Steve Jobs was originally against the idea of an e-book store when the idea was first brought up by Eddy Cue. He did have a change of heart however, when it was brought up again after the development of the iPad.
AllThingsD, via 9to5Mac:
Testifying in the DOJ’s e-book price-fixing case Thursday, Eddy Cue, Apple’s senior vice president of Internet software and services, said that when he first approached Jobs with the idea of a bookstore in the fall of 2009, the Apple co-founder dismissed it.
“He wasn’t interested,” Cue said. “Steve never felt that the Mac or the iPhone were ideal reading devices. In the case of the phone, the screen was smaller, and in the case of the Mac, you had this keyboard and device, and it didn’t feel like a book.” …
After the development of the iPad, Jobs had a change of heart. Cue pitched the idea to him, presenting the iPad as the perfect platform for an e-book reader. Jobs agreed.
It was November 2009 when Jobs gave the OK for iBooks. The catch? Cue had to have it ready by the January announcement of the iPad.
“Steve was near the end of his life when we were launching the iPad, and he was really proud of it,” Cue said. “He was working hard on it. […] our customers were just going to go wild about iPad and iBooks, and I wanted to be able to get that done in time for [the event] because it was really important to him. […] I like getting my work done and I pride myself on being successful, but this had extra meaning to me.”
