Customer Reviews

Pride Before the Fall: The Trials of Bill Gates and the End of the Microsoft Era

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PRIDE BEFORE THE FALL relays the trials of Microsoft from a different point of view than Auletta's account. Heilemann's access to the key players, many of whom are unknown to the general public and received nary a headline, is just excellent. If you're going to read only one book about the Microsoft trials, this is it.

Pride Before the Fall is an excellent account of a company brought to its knees as much by its megalomaniac founder Bill Gates, as by the brilliant David Boies and the DOJ. Yet with all the overwhelming evidence of its guilt as outlined in the Findings of Fact on the case, as well as the "avowedly pro-Microsoft economists, culled from a list provided by the company itself - who flayed the firm for not conceding the obvious: that it did indeed try to eliminate competitors; that it was indeed a monopoly." Yet astonishingly, to this day Microsoft continues to believe, in the words of its CEO Steve Ballmer, "We have done nothing wrong." HELLO? Heilemann is by no means a Silicon Valley Microsoft-Basher. He also chronicles the ways in which the valley's elite (Sun,Intel,Apple) clandestinely provided witnesses and encouragement for the DOJ's attack on Microsoft. This case really has nothing to do with inhibiting Microsoft's abillity to innovate(as their PR spin doctors would like you to believe)but rather Microsoft's behavior and lack of contrition. A good, quick and balanced read.

I've tired of explaining to people the Bill Gates/Microsoft monopoly to non-techies. I'm very surprised and happy of this writer's grasp of the core subject and lays it out in an interesting manner. Most books gloss over the "real" Bill Gates preferring to stick with his promotional machine's image but not this one.

This book was more than "based on" the Wired article, it was the Wired article. I read both the article and the book, and in my opinion there was very little added to the book. I would suggest buying the Wired Magazine that had this article, ... .

Excluding that, the book was well written and entertaining, but somewhat disappointing. The amount of access the author had provided great visibility into the trial, but I felt the author squandered that information. There was very little analysis, and often the author missed humorous/interesting snippets that other books/articles had picked up (e.g. in "The New New Thing" and Upside's news coverage of the trial).

This book felt more like a synapse or a chronology, and it left me wanting more...

Heilemann has done a fabulous job with this book. The Wired article was really gripping and the full length book is just as difficult to put down! It really makes you wonder what they're thinking in Redmond - at the end of the book I couldn't help feeling that Gates (as Heilemann presents him) seems a lot like Mr. Burns in the Simpsons episode where Lisa teaches him about recycling and he ends 'recycling' all the fish in the sea for livestock feed. He couldn't figure out why he was wrong and Gates seems to have the same difficulty.

This is an extraordinarily lucid, crisply-written account of the Microsoft trial and the circumstances leading up to it. Heilemann sets the scene with masterful depictions of the environment in Silicon Valley and especially at Microsoft, as well as of the various characters involved. Be aware, however, that this fascinating charting of Microsoft's rise to power and the complicated road to eventual government prosecution takes up almost 2/3 of the book. The subsequent trial scenes, while highly entertaining, may seem short by comparison.

Heilemann covered the case as a reporter and interviewed practically all the major players. The result is a balanced, even tale in which Heilemann remains mostly objective but is still able to comment critically and insightfully on the happenings. The story, even with its high level of depth, is propelled quickly by Heilemann's sophisticated writing, replete with erudite metaphors and colorful quotations.

Any recent books about the Microsoft case are handicapped to a certain degree because the appeals process is not over and a final remedy, yet to be determined. Still, this book provides an excellent foundation for understanding future developments in the case, as well as simply a great read. Heilemann truly makes the trial, and the world, of Microsoft, come alive.

This book puts out a lot of factual information while keeping the read interesting. I've used this in a college ethics class, and most students liked it. I know of an attorney's office that used it to familiarize their staff with the case.

The book is biased against Microsoft, but shows enough of their side that it doesn't come across as a shallow review. Lot's of interviews keep the book interesting.

The good news: this is a very well-written, very readable, entertaining take on the trial. The book grabs you.

The bad news: it's quite short, basically an expanded set of Wired magazine articles. I finished it all in two evenings, though they were two evenings devoted to the reading (as I said, it pulled me right in).

No superlative is adequate to describe the high quality of this incisive reporting. How did this author ever stitch all of this story together? Incredible sources, great insights, and to think Gates almost pulled off the monopolistic crime of the century! Thank you U.S. government for protecting us from this abuse. Thank you John for taking time out of your busy schedule to clue the rest of us in to how this proud giant was humbled, for his own good.

This book seems to me just an expansion of his issue-length Wired magazine cover story, which is available for free on-line. The article was terrific, but I'd save my money and get it for free.