Adam Lashinsky

This book provides a very interesting view inside Apple. Given the sources cited, it appears to be fairly accurate, but it would be impossible to tell for sure. The authors perspective on Apple products and the company seems pretty balanced. The only thing I'm not sure about are some of the conclusions he draws about the future of the company. He certainly is entitled to express an opinion, but I'm not sure I agree with it. He also portrays his opinion as if it were quite likely and agreed to by other pundits. Still, this was a good read.… (mere)

The theme was clear. Apple was dominated by Steve Jobs. The word most often used was narcissistic. The message was autocratic. He micromanaged to an amazing degree. Although the theme was repeated over and over, the text stayed interesting.

"There is no other field of human activity - including entertainment, sports, high fashion, or politics - which is so riddled by fads as business. ... At the least, the study of business history can prompt an executive to ask of each new 'solution' to problems that can never be solved but only managed: How really lasting is this approach, this idea, this company?" (Page 160)

"Geoffrey West, ... studies the life span of organizations. ... cities with few exceptions, never die. ... The exact opposite is true for companies, which not only tend to die, but behave like living organisms." (Page 172)

"Apple is a company of paradoxes. ..." (Page 175) and the author goes on to summarize some of the paradoxes.

An engrossing read.… (mere)

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Inside Apple by Adam Lashinsky is a non-fiction book which brings the reader into the behind the scenes world at Apple. Mr. Lashinsky, an editor-at-large of Fortune magazine (as the reader is reminded numerous times) seems to be the right person, with the right connections, for this book.

Even though I’m not an Apple fanboy, I barely owned two iPods in my whole life, I thought it would be interesting to read Inside Apple by Adam Lashinsky from a business point of view. There is no denying the great success of Apple, whether or not you own or enjoy their products is a different matter altogether, one of a personal preference.

Apple has fascinated many people, including myself, mainly because of the secrecy and tight control they have over their employees and facilities. This book, even though it also seemed tightly edited, is an entertaining and fascinating look into the company.

This book has something for everyone, whether you’re just reading it for entertainment purposes, a few new ideas for entrepreneurship, or just a fanboy. I realized that Apple’s brilliance was to merge fashion and technology (as well as stellar customer service and easy interfaces) and always wanted to know more about how the two, seemingly separate industries, merged in one company.

From the book I gathered that Apple is very secretive about it’s development, probably rightly so. If you are not working on some particular project, you simply don’t have access to it. As a supervisor, you could be locked out of rooms that your subordinates have access to – and that’s OK.
That’s the culture.

New employees, so I learned, are expected to already know how to hook up their brand new Mac computers when they join. If you don’t than you’re in the wrong job. That whole section seemed wrong to me for a company that prides itself on ingenuity and new ideas.
Don’t you want some outsider to come in with new ideas?

Most of the book is concentrated on the years after Steve Jobs returned to Apple in 1997. While not covering the beginning of the company like, Becoming Steve Jobs: The Evolution of a Reckless Upstart into a Visionary Leader by Brent Schlender & Rick Tetzeli, it does tell the reader much about the iPhone, a device which no doubt changed the world.

The book gives the reader much insight into Apple’s senior executives and the team that has been responsible for its continued success after Steve Jobs. I thought that these insights alone were worth reading the book.… (mere)