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Summary: "Definitive" accurately describes this book!
Review: Owen Linzmayer's Apple Confidential 2.0 is a great book that gives the reader a fascinating look into the successes and failures of a company that has thrived, survived and continues to make a significant impact on the computer industry.Linzmayer entertains and educates readers by taking them through pivotal points in Apple's history. From the initial collaboration between tech guru Steve Wozniak and assertively business-minded Steve Jobs, through the development of the Macintosh computer, to the inner workings of Apple's corporate culture, Linzmayer looks around every corner to give many perspectives on the development of the company. Timelines are also presented at the end of most chapters, aiding readers in understanding the pace at which important milestones took place. "Definitive" accurately describes this book! Apple Confidential 2.0 offers readers a deeper understanding of the company, and shows the complete story of how this shining apple helped turn the fruit orchards of Cupertino into what we now call Silicon Valley. Readers will clearly see how Apple created a revolution by the development of the personal computer industry, and fought to make a significant dent in a technological market that continues to grow at a pace unequal to any other advancement in history.
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Summary: Gossip, History, Trivia, Legends & Lore
Review: This book combines gossip, history, trivia and the legends & lore of one of America's most fascinating companies. The story starts with the two Steves making and selling boxes to confuse the phone system into granting free calls. It chronicals the development of Apple computer from the first Apple through the Lisa, endless varities of Macintosh and today's iPod. Throughout the story, the massive ups and collosal failures of this American instution are laid bare. The layout is interesting as well. As characters are introduced, the reader frequently wonders "What happened to them?" More often than not, the question is answered in a sidebar. This showed that Apple wasn't just a great product developer, but also a great developer of silicon valley talent. The book details the extremes of the players personalities:
- How Jobs agreet to split the proceeds of an Atari deal with Woz, only to keep 90% of the income himself.
- How Woz forced the company to go public early by sharing his stock with too many employees.
- How Gasse talked folks out of liscencing the technology until it was too late.
- How several successive CEOs tried in vain to save the company. The book also details some lesser known stories from Apple's storied past:
- How the 1984 commercial almost never made it.
- How the company decided to abandon Copland. (& Why!)
- How the company got sued by Carl Sagan, and how they dug their ditch a little deeper. There's a lot of "Hows" here, which really shows how deep the author gets into the company's history and soul. You come away with not just a knowledge of the people, but their personalities and why exactly things turned out the way they did. This book is excellent reading for anyone interested in the world of technology, and an absolute must for fans of Apple.
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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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Summary: Apple Confidential 2.0
Review: Apple Computer has always been a fascination for me. Ever since I heard of them, I thought they were a top-notch company, providing quality computers for the consumer with a lot of disposable cash. Computers in general were much more expensive when they first hit the market and Apple offered the first home machines. I've never owned a home computer until 2000. I remember doing so much research. As my wife is a photographer, Apple came to the front, with their reputation for excellent image handling. We decided to purchase an iMac. This purchase was followed with buying an iBook in 2001 for my wife. To this day, I continue to be amazed by our Macs and what we've been able to do and learn since we got them. Now, if only the budget had room for a loaded G5, I know where we would be headed. Shortly after our Mac came home, we found The NorthWest of Us, a Chicago area Macintosh User Group and joined up. There has been no better source of support for whatever troubles needed troubleshooting. Beside the support, I was struck with the passion of these people who used Mac computers and could not really understand the profound enthusiasm they had for their platform of choice. Simply, I felt that Macs were very efficient and quite easy to use and that's what we hoped for when we purchased ours. I was looking for something that would help me to understand a bit more about the mystique surrounding Apple Computer and it's products. I found Apple Confidential 2.0. This book covers the how's and why's of Apple's start up and the passion of the founders, especially Steve Wozniak and Steve Jobs. You can see the genius of them as they put everything they owned on the line to create the first personal computers-Woz for his passion to create and design, Steve for his desire for perfection and success. You can easily understand how their personalities first nurtured each other and how they would come to necessarily separate themselves from each other. Apple Confidential 2.0 gives you insight to many corporate business decisions, both amazing and really stupid. As I read, I found myself wondering how this company managed to survive at all. The book contains many time lines following the life cycles of the Apple I and II, the ill-fated Apple III and Lisa, the multitudinous computer variations offered for sale (my gosh, how confusing!) and the Mac OS. Yes, there's more, but these were the most interesting for me. I found the fumbling that went on within the company to be nothing if not infuriating, the misdirection, the false starts and, most of all, the loss of product quality and innovation. Lately, I often wondered why one of my coworkers hated Macs. After reading about the thousands of defective Macs put on the market instead of in the garbage heap, sure enough, it was one of those that she had to put up with and could not wait to dump! If I had been a Mac user then, I'm sure I'd be in her camp too. The business decisions made over the years at Apple can make your head spin. The issue of licensing the Mac OS is a fascinating read; back and forth, over and over again. If Apple had licensed their OS early on, I'm sure we would be in a 'Windows-free' world. After all, that's what Bill Gates would have preferred anyway. (Of course, you have to wonder just how virus-free the Mac OS would be if it were on 95+% of the computers out there too.) Then, there's Bill Gates and his ties to Apple-something I thought could never have occurred, but I didn't realize that he was NOT the competition in the first place. Rather, it appears that he was one of the foremost proponents of the Apple computer. Again, I'm relatively new to owning a home computer, but I knew all along that Mac people could not stand Microsoft. I was really surprised to learn that Word and Excel were originally Macintosh programs. I never knew that, but it makes sense when you consider the vastness of the installed base of those Office products-and just how much $$$ Bill gets from Office for Mac users. Apple Confidential 2.0 is a very good read. You don't have to read it cover-to-cover, although once I picked it up, there was no way I was going to skip around. My wife, who's more disconnected from OS platforms that I am, picked it up and I had to insist she give it back so I could finish it. Owen's writing style is excellent, giving just enough humor to keep you interested. Although you could consider it a course study book, this book is for anyone who is a Mac enthusiast or someone interested in touching on business history. It has many pictures and great sidebar information and quotes, many of those really surprising and funny. As with any history book, Owen has placed in it what he saw as the most salient issues surrounding Apple and not everything, by his admission, is included. One issue I think should have been touched on was drugs. I remember a made-for-TV movie that was broadcast several years ago. It may have been called 'Pirates of Silicon Valley', but I'm not sure. The movie was spun toward Bill Gates and what he did with regard to Apple. In it, several major players were depicted to have been pretty deep into LSD and other drugs. True? Or not? I'm leaning toward true. If you read this book, I think it's the only thing that would make sense of the really strange turns the company took. Everything considered, I highly recommend Apple Confidential 2.0 both for it's "definitive history of the world's most colorful company" and for it's easy, fun readability. Thank You, Owen!
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Summary: A great book for the Apple computer user
Review: I have used Mac computers since 1980 and followed Apple through all the ups and downs. After reading this book, I now have a understanding of what went on behind the scenes from the beginning to now. I recommend this book for all Mac users.
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Summary: Right to the Core
Review: I would highly recommend Apple Confidential 2.0 to ANY computer user, whether a PC slave or dedicated Mac addict. Mr. Linzmayer's insight into the Apple world should answer any questions regarding the history of personal computers and his knowledge of the Apple Company is second to none. Who knows, after reading the book, current PC users may even acknowledge that the Mac and Apple operating system is superior and may even consider a switch as many of us have done.
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Summary: Not an Apple owner, but a fan of Apple Confidential!
Review: I've been using computers in one form or another for the last 20 years -- including Apples / Macs. My first "real" computer was a TI/994A, but I remember going to a local computer store when the first Mac was released, and just marveling at the GUI and the mouse (and that tiny B/W monitor). And while the $3000+ price tag was way out of my league at the time -- I was hooked. I've been an "early technology adopter" every since! Owens "Apple Confidential" is a fantastic trip down memory lane, with more twists and turns than most mystery novels. The reading was fun and the book hard to put down. If you have even the slightest interest in the history of personal computing, you'll enjoy this book.
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Summary: A well written & nicely organized history of Apple
Review: If you're looking for a book that will entertain you while teaching you quite a bit about what really went on (and continues to go on) behind the greatness of Apple ... this book is an excellent choice. I haven't been able to put it down. Really well organized, each chapter tells a micro-story, not always in chonological order because that's pretty boring and doesn't always string the people and events together in a meaningful way. Owen Linzmayer tells this great story by weaving together the facts and folklore of Apple's people, projects, products, and culture. I highly recommend his book. The pictures and sidebars alone are worth the purchase price of the book.
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Summary: One of the Great History's of Apple!
Review: This is a great book for people that know nothing of Apple's history or people that know a lot. It is very complete an highly readable. It is a book that you just can't put down, once you start reading it! I wish to thank the author for such a intreresting book!
Rating:
Summary: Excellent reading
Review: Apple Confidential 2.0 is very entertaining and interesting book. It covers a lot of history with interesting stories full of photos and quotes from many key players involved in computer history. This books is a must for Mac user and also very recommended for people interested in computers and history. Very easy to read, you will not want to put this down so take some time and read this from cover to cover!
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