Wall Street Journal
reporter Bank charts the downward spiral of Microsoft's public image: over the past five years, the company went from fearless New Economy pioneer to a predator vilified by its competitors and brought to trial in a landmark antitrust action. For those hungry to know how golden boy Bill Gates could end up looking like a defensive old-school monopolist, Bank has provided a hard-hitting yet evenhanded account. Interviews with all the major players from Gates on down (along with texts of flaming e-mails that singed the wings of such loyal allies as Ben Slivka and Brad Silverberg) lend support to Bank's argument that the debate within Microsoft over competing Windows and Internet strategies set the stage for the public spectacle of the trial and the mass exodus of talented employees. Rich and juicy details of internal company squabbles cast an unnerving dysfunctional-family pall over the Microsoft story at times. (Gates, unable to get his usual way with someone, once mused, "Something happens to a guy when his net worth passes $100 million.") Yet Bank's broad industry knowledge leads him to provocative conclusions that resonate beyond the story of a single company. Pointing out that Intel and Cisco also faced antitrust challenges but were able, through savvy negotiation, to escape the public relations disaster that come with a trial, he argues that although Gates understood the value of interoperability imposed by the Internet, he held on too long to his determination to maintain a long-term lock over his customers. (Aug.)
