Nation Books launches Jobs's biography

More than 1,000 people attended the launch of Steve Jobs’s biography in Thailand at the Terminal 21 entertainment complex, hosted by Nation Books yesterday.
Nation Books, the local publisher of the Thai edition of Steve Jobs’s biography, has launched hard and soft-cover versions as well as an e-book, which is available for download from the websites of AIS Bookstore, B2S Bookstore, MeTrend and iStudio. The paper books are also available at bookstores nationwide, including B2S, Se-Ed and Nai-In.
Nonglak Charuwat and teams have worked hard on translating the book into Thai under the supervision of Suthichai Yoon, editor-in-chief of Nation Multimedia Group. After the online launch at midnight, more than 10,000 e-books have been downloaded already. The company expects 50,000 downloads over the next three months.
Nation Books had allowed people to order the book one month in advance of yesterday’s launch. The first 500 customers who pre-ordered via the Nation Books’ websites will get a free T-shirt when they pick up the book at a launch event. The first 300 customers buying the book at a launch event will get the T-shirt as well as a 10-per-cent discount.
At the launch party at Terminal 21, many people paid attention to the books and attended the seminar on stage about Jobs’s life, ideas and achievements. The speakers were V Vachiramethi, Dr Pairat Thatyapong, who wrote the foreword for the book, Poramate Rienjaroensuk, Copperwired’s president, who runs iStudio, Suthichai and Nonglak.
The Thai version is the 29th translation of the biography.
Many people who came to buy the book at the event were Apple fans and Mac users. They and those not familiar with Apple wanted to learn more about Jobs because of his excellent products, especially the iPhone and iPad.
Some said they had already read the book in English but wanted to have the Thai version as well.
Starting on December 27, people who buy the iPad2 from AIS will also get the e-book for free.
Worawisut Pinyoyang, director of Digi Box, a local digital media consulting firm, and a devoted fan of Apple, said he has already bought the English book in hardcover for his Kindle. He has already finished about 70-80 per cent of the whole book.
Yesterday, he joined the event and bought three copies of the Thai version of Jobs’s biography.
“I bought Thai version for my dad and friends. My dad is also an Apple user. He uses the iPod touch,” Worawisut said.
He said he loves Jobs and his innovative products. He uses a Macbook Air, iPad, iPhone, Airport Express and iPod Nano. He is a real fan of Jobs’s products. “I love him and his products because they are simple but beautiful. His products also changed the way people live,”
he said.