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

Customer Reviews

High Noon is a thorough case study of this successful company, from its birth as the brainchild of Indian immigrant Vinod Khosla in 1982, through its rise under McNealy's brash and unconventional methods, to its current battle with Microsoft, which will undoubtedly change the landscape of the computer industry. This entertaining and instructive book reveals the behind-the-scenes maneuverings of McNealy and Sun, with candid interviews from the key players that provide insight into the inner workings of the high-tech industry.

High Noon will appeal to managers interested in applying Sun's innovative tactics to their own companies, as well as anyone intrigued by the compelling success story of this unique Silicon Valley company.

Karen Southwick of San Francisco, California has been writing about technology and Silicon Valley for more than a decade, first with San Francisco Chronicle, then Upside magazine and most recently, Forbes ASAP. She also authored Silicon Gold Rush.

I might have rated this four stars a few years ago. The only qualms are that the author should have presumed a more technical, computer-literate audience, and the audio quality was inferior (I listened to the unabridged Audible version).

Although the authors were not able to interview McNealy (he turned down their request), they do include intelligent observations about him and Sun from knowledgeable persons both within and outside Sun. Given the shallowness of McNealy's public comments and statements in other interviews to date (one suspects that he is finally learning to put a governor on his mouth), the omission is not noticeable.

It is rumored that Ms. Southwick is in the process of preparing a similar volume about Oracle and Larry Ellison. If so, it will be a welcome improvement over the swill (e.g., "The Oracle of Oracle" by Florence Stone) that has been published about them to date.

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