Apple fans in Shanghai braved the rain Monday (October 24) for the official biography of co-founder Steve Jobs.
One of Shanghai's largest bookstores, City of Books, held a brief ceremony to unveil the book, whose release was brought forward from November after Jobs' death earlier this month (Oct 5).
With the tech icon guarding his privacy fiercely when he was alive, many fans were keen to learn more about Steve Jobs, the man.
(SOUNDBITE) (Mandarin) 21-YEAR-OLD PAN YI, SAYING:
"He does not usually come out to do media interviews so we do not understand him well. Through this book, I hope I can understand things about his daily life and other aspects."
(SOUNDBITE) (Mandarin) 38-YEAR-OLD WU HAO, SAYING:
"We hope to know from this book, what he is strong at, as well as what kinds of weaknesses he has as a person. This is what I am looking for, not a book that describes Steve Jobs as God. He is not God, and he also had times of failure."
In Taiwan, the biography is already the year's most popular book, with the publisher saying over 100,000 books had been sold online ahead of the official launch.
But book stores across the island still opened from 7:00 a.m. local time (2300GMT Sunday) for readers to buy the book before heading to work.
Huang Wan-ju (pron: hwon wan-ru), was the Eslite book store's first customer.
(SOUNDBITE) (Mandarin) 35-YEAR-OLD HUANG WAN-JU SAYING:
"I want to know his early work experiences and his upbringing, these are the things we know less about since most of the information we have are related to his recent works, so I am curious about his early life."
The biography was prominently displayed at the Philippine's National Bookstore, and while there was no rush, the store expects sales to pick up.
The authorized biography "Steve Jobs", is currently the No. 1 bestseller on Amazon's customer purchase list.
Arnold Gay Reuters.
