2 x Book Reviews

I’ve been reading books at a rate of knots recently and the two most recent are:

High Stakes No Prisoners - A Winners Tale of the Internet Wars



and

Showstopper! - The Race to Create NT



Showstopper is a book about how Bill Gates recruited Dave Cutler from Digital and asked him to head development of the next Windows Operating System, Windows NT. This book is very well written, exciting and moves at a good pace. Although the subject matter (NT) is old, the lessons learned are still applicable today. Dave Cutler was an old school coder, a macho tough guy who made things happen and pushed NT through to release over 5 years and $150 million dollars. Deadlines, politics, bugs and in-fighting - it’s all here. This is for anybody interested in Microsoft, Software or just likes to read about a huge struggle and a triumphant ending. Recommended.

High Stakes No Prisoners is a different kind of book. It chronicles the story of Vermeer, the company that created Frontage and went on to sell to Microsoft within two years for $140 Million dollars. Written by Charles Ferguson (founder of Vermeer), he pulls no punches in his descriptions of the people and the events that surrounded his successful startup. Sometimes it seems to me that Mr Ferguson and his ego got in the way of a good story a bit, but overall it’s reasonably well written and entertaining enough to be read over a weekend. Interesting and detailed but maybe not that relevant anymore.

"If you do not wish to be prone to anger, do not feed the habit; give it nothing which may tend to its increase." - Epictetus

Book: boo hoo

This is an excellent read. I’ve just read this over the bank holiday weekend. boo hoo tells the story of the rise and fall of boo.com and how $135million dollars was raised and spent in 18 months. An excellent read for anybody interested in the dotcom ‘boom and bust’ saga.

“Well, he’s kind of had it in for me ever since I accidentally ran over his dog. Actually, replace ‘accidentally’ with ‘repeatedly,’ and replace ‘dog’ with ‘son.’ - Lionel Hutz

Zen: Systems Analysis

I have just finished reading a book that I have been reading on and off for the last few months (it lived in my overnight bag and got read in hotel rooms when the bar was shut and the TV was shit, it’s been dragged around a few countries and is looking slightly worse for wear ... ). Its called Zen and the Art of Systems Analysis by Patrick McDermott.

If you fancy a light hearted and possibly spiritual look at what is a normally a very dry and logical subject then give this book a whirl. Some of the quotes are excellent. I have listed a few of these below:

Choose the Middle Way.
Embrace Contradiction.
There are many ways to the Mountaintop.
Over time, Unpleasant tasks become more unpleasant, but difficult tasks become less difficult.
To get to the root cause, ask “Why” five times.
Never base a Technical Decision on Political Issues and never base a Political Decision on Technical Issues.
Never let not knowing what you are doing stop you !
Try to walk in everyones shoes.
Always analyse from at least two angles.
Don’t let precision prevent clarity.
One who has never erred is dangerous.
The goal of brainstorming is quantity not quality.
If it is not recorded, it did not happen.
Windows XP is an abortion. (sorry, made that one up ☺ )

There’s plenty more quotes in the book and it’s a fascinating read. Try It !

"What's money? A man is a success if he gets up in the morning and goes to bed at night and in between does what he wants to do." - Bob Dylan