Haunted Empire: Apple After Steve Jobs by Yukari Iwatani Kane
Harper Collins, $34.99

Former Wall Street Journal tech reporter Yukari Iwatani Kane interviewed more than 200 people before she wrote Haunted Empire – an in-depth look at Apple before and after the death of its founder Steve Jobs in 2011.

It’s well-written and there is some fascinating detail about the characters involved (Jobs, his underlings and their successors), the competitive wrangling and lawsuits, and the sometimes disturbing overseas production processes.

One problem is Kane appears set to prove her premise (that Apple post-the-genius-that-was-Jobs is haunted by the ghost of its deceased former leader and probably doomed to failure) at all costs.

Of course history may (or may not) prove her right, but sometimes her arguments appear forced.

Although she tries to portray post-Jobs Apple as disappointing both in terms of new products and financial success, the reality is the company still has the ability to trounce its competition.