Product Description

Apple Confidential examines the tumultuous history of America's best-known Silicon Valley start-up--from its legendary founding almost 30 years ago, through a series of disastrous executive decisions, to its return to profitability, and including Apple's recent move into the music business. Linzmayer digs into forgotten archives and interviews the key players to give readers the real story of Apple Computer, Inc. This updated and expanded edition includes tons of new photos, timelines, and charts, as well as coverage of new lawsuit battles, updates on former Apple executives, and new chapters on Steve Wozniak and Pixar.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #70720 in Books
• Published on: 2004-01
• Format: Illustrated
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 323 pages

Amazon.com Review
Owen Linzmayer's Apple Confidential is subtitled The Real Story of Apple Computer, Inc., and while nobody will ever know the complete, "real" story about Apple, Linzmayer's is probably as close as they come. Having covered Apple news since 1980, he offers extensive insider details about Steve Jobs, Steve Wozniak, John Sculley, Gilbert Amelio, Bill Gates, and other major players whose lives were (and are) intertwined with Apple's history. And along the way, we also learn about lesser-known figures whose stories have remained hidden in the Apple myth: Ronald Gerald Wayne, for example, who was actually a partner with Wozniak and Jobs in the original incarnation of the company, but who sold his share when he realized he would be financially vulnerable if it should fail.

Linzmayer's tale does have a few drawbacks. Because he mixes a chronological narrative with chapters that focus on key points in the Apple story, he sometimes repeats himself. Case in point: the chapter "Big Bad Blunders" makes a great record of Apple's failures, but the story of the exploding Powerbook 5300s is duplicated at later points. Nonetheless, Apple Confidential is rife with gems that will appeal to Apple fanatics and followers of the computer industry. Especially enjoyable are the revelation of "Easter eggs" that are hidden in several versions of the Mac operating system; the many screen shots, timelines, and telling quotes from Jobs, Gates, Wozniak and others that populate the margins and concluding sections of each chapter; the "Code Names Uncovered" section that makes public the monikers of several secret Apple projects; and Bill Gates's 1985 letter to John Sculley and Jean Louis Gassee pleading for Apple to license Mac technology and develop a "standard personal computer." --Patrick O'Kelley

From Library Journal
For your Mac community, you can't go wrong with these titles. Linzmayer's Apple Confidential is an unofficial history of Apple and a great read. Pogue's MacWorld Mac Secrets explains all the oddities about any Mac still in use, while his iMac guide follows the format of the "Dummies" series. Poole's MacWorld Mac OS 8.5 Bible completely explains Mac 8.5, the newest operating system upgrade.
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Review
"Apple Confidential 2.0 is by far one of the best books I have read on the subject." -- bityard, February 2004

"For the geekiest among us, who worship at The Altar of Macintosh ... this could be our Bible" -- Alaskan Apple Users Group, March 2004

"If you're a member of the Mac faithful or just moderately interested in [Apple], you simply must buy this book." -- MacDevCenter.com, April 27, 2004

"Linzmayer is an excellent writer ... his easy-to-read style will keep you turning the pages." -- About This Particular Macintosh, June 2004

"Linzmayer's entertaining and irreverent sense of humor makes it a real treat for anybody even remotely interested in the Mac." -- macteens.com, March 2004

"[a] book that every Apple enthusiast would enjoy reading" -- Northern Vermont Macintosh User Group, February 2004

"a cracking read ... not just for Mac aficionados" -- Herald Sun, June 9, 2004

"a frank and honest portrayal of the company and its cast of characters over the past 3 decades." -- Technology & Society, March 2004

"a must have purchase for the obsessive Apple fan" -- MacGuide, February 2004

"an enthralling read." -- PC Pro, May 2004

Customer Reviews

Great History of Apple
This is a great book that talks about the History of Apple Computer. I couldn't put it down and it was fun walk down memory lane of Apple computers and tech history.

Great reading
This book contains all the informations a mac lover like me need to know to understand how the Apple has born. This is a very nice reading for me, I've readed it in few days. Very good also the notes at the sides.
A must for all mac fanatics in the world. Thanks Owen. Luca.

Not too bad.
Don't just buy the book because you love Apple or the review is good. Go to local book store and see the book yourself first before buy one.