High Noon, Karen Southwick
High Noon, Karen Southwick
List: $19.95 | Sale: $13.97
Club: $9.97

High Noon
The Inside Story of Scott McNealy and the Rise of Sun Microsystems

Author: Karen Southwick

Narrator: Sneha Mathan

Unabridged: 8 hr 55 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Published: 03/07/2011


Synopsis

In 1982, a little upstart named Sun was making waves in the hightech industry with its groundbreaking workstation technology, even as early competitors dismissed the company as not worth losing sleep over. Since then, Sun Microsystems has become a formidable presence in the industry, making its own rules and taking no prisoners, and is currently poised to reach the highest point of its ascendancythe challenge of Microsofts dominance over the future of computing. The driving force behind this once fledgling company is a man who has been described as brash, unconventional, ambitious, forwardlooking, and sometimes his own worst enemy. Scott McNealy turned Sun into the multibilliondollar success it is todaya developer of innovative software like Java that is revolutionizing the computing landscape. High Noon is the inside story of Suns rise to power, from its shaky start in Silicon Valley through its transformation under the aggressive and inspirational leadership of McNealy. Karen Southwick reveals the behindthescenes maneuverings of McNealy and Sun, with candid interviews from the key players and insights into the inner workings of the hightech industry. This book examines how scrappy underdog Sun overcame its larger and supposedly tougher competitors, combining hard work, tenacity, and talented people to build a more innovative and flexible company. Among High Noons revelations: * A new perspective on how the complex, contradictory McNealy shaped his company and fashioned its strategy * Insight into central issues facing the hightech industry, such as network computers and the future of the Internet * An insider view of the maneuverings of industry powerhouses, including Microsoft, Oracle, Netscape, IBM, and Intel * Both entertaining and instructive, High Noon offers valuable lessons for taking charge of your destiny and succeeding in a fastpaced, unpredictable, and even hostile environment

About Karen Southwick

Karen Southwick (1951–2004), a former editor of Upside magazine and Upside’s book division, was a managing editor for Forbes ASAP. She wrote High Noon and was a veteran journalist on the high-tech beat.


Reviews

Goodreads review by Kurt on September 07, 2018

I became interested in the culture of Sun after hearing a talk given by an ex-Sun employee, which lead me to read the farwell memo Scott McNealy wrote to his employees after Oracle agreed to purchase the company. The informal internal motto, "Kick butt and have fun," is in fact not a bad distillatio......more

Goodreads review by Metin on June 06, 2019

Written well. I don't get the negative reviews. Karen foresaw most of today's buzzwords from 2 decades away.......more

Goodreads review by Laurie on April 01, 2010

Read it 10 years ago, but remember I thought it had good insight into growing a business......more