Rating: 
Summary: That fat lady hasn't sung...
Review: Auletta's highly detailed book is great and much needed, but I think that, as Twain once said, the rumors of Microsoft's death are greatly exaggerated. World War 3.0 isn't over. Even as we speak, Microsoft has all-but dealt a death blow to one Great White Hope, the programming language Java, the first language designed to be platform independent and thus dethrone MS's op system monopoly. The US govt. lawsuit against MS was too little too late. Carving MS into two companies with Bill Gates running only one will likely give him the chance to kill off the other one and gain a newer and far meaner monopoly. They should have carved it into at least a dozen to give the others a fair chance. In ten years I predict MS will have taken over, not just the computer room, but the whole house, even the toilet, and either own the Internet, or worse, have started a new system that they own from the ground up, under the guise of protecting authors of information products (software, music, movies) from "free copying". So don't sell your stock in MS just yet...
Rating: 
Summary: Much more than the trial
Review: Dazzling -- the whole "new economy" landscape is made clear, and all the big players and their competing visions for the future are explained, but the great thng is that the author has worked in all his big-picture analysis so that it hangs off of the book's storyline, the courtroom drama. It's unbelievable how indiscreet some of the people talking to him were -- especially Judge Jackson.
Rating: 
Summary: I hope that there is a 3.1 version
Review: Having just read the book this summer (2004), much of the content that predicts the future points to current day reality. This only goes to show that both the visions of the future are never what is hoped for, and the more things change, the more they stay the same.This book does seem somewhat rushed in the final 1/3, and it ends more on a whimper than a bang. This is so much a 'Round 1' reporting, with obvious need for either a follow-up account of what has transpired since then, or at least some explination as to what happened. Ah to be focused on mean old Bill rather than dictators and terrorists on the other side of the planet. It seems as if 9/11 tore this case from the front-pages of the world's newspapers, banishing it to irrevelance in light of daily body-counts. We need an upgrade to this story - Mr. Auletta, please update us!
I want to know more. I wish there was a version 3.1.
Rating:
Summary: Well researched and insightful.
Review: I purchased this title on a whim. Although I followed "the trial" as it was being reported in the media I did not find the proceedings, as they were described in the press, to be that interesting. I also knew that whatever happened, this case would be appealed and last for several more years. Consequently, I did not have high expectations for this book. I was pleasantly surprised to find out that this book was much more interesting and insightful that I had imagined. Auletta does an excellent job of describing the background, tactics, technical issues, personalities, and legal issues that surrounded this trial. Unlike other reports on the trial, he did not just encapsulate the events that took place in the courtroom. Instead, he spent considerable effort to research, then explain, events that went on behind the scenes - before, during, and after the trial.
The spin that was often portrayed in the media was that Microsoft was being victimized or punished just for being successful. The Microsoft media machine did an excellent job of promoting this view either through tactics such as full-page ads in newspapers or Gate's (and others) frequent appearances on television. While I have never been a big fan of Microsoft, part of me started to believe them. After reading this book however, any sympathy that I had for Microsoft, as it relates to the trial, has been erased. Auletta's recounting of the trial makes it clear that they used their monopolistic power to attempt to control or quash any company that threatened the market dominance of any of their core products. In short, they were unwilling to "play fair" and let the best products win in the marketplace.
Some members of the media portrayed Judge Jackson as someone that may have had a grudge against Microsoft. The facts imply that he started out with the fairly impartial attitude. It was Microsoft's frequent and blatant deception, and their inability to any admit guilt even when such guilt was proven, that frustrated the judge. This frustration was evident in some of the language that he used when he wrote his final opinions and findings.
If you have an interest in technology, business, or just like a good courtroom drama, then I think that you will enjoy this selection. It is insightful and written in style that holds your attention.
Rating:
Summary: Well researched and insightful.
Review: I purchased this title on a whim. Although I followed "the trial" as it was being reported in the media I did not find the proceedings, as they were described in the press, to be that interesting. I also knew that whatever happened, this case would be appealed and last for several more years. Consequently, I did not have high expectations for this book. I was pleasantly surprised to find out that this book was much more interesting and insightful that I had imagined. Auletta does an excellent job of describing the background, tactics, technical issues, personalities, and legal issues that surrounded this trial. Unlike other reports on the trial, he did not just encapsulate the events that took place in the courtroom. Instead, he spent considerable effort to research, then explain, events that went on behind the scenes - before, during, and after the trial.
The spin that was often portrayed in the media was that Microsoft was being victimized or punished just for being successful. The Microsoft media machine did an excellent job of promoting this view either through tactics such as full-page ads in newspapers or Gate's (and others) frequent appearances on television. While I have never been a big fan of Microsoft, part of me started to believe them. After reading this book however, any sympathy that I had for Microsoft, as it relates to the trial, has been erased. Auletta's recounting of the trial makes it clear that they used their monopolistic power to attempt to control or quash any company that threatened the market dominance of any of their core products. In short, they were unwilling to "play fair" and let the best products win in the marketplace.
Some members of the media portrayed Judge Jackson as someone that may have had a grudge against Microsoft. The facts imply that he started out with the fairly impartial attitude. It was Microsoft's frequent and blatant deception, and their inability to any admit guilt even when such guilt was proven, that frustrated the judge. This frustration was evident in some of the language that he used when he wrote his final opinions and findings.
If you have an interest in technology, business, or just like a good courtroom drama, then I think that you will enjoy this selection. It is insightful and written in style that holds your attention.
Rating:
Summary: Where's the reality distortion field???
Review: Just finished the book and really enjoyed it. Auletta had so much material to synthesize into his viewpoint that at times I found the reading laborious (Warden reading MSFT's arguments in court, etc.). After I was done I was struck by the absence of any discussion of "reality distortion fields." Everyone has heard that Steve Jobs "RDFs" people, and I found myself seeing the fingerprints of RDFing everywhere (Bill Gates' intransigence early on, Judge Jackson thinking Microsoft's general counsel was dumb, etc.). After I finished I was gratified, but I found myself wanting to read an article on "Reality Distortion Fields in WW 3.0". As I can't email Auletta, I thought I'd throw this idea up here in case he reads his reviews.
Rating:
Summary: Where's the reality distortion field???
Review: Just finished the book and really enjoyed it. Auletta had so much material to synthesize into his viewpoint that at times I found the reading laborious (Warden reading MSFT's arguments in court, etc.). After I was done I was struck by the absence of any discussion of "reality distortion fields." Everyone has heard that Steve Jobs "RDFs" people, and I found myself seeing the fingerprints of RDFing everywhere (Bill Gates' intransigence early on, Judge Jackson thinking Microsoft's general counsel was dumb, etc.). After I finished I was gratified, but I found myself wanting to read an article on "Reality Distortion Fields in WW 3.0". As I can't email Auletta, I thought I'd throw this idea up here in case he reads his reviews.
Rating:
Summary: It ain't over till it's over-MSFT vs US in exquisite detail
Review: Just when we were waiting for Microsoft to meekly split itself based on the outcome of the first landmark court decision, it looks like the software giant is racking up the points in what may be the most exciting appeals case in US history.
World War 3.0 couldn't have come at a better time. This book goes into background about Internet browsers, the internet itself and computer operating systems, a key point in the anti-trust lawsuit. And it does an equally thorough job of informing the reader about US anti-trust law. These details are essential to understanding the case against Microsoft, and they are presented here in a way that is detailed yet completely comprehensible.
This would be dry reading indeed if there were not also vivid descriptions of the players; Bill Gates, brilliant, visionary,self-absorbed and completely ill-equipped to play the high-stakes game of personality; the prosecutor, who has gotten himself the case of a lifetime and Judge Thomas Penfield Jackson, traditional and sober judge. What is surprising is how much Judge Jackson reveals in this book, as judges are notoriously close-mouthed.
The appeals process is now underway and it ain't over till it's over. If you want to be informed on a case that will literally affect the future of technology, it's well worth reading World War 3.0.
Rating:
Summary: Balanced but ultimately misses the point
Review: Ken Auletta is an excellent reporter, and here was able to obtain amazing access to the district court judge in the Microsoft case. Indeed, Judge Jackson gave long interviews with Mr. Auletta based on the judge's personal notes, and later was blasted by all of the Appeals Court judges for allowing this kind of access.
Mr. Auletta is generally very fair in recounting the events of the Microsoft trial, but he also is not a programmer and not a lawyer and not a business strategist and it shows. His grasp of some of the fundamental legal issues at stake is rather poor, and his failure to predict the reasoning of the eminently predictable appeals court (which had already ruled in favor of Microsoft) is a big problem with this book.
Part of the problem is that Mr. Auletta reported only on what he saw, and Microsoft to a large extent wasn't bothering to convince the district court judge of their case (they already felt they'd lose despite Judge Jackson's protests that he was impartial). Microsoft instead focused on setting up the right arguments to later win at the appellate level, which it now looks like they will do.
Mr. Auletta, for all his excellent reporting, ultimately misses Microsoft's deeper game plan, despite noting that the reason Microsoft hired the lawyers that it did was that they previously had one a large reversal at the appellate level for Kodak. He should have looked a bit further into the story, and paid less attention to the (albeit amusing) theatrics of the district court.
