Hands-On Book Review--"Apple Confidential 2.0" by Owen Linzmayer
"Let me start off right up front with the bottom line: Apple Confidential is one terrific book. Even if you are not a user of the best ever personal computing operating system and hardware technology, you will find the book hard to put down."
This, of course, applies to Apple Confidential 2.0: The Definitive History of the World's Most Colorful Company as well, even though version 2.0 is significantly revised. It has over 60 pages of new material and hundreds of new photos, quotes, illustrations and timelines. Version 1.0 left off in 1999 with Apple's business rising, saved by the iMac, and the introduction of Mac OS 9. The new version adds material through 2003.
The additional material is not found in just a few additional chapters but throughout the book with illustrations that have been brought up to date. The book follows Steve Jobs into NeXT and Pixar and adds what has happened to Pixar as well as Apple. The timeline for Macs is extended through the Power Mac G5 and iBook G4. Covered also is the release of the iPod and the iApps.
Apple Confidential 2.0 generally moves forward from the origin of Apple Computer in Steve Jobs' bedroom, not the family garage, but it is not written as a strict timeline through the chapters. It pauses on topics which are covered from their origin through today, like the Copeland project to develop the next generation Mac OS, ultimately turning out Mac OS X. There are special topic chapters like the 1984 Super Bowl ad for the Macintosh. Each of Apple's CEOs, Jobs, John Sculley, Michael Spindler and Gil Amelio is treated with their own chapter.
All in all, Apple Confidential 2.0 is an outstanding book for Macophiles and non-Macophiiles alike. It is a joy to read and we highly recommend it. Version 2.0 builds so significantly on 1.0, that we even recommend it to those who have already read v1.0. [Apple Confidential 2.0: The Definitive History of the World's Most Colorful Company by Owen M. Lintzmayer, 2004, No Starch Press, MSRP $19.95 ($13.97 from Amazon.com)]
Saw something? Send a tip
The archive ran on reader tips. What did you see, where, and do you want the credit?