On the Firing Line: My 500 Days at Apple (Paperback)

~ (Author), William Simon (Author)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

It's hard to think of a company that has captured the public imagination as much as Apple Computer. The rise and fall of the business that single-handedly created the PC market and then let it slip away has been the fodder for several books, most notably Insanely Great by Steven Levy and more recently Jim Carlton's Apple: The Inside Story of Intrigue, Egomania, and Business Blunders. Now in On The Firing Line, former Apple CEO Gil Amelio tells his own story about his 500 days at Apple.

The book provides some insight into the significant events that occurred under Amelio's watch, such as Apple's failed in-house development of Copland, the search to license an operating system for the Macintosh, as well as details about those who would buy Apple including Sun Microsystems and Oracle. But the real focus of the book is Amelio's own frustrations in working with Apple's chaotic and undisciplined culture as well as Steve Jobs, the man who would eventually fire him. Although Amelio's account is at times overly self-serving, On the Firing Line is an interesting read that should interest most Macaholics. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Review

"A worthy addition to the growing body of history about the world'smost famous personal computing company." -- PC Week

"A fast-paced, heartfelt look at life as a Silicon Valley chieftain...Compelling." -- Peter Burrows, Business Week

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Product Details

• Paperback: 320 pages
• Publisher: Harper Paperbacks (April 7, 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0887309194
• ISBN-13: 978-0887309199
• Product Dimensions: 8.1 x 5.5 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8.8 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (40 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #1,296,165 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

30 of 34 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars A remarkable mix of pompousity, stupidity, and spite, January 26, 2000

By	Bowen Simmons (Sunnyvale, CA USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

On the plus side, there is a lot of unintential comedy in this book. Gil is very impressed with himself, as this from page 1 will show:

"Apple seemed a natural, considering my background as a Ph.D. technologist with a number of patents and my reputation as a business leader who had established a notable record for transforming ailing companies."

Whether this confidence was justified can be discerned in many places in the book, but I will always treasure this one from page 187:

"Solaris, on the other hand, is based on a programming language called Unix..."

For those not technical enough to be in on the joke, Unix is an operating system, not a programming language. While your average man-on-the-street might make this mistake, for a computer company CEO to make it is pretty funny/pathetic.

For those more into human emotion than technical humor, here is a lot of spite in here, mostly directed at Steve Jobs, as shown by this from page 269:

"The success I was creating threatened to get in the way of his plans. Betrayal, assassination, trashing of reputations are all part of the everyday tool kit of a person obsessed with power, control, or revenge."

Even as I type this I confess that I cannot even begin to imagine what success Gil is referring to: the billion dollar losses? the massive layoffs? the plunging sales?

As a bonus, the book has some fascinating contradictions. Take this from page 273, regarding the deal with Microsoft:

"Eager for a dramatic move, he [Steve] called Bill Gates and gave him the deal I wouldn't, handing over everything...But he failed to get the one essential element...Instead he settled for cash, a sum Microsoft could write a check for without blinking."

So Gil doesn't like the deal right? He thinks Apple got taken. But then there is this from the next page:

"It bristled me no end to read in the newspapers about Steve making a deal with Bill Gates, as if no groundwork had been laid"

Thus, we are left with the puzzling conclusion that Gil thinks it was a terrrible deal, and is very resentful that he got no credit for it.

To wrap up, I am conflicted about giving this book only one star, because there is genuine entertainment value in it, in much the same way that "Plan 9 from Outer Space" has entertainment value: as a dazzling bad instance of its type. Hopefully this review, independent of the rating, will give the reader a better idea as to whether or not this book is the type of reading material he will enjoy.

8 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Bedtime for Gil, August 18, 2001

By	Peter D Clark (St. Paul, MN USA) - See all my reviews

See Gil. See Gil run apple. See Gil get fired. Poor Gil.

This book has some interesting observations about apple culture, and a couple lessons for tech managers, but it's also full of self-congratulatory prose, with an occasional good dollop of self-pity. It's also written at around a 4th grade level - there were lots of opportunities for deeper analysis of what happened at apple, why Gil's strategies for turning the place around might have worked or might have failed, NeXT vs Be, and how apple changed as an organization. Unfortunately, Amelio and his co-author never delve into the details.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A wonderful read, and I can identify with it completely., May 7, 1998

By	Michael Murdock "DocMurdock" (Scottsdale, AZ USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This review is from: On the Firing Line: My 500 Days at Apple (Hardcover)

Having experienced first hand the deceit of Steve Jobs, I can personally identify with Gil on a number of fronts. Being the person that was offered the CEO position jokingly by Steve Jobs and Larry Ellison. The amount of power playing and wasting of resources at Apple that continues today under the 'leadership' of Mr. Jobs is staggering.

One of the main problems that Apple has, starting at the leadership is that there is no credit given to those that do the real work. Steve claims it all as his 'vision'. What it really is, is the ideas of people like me and Gil that make things happen. Steve is merely one that plays us as fools thinking we can make a difference. However, when the deck is stacked by people that have their own Billionaire Boys Club, attaining membership can be impossible.

Thanks Gil for bringing to light the truth about the interior of Apple. Hidden from the rest of us for so long. I personally appreciate it.

Michael E. Murdock