The central message of the book is that consumer software stinks because you, the consumer, buy it anyway and don't hold vendors responsible. Software intended for the general public has been so lousy for so long that people have become accustomed to it, even to the point of making apologies for the vendors. The author gives a reasonable amount of background on several aspects of software quality (technical, legal, business), some steps to take, and mentions a few resources.
The book is more about raising the level of awareness of the issue than about helping you deal with any particular bug though. Nothing will happen until there is a major change in public opinion.
Kudos for illustrating how the semi-technical press (PC Magazine and the like) contribute to the problem.
Although the author has the big picture right there are too many details wrong in his superficial presentation of the software development process for me to recommend the book enthusiastically. Nonetheless much that is in this book will probably be a revelation to the general public and so what really matters is that the big picture is right.
The resource section could have been a lot more directly useful, and should have a web site backing it. But there are some useful pointers.
Minasi correctly argues that companies could (and should) produce much better software than they do. Quality goes out the window because industry dynamics favor big liars--companies that continually promise new and better features, but instead ship bug-ridden monstrosities.
As Minasi realizes, this pattern will continue unless consumers and/or legislators act to stop it. Companies will only act to improve their software if they are given sufficient motivation to do so. Such "motivation" might include lawsuits, consumer boycotts, or what have you. But for the moment, the odds are stacked very much in the industry's favor.
My only real complaint is with the title. The word "conspiracy" suggests that the book was written by some kind of flake or crank. That is definitely not the case. I hope the title doesn't give Microsoft, Sun, et. al. a good excuse to dismiss the book and its author.