and requiring a “thermonuclear war” response.

It appears the subsesquent lawsuits weren’t just an attempt to get financial recompense, but rather Jobs had decided to “destroy Android.” He told Isaacson that ” I will spend my last dying breath if I need to, and I will spend every penny of Apple’s $40 billion in the bank, to right this wrong.”

The book also claims Jobs met Google chief Eric Schmidt in a cafe and told him no offered settlement would halt the lawsuit, and that he would even turn down $5 billion. It’s perhaps fortunate that this didn’t come to light while Jobs was still alive, as Apple shareholders might not have been too impressed.

Among the other headline-making revelations in the book are that Jobs chose to delay medical treatment for his pancreatic cancer for nine months, instead trying alternative therapies. The AP notes that it’s impossible to say conclusively whether this worsened his chances of survival.

The book also has a few trivia notes, such as the Apple name being created while Jobs was on a fruit, nuts and seeds-only diet, and the molded plastic design of the Apple II being inspired by Cuisinart food processors, which were booming in popularity at the time.

You can pre-order Steve Jobs’ authorized biography on Amazon.com right here for $17.88 (49% Off.)