A few things you should know about Steve Jobs' name and image in traditionally superstitious Taiwan, where, of course, he is all the rage with the new Walter Isaacson bio out now in a special Chinese-language edition translated by a team of hardworking translators in Taipei.
1. Steve Jobs is not refered to as “Steve Jobs” in Chinese Mandarin newscasts or newspaper articles, and not even on the cover of Isaacson's bio. No, like most famous Westerners who visit Taiwan or whose books are sold here, the local media merely refers to him as Jobs — and "Steve" never enters the picture.
He is just Jobs here, never Steve Jobs. The Taiwanese media treat Steven Spielberg and William Shakespeare and Albert Einstein the same way — their first names do not exist. Just "Spielberg" and "Shakespeare" and "Einstein" will do, thank you very much. ''Who cares about Westerners' first names?'' seems to be the prevailing mindset among the Taipei literati and media editors.
And the three Chinese characters of his name are pronounced as "JOE BOO SOO":
2. For sales purposes, as well as to honor Jobs, many bookstores in Taipei selling the Jobs bio have set up large window displays and special eye-catching corners in the stories where Isaacson's book is piled high in huge stacks, with some books standing vertically.
Jobs' face would appear to be staring out at people passing by, which has been "creeping some superstitious Taiwanese pedestrians out," according to recent comment on a technology forum chatroom in Taipei.
"Jobs died recently, and I don't like see his face on a hundred books staring at me in the bookstore's display window," said one observer, saying that indeed the marketing displays "creeped me out.”
