Book: West of Eden: The End of Innocence at Apple Computer [Paperback, Kindle]

All reviews so far are 5 stars. Its current rank on amazon is not huge.

The book is 372 pages. It is an older book that is being recirculated. The publish date is 2009 but two of the reviews are dated 1989 and 1990.

Time may have proven some of the contentions of the book wrong, but the history of what was going on at Apple is still the history. It might be interesting to compare the young Steve Jobs to the older Steve Jobs who took back his company.

Reviewer: This is a well written book that expertly envisions the story of Apple's early years. Rose provides an in-depth look at the people involved and draws out the fascinating stories that surround Apple's early existence. This is by far the most accessible and enjoyable account of Apple's founding. The only problem is that it was written in the early '90's and doesn't reach the amazingly entertaining last few years the company has gone through. If only Rose would write a sequel...

Reviewer Excerpt: To understand why bringing back Steve Jobs to save the day at Apple can only cause more misfortune, the reader only needs to turn to page 160 where Rose writes, "Andy was reading a book about Atari that had just come out, and when they were on their way to Florida he passed it on to Woz. As he read it, Woz learned something he didn't like: Years earlier, before they'd started Apple, when he was working at Hewlett-Packard and Jobs had gotten him to design "Breakout" for Atari for a fifty-fifty split, the fee wasn't $700, as Jobs had said, but $5,000."

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The contention of the book is that bringing Steve Jobs back would be a disaster but of course history has not proven that true. It doesn't consider that one of the larger stock holders in Apple would become Speaker of the House of the United States. It holds on to the belief that ruthless people eventually get what is coming to them in business, but it is the more ruthless people who tend to win at the end of the day. It does not consider the power of the media to turn people into being perceived as good people (regardless of whether they are or aren't) and turning them in to pop icons.

I don't mean to write that as putting Steve Jobs down. To some degree everyone has to look at Apple and be somewhat amazed and respectful that Apple didn't go the way of other Computer Companies that have bit the dust.

Book: West of Eden: The End of Innocence at Apple Computer [Paperback, Kindle]

Added Keywords: Computer, Tech, Business