Speeding the Net: The Inside Story of Netscape and How It Challenged Microsoft [Hardcover]

Joshua Quittner (Author), Michelle Slatalla (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: May 1998

Combining the hacker savvy of Tracey Kidder's Soul of a New Machine with the riveting drama of the first great corporate conflict waged on the turf of cyberspace, Speeding the Net is the story of how a crew of talented computer jocks at the University of Illinois turned the computer world upside down by creating the essential tool for navigating the World Wide Web -- the web browser.

They created it for fun, but after Silicon Valley visionary and entrepreneur Jim Clark showed up in the middle of a snowstorm and hired them on the spot, they were soon part of one of the most dramatic initial public offerings (IPOs) in the history of Wall Street, had built their company into a dollar 2.2 billion business, and were forcing Bill Gates's Microsoft to reevaluate its entire business strategy. Speeding the Net gives an inside account of the ensuing cat and mouse game between Netscape, which held an early lead in the so-called "browser wars", and Microsoft, which has always been notorious for zeroing in on its opposition -- and crushing it. Win, lose, or draw, however, Netscape's corporate culture of speed -- developing new programs and bringing them to market in under six months, then giving them away for free -- has already transformed the way Silicon Valley does business and the way the world communicates.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

Speeding the Net is a thrilling read, and Quittner and Slatalla revel in their storytelling. The excitement and informality of the early browse-design sessions is apparent and infuses the book with a dynamic, raucous energy. The book tells the story of the creation of the Mosaic browser, the precursor to the wildly successful Netscape Navigator. Speeding the Net presents a thorough and compelling history of the programmers and business minds behind Navigator. Along the way, the authors also place ongoing developments in context: the universality (up until the explosion of the Web) of LANs, the creation of Microsoft's Internet Explorer, the release of Java by Sun Microsystems. Speeding the Net is the best of all worlds: part biography, part primer on Web history, and part journal of the history of an infamous and revolutionary start-up company. --Jennifer Buckendorff

From Library Journal

Once in a while, during the short history of personal computers, a "killer app" (application) comes along that becomes the standard by which all others are judged. Perhaps the most dazzling killer app of the decade was Netscape, the graphical World Wide Web browser that set Microsoft, formerly an Internet laggard, on its ear. In the virtual milieu of cyberspace, Netscape's Mark Andreessen played David to the hulking Microsoft goliath, forcing Bill Gates to reevaluate his company's entire business strategy. Now, with Microsoft having gained a substantial share of the web technology marketplace, and despite being hounded by the Justice Department for its business practices, is Netscape doomed? This work is a fast-paced account of the most significant revolution in communications technology in decades. Quittner, of Time magazine, and coauthor Slatalla describe Netscape's amazing rise to prominence, its decision to go public, and its most recent positioning to shake up the marketplace once again. Highly recommended for business technology collections.?Joe Accardi, Northeastern Illinois Univ. Lib., Chicago
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 323 pages
• Publisher: Atlantic Monthly Pr; 1st edition (May 1998)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0871137097
• ISBN-13: 978-0871137098
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 6.3 x 1.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.3 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (19 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,385,916 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars An Exiciting Ride February 20, 2001

By Daphne Press

Format:Hardcover

Given the first two thirds of this book, it could be called "The Inside Story of Netscape." The last part of the book gives a good overview of the war between Netscape and Microsoft. There is a lot of good information about how the whole Internet craze began. It's an exciting ride.

The book gives great insight to Netscape's side of the story. It takes a bit to get into it because each new player has to be introduced, where he or she began, and brought up to the present. There are quite a few players. So you might lose your place in the story if you put the book down too long. But hang in there. The story is exciting and moves along. You will find yourself rooting for those young programmers and hoping they make it.

I can't wait to read the sequel.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars A good read for just about everyone September 1, 1999

By A Customer

Format:Hardcover

The book gives interesting details about every person remotely involved in the making of Netscape (and Mosaic), and although it's non-fiction, it's exaggerated and humorous enough to be entertaining. You definitely get your money's worth. Oh, and it's educational, too!

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Wonderful! April 18, 2000

By Carey A. Holzman

Format:Hardcover

This is a great book! This is my generation and I wish I was a part of this exciting company in it's hay-day. I found it hard to put this book down since the story was written in such a way that actually got my adrenalin pumping. These guys were doing what they loved to do, were dedicated to getting it done regardless of the hours and were all paid handsomely in reward. I hope some day to be part of such an exciting company.