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Hard Drive: Bill Gates and the Making of the Microsoft Empire by James Wallace: Product Description
The true story behind the rise of a tyrannical genius, how he
transformed an industry, and why everyone is out to get him.In this fascinating exposé, two investigative reporters trace the hugely successful career of Microsoft founder Bill Gates. Part entrepreneur, part enfant terrible, Gates has become the most powerful — and feared –…read more“.
Hard Drive: Bill Gates and the Making of the Microsoft Empire: Customer Reviews
In a review on July 22 entitled Setting standards is the key to winning, jhariman wrote, “This book was written in 1992 and covers only Microsoft’s first 15 or so years but these were the most interesting and the most instructive in terms of lessons for the wealth creator. There are now many Gates’ biographies, but Hard Drive: Bill Gates and the Making of the MIcrosoft empire, written by two Seattle journalists still gives the best insights into the early years of Microsoft and what it was like to work under its CEO. Later, after Microsoft had relocated to Seattle to be nearer Gates’ parents, he confessed to a fellow programmer his two ambitionsd; to design software that would make a computer easy enough for his mother to use and build a company bigger than his dad’s law firm. Today, powering 90% of the world’s PC’s, Windows may have revolutionised PC, but marketing played a vital part in its establishment as the industry standard. Last but not least, what really set Gates apart was the boldness of his vision-”A computer on every desk, and Microsoft software in every computer”-and his natural brilliance as a businessman.” This reviewer gave Hard Drive: Bill Gates and the Making of the Microsoft Empire a 5 star rating.
On March 13, this reviewer said: “This book will give you a great understanding regarding how Bill Gates became what he is today. From the High School days with Paul Allen, developing the first Computer code for a PC at Harvard, the move away from the association with Altair (and the floundering founder), the move to Redmond, buying the DOS program and outsmarting IBM, it is an informative and fascinating read.” This person named their review Great Biography and they gave Hard Drive: Bill Gates and the Making of the Microsoft Empire a 5 star rating.
On February 24, this reviewer said: “This book was extremely detailed. It told from what courses he studied in college, to the small summer jobs he had while at Lakeside.” This person named their review Very Detailed and Descriptive Book and they gave Hard Drive: Bill Gates and the Making of the Microsoft Empire a 5 star rating.
On February 19, this reviewer said: “This book is wonderful reading. Of course, I like Bill Gates and this makes it more interesting. The reader will find himself wanting to continue reading the book through without putting it down. Great Job, Well written, Very Interesting!!!!” This person named their review Very enlightning and they gave Hard Drive: Bill Gates and the Making of the Microsoft Empire a 5 star rating.
In a review on August 11 entitled Hard Drive is No Mega-Flop, But Not Amazing Either, doug876249 wrote, “This is a decent book on how Bill Gates and his business team built the Microsoft empire. The good aspects of this book include the following:
* The emphasis on how Microsoft was not built in a day but with many, many long days and lots of innovative thinking. This book illustrates how hard Gates worked.
* The portrayal of how relentlessly competitive and ambitious Gates is, be it at efficient programming, dominating the various software markets, studying higher mathematics or playing poker with his buddies.
* The specific details of the growth of Microsoft, as a company, up until the time of the book’s publication.
* The implicit theme of how Gates never stops thinking.
Unfortunately, there are several aspects of this book that I disliked. These include the following:
* The writing is repetitive and often very stream-of-conscious. This book reads like a 250-300 page book diluted into a 400 page book.
* There is a lot of negative commentary about Gates’ personality. First, this negative illustration seems to be done without providing the proper context. Gates is often portrayed as very immature. In this book, Gates is described as frequently issuing direct attacks on the intelligence of his employees during meetings and in private communication. He is also portrayed as immature through negligence, such as when he, presumably inadvertently, left his dirty laundry thrown about on a hotel floor for a top executive of his company to collect.
Although these incidents may be true, the authors should have emphasized that Gates is an enormously successful executive who is *only* in his twenties. While this does not excuse the described behavior, it does provide context for it. Needless to say, these immature outbursts would be appalling if they were committed by a seasoned executive in his early sixties.
More generally, this image of Gates conflicts with the image I gathered of him through other means. A friend of mine who worked at Microsoft described Gates as routinely hosting interns in his mansion for dinner, magnanimously forgiving a new employee who accidentally dented his car and graciously answering a personal e-mail concerning the artwork in his home. The Gates I have heard of through my friend, and the one who runs the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, does not fit the mold of the Gates described in this book.
I am not challenging the veracity of the information contained within, I am just surmising that the negatives sound like a few bad habits that Gates may have grew out of. ” This reviewer gave Hard Drive: Bill Gates and the Making of the Microsoft Empire a 3 star rating.
Based on all 45 reviews, the Hard Drive: Bill Gates and the Making of the Microsoft Empire has achieved an average rating of 5.0 STARS out of 5!
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