Book Club: Inside Apple

Rene Ritchie

Old Man Ritchie
Jan 12, 2007
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Inside Apple goes on sale tomorrow. We're giving away 3 copies on the front page, but no matter how you get it, get and then come back here and we'll start discussing it!

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Inside Apple is a new book from Fortune's Adam Lashinsky that aims to reveal some of the secrets behind the success of America's premiere consumer electronics company -- Apple. Lashinsky wasn't given the access that Walter Issacson was given for the Steve Jobs biography, but he did lots of interviews and paints a compelling portrait of one of the most secret companies in recent history. How much of the Apple magic he ultimate manages to expose is anyone's guess, but for Apple enthusiasts and business students alike, it certainly looks like a must read.





INSIDE APPLE reveals the secret systems, tactics and leadership strategies that allowed Steve Jobs and his company to churn out hit after hit and inspire a cult-like following for its products.



If Apple is Silicon Valley's answer to Willy Wonka's Chocolate Factory, then author Adam Lashinsky provides readers with a golden ticket to step inside. In this primer on leadership and innovation, the author will introduce readers to concepts like the "DRI" (Apple's practice of assigning a Directly Responsible Individual to every task) and the Top 100 (an annual ritual in which 100 up-and-coming executives are tapped a la Skull & Bones for a secret retreat with company founder Steve Jobs).



Based on numerous interviews, the book offers exclusive new information about how Apple innovates, deals with its suppliers and is handling the transition into the Post Jobs Era. Lashinsky, a Senior Editor at Large for Fortune, knows the subject cold: In a 2008 cover story for the magazine entitled The Genius Behind Steve: Could Operations Whiz Tim Cook Run The Company Someday he predicted that Tim Cook, then an unknown, would eventually succeed Steve Jobs as CEO.



While Inside Apple is ostensibly a deep dive into one, unique company (and its ecosystem of suppliers, investors, employees and competitors), the lessons about Jobs, leadership, product design and marketing are universal. They should appeal to anyone hoping to bring some of that Apple magic to their own company, career, or creative endeavor.
 

Rene Ritchie

Old Man Ritchie
Jan 12, 2007
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I'm enjoying it so far. I'm only on Chapter 4 but so far I'm finding it more interesting than the Steve Job bio. The story about Jobs talking to Yahoo! was great. And sad.
 

Rene Ritchie

Old Man Ritchie
Jan 12, 2007
2,115
355
0
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And I just finished Inside Apple. I listened to it on Audible and it was a much faster read than the Steve Jobs bio.

I liked it quite a bit. I don't know how accurate the information is, but it paints a pattern that's interesting if not compelling. I think the central thesis may not have been stated or stuck to strongly enough, and so the conclusion didn't build as naturally and inevitably as it could have.

For Apple enthusiasts, however, and for business people and especially entrepreneurs interested in Apple and Steve Jobs, it's a must read.

Simplify. Simplify. Simplify.
 

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