Infinite Loop
by Michael Malone

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Book Reviews of Infinite Loop

Book Review: A Cautionary Tale of Vision and Character
Summary: 4 Stars

The first part of Malone's thesis is that people like Jobs, and his clones Larry Ellison, Bill Gates, etc., may be arrogant, self-centered, and borderline sociopaths, but they are just as important for the growth of hi-tech as are the geeks who actually design the technology. Many people see the Steve' Jobs' of the world as parasites who become fat and rich on the backs of the designers and programmers who do the "real work." Malone convincing shows the fallacy of this thinking. Jobs is described as a liar, a cheat, and a back-stabbing, vindictive, flim-flam artist. Yet without Jobs, there would have been no Apple Computer regardless of Wozniak's technical brilliance.

The second part of Malone's thesis that what while vision is enough in the short term, it takes character to keep a company alive through the long run. The really successful company needs a leader such as HP's David Packard, with whom Jobs is implicitly compared, who had both. Although Malone presents many reasons for Apple computer's fall from grace, it boils this: although Jobs may have had vision, he had no character and his successors may have had more character, but they had no vision.

This book should be read, not just as a story about Apple Computer, but as a cautionary tale about the importance of leadership, character and that ethereal notion of "vision." Malone believes that Jobs could have found another Wozniak more easily than Wozniak could have found another jobs. As the German's say, "there's no point in running fast if you are headed in the wrong direction."

At a more factual level, the book is a fascinating story of greed and deceit and of what might have been. There are many anecdotes about small decisions, missteps, and serendipity which drastically altered the course of the personal computer industry. For example, If Jobs had not cheated Wozniak out of his share of the money for creating the "Breakout" game, Wozniak have had enough money to buy the 8080 he wanted instead of having to settle for the cheaper 6502 for his Apple I design. Then Apple, not Microsoft would be ruling the computer world, and I'd be writing this review on a much better machine!

No review of Infinite Loop, however, would be complete without noting some annoying aspects of the book. There are many, many typos, misplaced words, etc. In addition, although the book tells the story chronologically, it sometimes slides backwards and forwards in time 6 months or a year without warning, leaving the reader a bit confused and disoriented. Still, Malone is an excellent writer with some witty turns of phrase. For all its minor problems, the book is still a great read.

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