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Title: Hard Drive : Bill Gates and the Making of the Microsoft Empire by James Wallace, Jim Erickson ISBN: 0-88730-629-2 Publisher: HarperBusiness Pub. Date: 26 May, 1993 Format: Paperback Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $17.95 |
Average Customer Rating: 4.87 (31 reviews)
Rating: 5
Summary: A great book written by two very talented journalists
Comment: I had heard a lot about this book and I finally got around to reading it a while back and have to say that it was time well spent. Not only the book is a well versed discussion of how to succeed through hard drive, it is also a reflection and warning on how ambition, when unchecked, and an unbalanced life can turn into greed, complete paranoia and life driven by fear rather than the excitement of accomplishment. The book tries to be balanced and shows the evolution of a boy genius to a driven shrewd industry leader to a completely paranoid ego maniac. Not having any opinions of Gates when I started to read the book, besides the fact that he was a successful and driven person worthy of examination, I could not help but to admire him in his youth for his dedication and drive. By the middle of the book when Microsoft finally establishes itself in Bellevue, one sees the transformation of a workaholic and challenge driven person, to a paranoid almost parasitic individual, who surrounds himself with technologically unaccomplished little demons -- such as Steve Ballmer and Mike Maples -- who will do his dirty job for him and will fetch/steal and confiscate other people's hard earned technologies such as C-U-SeeMe, Go, Inuit, Borland technologies and even DOS etc. Paul Alan by this point is out of the picture suffering from cancer (probably from the guilt of being part of it all) and shunned by his old partner Bill. When one reads the account of Microsoft's attitude toward Lotus (putting bugs in DOS allegedly to break Lotus 123), one understands why Chairman Bill -- like Chairman Mao -- is being credited for transforming/destroying a culture, and according the the founder of Lotus creating a kingdom of the dead. By this time pity turns into complete dislike. Following Microsoft's recent attitude toward Java/Netscape/Inuit/3COM one is left but to wonder 1). where the heck has the justice department been upto now! and 2). will Xanadu be Citizen's Gates last place in history.
Rating: 5
Summary: GREAT BOOK... BUY OVERDRIVE AS WELL!
Comment: Bill Gates is by far the most successful man of our time and probably of all time. This book explains gates earlier life in depth. Who was Bill Gates before the billions? This is all explained in this book. Gates' incredibly driven personality was always present even in his earlier years. Gates is today undoubtedly the most feared man in the industry and thought of by many as the most powerful man in the world.
This book shows both sides of the man behind it all. Enemies and Allies alike are all shown in this book. He fought wars with Apple and IBM and had peace with people like his friend and partner in success Paul Allen and his mother. Is Gates really the "ruthless" billionaire as many consider him to be or a giving loving and gentle man as few people know? Well he's a little of both and the great insight that can be gained by many can be found here in this book.
I previously read a book about Bill Gates by Johanthan Gatlin and this book is far less indepth and much more for a quick read. HARD DRIVE is a book I highly recommend to those of you who are interested in knowing all about Gates. A little out date, this book was released before the release of Microsoft Windows 95 which in many ways brought Bill Gates up in power almost twice as much. At the time this book was written he was the richest in America. Presently he is the richest in the world. I reccomend going out and buying the sequal to this book "Overdrive" which I am about to do. VERY GOOD BOOK OVERALL. Go out and get your self a copy today.
Rating: 5
Summary: A Must Buy About the #1 Guy at the Pinnacle
Comment: Should I Buy This Book?
The story is starting to get a bit dated but the book still has 95% of the Gates story warts and all. He is one of the most compelling and admired and maybe feared business leaders today.
Unlike Jack Welch, another great leader and manager, he started from zero or near zero in a new field and (largely) owned the company. I remember seeing the personal computers for sale in the 70's - just pre Microsoft - that did not come with anything other than a very rudimentary software. He was one of the first people to recognize the dollar value of the software and to charge for its use in the hobby market. Since then he has dominated the market. Now there is a computer in virtually every office and home using his (expensive high margin) software. Now he has the resources to buy anything he wants, or to support any charity or university, or buy a sizeable portion of the stock in almost any company that he wishes. And of course he has no debt. He used no risky leverage or tricks. He took the software and generated billions of dollars in cash and securities on hand. It is quite the story.
This is a relatively short book and an easy read. Frankly it is a must read for anyone running their own business and or in the Tech field. Gates is the statistical anomaly who sits at the very pinnacle. He is perched even above Warren Buffet the financial guru who is at least 20 years older than Gates. But Gates was astute enough to buy DOS for $50,000. and then had the business smarts and drive to market and sell the product. He was a hands on manager working long hours and a technical leader. He was (is) as smart or smarter than anyone else in the field. He did not invent any major new invention but he had the practical ability to take the product to market and make it work, make it better, and build a winning business. He hired great people and built a team that literally crushed the opposition including IBM and all foreign competitors in that area. It is only now two decades later that people are (seriously) starting to consider alternatives such as Linux, and these still have a lot of catch up to do.
Still a great book and a great yarn. A must buy 5 stars.
Jack in Toronto
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Title: The Microsoft Way: The Real Story of How the Company Outsmarts Its Competition by Randall E. Stross ISBN: 020132797X Publisher: Perseus Books Group Pub. Date: 01 September, 1997 List Price(USD): $15.00 |
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Title: Overdrive: Bill Gates and the Race to Control Cyberspace by James Wallace ISBN: 0471180416 Publisher: John Wiley & Sons Pub. Date: 01 May, 1997 List Price(USD): $24.95 |
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Title: Gates: How Microsoft's Mogul Reinvented an Industry-And Made Himself the Richest Man in America by Stephen Manes, Paul Andrews ISBN: 0671880748 Publisher: Touchstone Books Pub. Date: 01 January, 1994 List Price(USD): $24.95 |
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Title: Bill Gates (A & E Biographies (Lerner Paperback)) by Jeanne M. Lesinski ISBN: 082259689X Publisher: Lerner Publications Pub. Date: 01 March, 2000 List Price(USD): $7.95 |
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Title: Business @ the Speed of Thought: Succeeding in the Digital Economy by Bill Gates ISBN: 0446675962 Publisher: Warner Business Books Pub. Date: 15 May, 2000 List Price(USD): $16.95 |
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