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Summary: The rest of the story....
Review: Apple Confidential tells it like it was-very impartial, newsy, and informative.While it was a very easy read, it was full of all sorts of juicy tidbits that complete a history. I'm talking about the kind of things that you know in your heart have to be going on at a large company, but somehow have been sanitized and bleached until all that hits the public is a "whitebread" version of the truth (Jobs and Woz were best friends who wanted to change the world, yadda, yadda, yadda....). Newp, not here-in Apple Confidential we get inside the heads of the people who through a very serendipitous fate, influenced the computing industry and just the way it happened. Anybody who would like to re-live those amazing times needs to read this book, either cover to cover, or just picking out a random chapter at a time. It was truly fascinating, and Mr. Linzmayer managed to overcome the admittedly short attention span of this reader for hours on end. Buy this book
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Summary: MyMac.com Book Review
Review: Back in 2000, I had the pleasure of reading and reviewing Mr. Linzmayer's first Apple Confidential book, and thought that he had done an outstanding job of presenting the visible and the behind-the-scenes story of Apple Computer. Mr. Linzmayer, a freelance writer and author, had taken his time to delve into the depths of the company that we all love to hate and produced a great book that worked to explain the mysteries of Apple. Fast forward to 2004 and he has done it again. Taking the original book, Mr. Linzmayer has updated the story to the present day, continuing the journey from where he left off with Mac OS 8.6 and the original iMac to the present day Mac OS 10.3 and the G5, the iPod and iLife. Apple Confidential 2.0, from start to finish, is a continual source of information on Apple Computer and the people involved, from the beginnings in a bedroom (you have to read the book to find out) to the present day activities of Steve Jobs as head of Apple and Pixar. It delves into how the original Apple was taken to numerous companies, like Hewlett-Packard, Atari and Commodore Business Machines in an attempt to sell the Apple computer concept. It covers all the twists and turns that Apple has experienced along the way. Apple Confidential 2.0 provides the reader with information on how Apple came to be, who thought of what, who never got the credit that they justly deserved, or who took the blame when things went wrong. The book includes time lines for Apple from the start of both Wozniak and Jobs in college to the computers, operating systems, peripherals and software from the very start to the present day. If you want an easy to read book on the story of Apple and the people involved, get yourself Apple Confidential 2.0. The book is packed with everything you need to know, provides the background on people, and places and things, and it does so without being boring or preachy. A very good read, you'll find yourself totally engrossed. If you didn't buy Mr. Linzmayer's first book, take the time to get the second. Apple Confidential 2.0 will make a great addition to your home library - a must-have for Apple lovers. Highly Recommended. My Mac Rating: 5 out of 5
http://www.mymac.com/showarticle.php?id=1678
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Summary: Writing and reading like a rock band fan
Review: Half way through the book, I realized why and how I felt very intrigued by the writing style. It was written by the exact same type of person I am (or at least used to be before becoming a father :-). This book is written as if by a rock band fan who has thoroughly followed the history of the band, its different reincarnations (guitar player 1 replaced by guitar player 2 on album 3 and then back for a studio recording on album 7 and so on). What is unique about the book is that it follows not simple chronology but the different aspects of Apple, the company and the marketing and technological phenomenon. I have used a Mac only during an internship 9 or so years ago, so I am not a Mac zealot, however I've always been intrigued by Apple Computers and I can now honestly say that having read "Apple Confidential 2.0" I've had all my Apple cravings satisfied! I highly recommend this book to anyone interested in the history of one of the most innovative computer companies!
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Summary: Enjoyable Apple family history and album
Review: I am delighted to have Apple Confidential 2.0 - it's like a family history and picture album. Included are all the family members from Apple I and II to Mac G5 and iPod, with too many to mention here (eWorld, Apple III, Stylewriter, Newton, et al.) Even cousins NeXT and Pixar, and in-law (or out-law?) Windows have chapters. Especially appreciated are the numerous time-lines and the balance, with about 100 pages devoted to each decade to 2003. It's understandable that recent events cannot all be included, and that there is a limit to what will fit into about 300 pages, but it would have been nice to see a page or so on the pioneering, award-winning QuickTake digital camera. I've known and grown with the Apple family from my 1978 Apple II to my 2003 eMac, and highly recommend this book as enjoyable reading and a fine reference.
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Summary: A must have book for any Apple enthusiast.
Review: I eagerly bought Apple Confidential 2.0 after reading a positive article about it on a well known computer news web site. This book doesn't disappoint - I read the entire thing cover to cover in about three days, although in retrospect, it would have been fun to spread it out a bit more to enjoy it longer. The book is well written and easy to read, and very importantly in this often heated subject matter, it appears to be genuinely unbiased. Featuring the story of Apple Computer Inc. from its inception to the present, the book not only gives a general overview of the good and bad times at Apple, but also presents many juicy tidbits. Sidebars throughout the text present numerous quotes from well known players - Steve Jobs, Wozniak, and many others. Pictures of some of the early machines are provided as well as timelines for various products and CEO's. As another bonus, the resignation letters of several of Apple's CEO's are included in the text. On the downside, the latter part of the book is not quite as good with several omissions such as mention of the wildly popular XServe and the Virginia Tech supercomputer cluster made with XServe's. This seems like a fairly glaring oversight considering how important the enterprise market is to Apple these days. Overall, I think any Apple history buff would find the book fascinating, and I can even imagine that the book would be interesting to people who don't know much about Apple at all. The history of Apple is quite interesting and should provide engaging reading material for nearly anyone. What are you waiting for? Buy the book!
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Summary: A must have book for any Apple enthusiast.
Review: I eagerly bought Apple Confidential 2.0 after reading a positive article about it on a well known computer news web site. This book doesn't disappoint - I read the entire thing cover to cover in about three days, although in retrospect, it would have been fun to spread it out a bit more to enjoy it longer. The book is well written and easy to read, and very importantly in this often heated subject matter, it appears to be genuinely unbiased. Featuring the story of Apple Computer Inc. from its inception to the present, the book not only gives a general overview of the good and bad times at Apple, but also presents many juicy tidbits. Sidebars throughout the text present numerous quotes from well known players - Steve Jobs, Wozniak, and many others. Pictures of some of the early machines are provided as well as timelines for various products and CEO's. As another bonus, the resignation letters of several of Apple's CEO's are included in the text. On the downside, the latter part of the book is not quite as good with several omissions such as mention of the wildly popular XServe and the Virginia Tech supercomputer cluster made with XServe's. This seems like a fairly glaring oversight considering how important the enterprise market is to Apple these days. Overall, I think any Apple history buff would find the book fascinating, and I can even imagine that the book would be interesting to people who don't know much about Apple at all. The history of Apple is quite interesting and should provide engaging reading material for nearly anyone. What are you waiting for? Buy the book!
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Summary: IF YOUR A MAC FANATIC, YOU MUST READ IT
Review: Linzmayer did a great job. I could not put it down -- like eating popcorn.
The book is well researched, and includes all the dirt and glory regarding Apple and Jobs. I really appreciate how the book documents and provides a context for all of Apple's media/news events. The book's non-linear chapter structure --- chapters are based on subject -- plus its sidebar quotes work really well. If your a Mac fanatic or a computer industry "nerd," you must read it.
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Summary: Great inside details
Review: Really interesting details on the creation and ongoing saga of Apple Computer.
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Summary: Comprehensive, up to date, but dry
Review: The book covers the entire history of Apple in amazing detail, as you would expect. There are chapters covering Wozniak and Jobs that are detailed and up to date. And there are timelines that make it easy to follow the progression of a number of aspects of Apple. This is particularly handy when following the hectic early nineties where Apple was releasing a different set of Macintoshes every couple of months.
However, unlike Cult of Mac, this book is far more dry in style than the company it documents. The point size of the content is almost unreadably small. And the layout is interesting, but not inspired. In particular the timelines which are in almost every chapter are drab.
Downsides aside, if you are a Mac enthusiast and you want to understand the history of the company there is no better source than this.
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Summary: Good history, but is lacking in current developments
Review: The other reader reviews all accurately state the positives of this book: the pre-2000 history of Apple is a very interesting read. I picked the book up, however, for a different reason. I wanted to learn more about the current generation of Apple products. Unfortunately, there isn't any detailed information about the development of OS X, the iPod, the G5, or Apple's new business stance as the 'hub of digital life'. (These are all mentioned briefly in the book, but there is no detail about how they came into being.) Surely there are some interesting stories to be told about how the iPod came out of a [then] struggling computer company that only had roughly 5% of the personal computer market. How about the decision to base the next-generation operating system on Linux? (To be fair, the book chronicles the influence of the NeXT and Be operating systems, but it doesn't connect the dots to OS X.) What sorts of decisions were made to develop a 64-bit processor? Who made these decisions and what technological challenges were faced in the process? These are all topics for version 3.0, I suppose. (And I imagine that I will be charged for this upgrade.) Bottom line: an interesting read for those interested in pre-iPod/G4 Apple. However, you shouldn't buy this book if you are mainly interested in their recent technological developments.
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