Customer Reviews

Return to the Little Kingdom: How Apple and Steve Jobs Changed the World

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Whatever the merits of this book, it's important to note that this is not really a new edition----it is merely the first edition with a new chapter added to each end. As such, there is really no detail about what went on at Apple from 1985 to the present. If you really want to read an up to date history of Apple, you must look elsewhere. This is actually stated in the book but not made clear in the presentation here on Amazon.

I was drawn to this book after reading the feature on it in FORTUNE Magazine. I am a HUGE fan of Apple, from the iPod to the iPhone to the Macbook that is my life. I love their products, their marketing and their vision, so it was really wonderful to read about the origins of the company - and its creator - in this captivating book. Michael Moritz used to be a journalist at TIME before going on to be a business hotshot (he helped launch Yahoo, Google, PayPal, etc, according to the book's bio), so it's no surprise that the book is so well written.

A must read for fans of business books or pop culture or tech history or just interesting books in general!

I'm a huge fan of Apple, Steve Jobs, and have been fascinated by the company for years, so the appeal of this book was that it would provide some amazing insights into the evolution of the company, but unfortunately it was disappointing.

As mentioned the book itself is a revised version of Michael Moritz's highly acclaimed 1984 book "The Little Kingdom: The Private Story of Apple Computer", the original book was fantastic and based on the title and description, I could not wait to get Moritz's insights into the way Apple evolved from the early years, learning more on Apple after Steve Jobs left and how the company learned from those experiences to re-establish itself as the premier technology company I know and love. Unfortunately the book is really just a reprint of the original with an additional 20 page epilogue about the period from 1984-today. If you are looking to learn about today's Apple and how it re-established its brand you'll be extremely disappointed.

The book itself is insightful about the infancy of Apple Computer and provides interesting insights into the key players of its success in the early days. At times it jumps around between scenes past and present in a manner that is not necessarily fluid and a bit difficult to follow. It does a good job discussing how a company goes from a start-up in a garage to an industry leader, as well as how the sheer strength of Steve Jobs' personality helped push the company further than anyone ever imagined.

All in all the book was interesting, but having read a number of books on the beginnings of Apple Computer I was much more interested in the rebuilding years and how the company reinvented itself, which to me is a far more compelling and insightful story, and I was really disappointed.

The book is so full of disjointed events that I can't even get through it. It read as if everything is random. If I try to piece the events of Steve Jobs based on each chapter, it didn't even make sense.

I was surprised to find out that in the early days of Apple it was not all about Jobs & Woz -- Michael Scott and Mike Markkula were MUCH more key to the early success than I ever realized.

I was surprised to find out how much of a sausage-factory Apple was. It turns out that great companies build great, innovative product in some ugly ways and that great companies make lots of mistakes on their way to success.

I was reading Mark Benioff's [...] book entitled "Inside The Cloud" at the same time and the thing that struck me in reading them side-by-side was how gutsy the founders of Apple and [...] were. Truly great companies take truly great risks. It is near impossible to build a great company without taking great risks.

The last chapter (epilogue) was particularly good. The author of the book is Michael Moritz, one of the world's best VC's. So, it was useful to see his big picture view of the company from 20 years later with lots and lots of experience under his belt.

Ironically, I took notes in my iPhone while reading the book and had about 20 takeaways on how I might manage my company better based on what I read.

The first chapter of the book and the last several chapters are fantastic. The middle chapters were just okay...if you are pressed for time, read the first chapter and then read the second half of the book.

Michael -- Thank you for doing a great job on this book and for being a major engine of our country's economic success.

I was about to give up on this book. The first 150 or 200 pages are really slow and the writer loses himself in providing too many technical details and specs about technology of that time. There were full paragraphs that you could just skip...and nothing would happen. But then at some point the story picks up, at the point where things about the company itself start to happen. And it is then when it becomes entertaining.

Overall, the book is ok and provides some good insights on Apple's first steps. BUt I would not say it is a must.

This book is more than a history of Apple's founding, but a character study on a successful innovator and businessman. It makes me wonder how much of success is hard work and luck, and how much comes from an innate tendency to push limits and follow your own way. While the tone is certainly journalistic, I still engaged with the characters and their progress as I would in a novel.

This books amkes your realize that although Jobs is a genius, he didn't do it alone. This is a great examination of a start up. Would make a great gift for the Apple fan in your life.

Can someone please shed light on the pricing? How is it possible that Kindle electronic version of this book costs more than the paperback? Since I haven't read any books on Steve Jobs so far, thought to give this one a read. Having seen the price tag on Kindle version, I'm tempted to order paperback edition.

As a proud Kindle owner, I just can't grasp the reason why a printed version, even low-cost paperback one, costs less than a couple of bytes to download to Kindle. This way I'm strongly discouraged from buying a Kindle book and going back to paper editions which in turn makes me sad to see my Kindle not being used while a book like this one is read.

Amazon please keep Kindle edition of the books the most affordable one. It makes no sense, to me at least, that the cost of electronic edition can possibly be higher than that of a physically printed book.

I hope this is not a trend and that this book is an exception.

A deep look at Apple's early days from one of the best VCs of the last two decades when he was a journalist. If nothing else, every entrepreneur should read the updated introduction and afterword.