Piloting Palm: How the Palmpilot Team Defied the Odds, Humbled Microsoft, and Launched A B

With over six million sold in four years, the tiny PalmPilot handheld computer has been absorbed into America's bloodstream faster than any product in history--faster than TV, telephone, or even the PC. The simplicity, elegance, and marathon battery life of the charming device continue to win another 1,000,000 devoted converts every three months. Behind the PalmPilot is a tiny startup company, Palm Computing, and one of the most astonishing tales of modern business. In an era when other Silicon Valley startups had no profits but made millionaires of their employees, Palm's phenomenal success made millionaires of almost no one. "Piloting Palm "is the first book to tell the full story. It's a tale that lays bare the shocking shortsightedness of today's high-tech power brokers--both the manufacturers whose clunky handhelds flopped in the marketplace, and the venture capitalists who shunned Palm because its prototype wasn't enough "like "those doomed palmtops. This is the tale of Jeff Hawkins, a young, idealistic hardware engineer whose long-term plan is to build the first electronic human brain. And it's the story of that rarest of beasts: a company that was targeted for extinction by Microsoft--and survived. The authors--Andrea Butter, whose years as Palm marketing executive give her an extraordinary insider's vantage point, and David Pogue, whose "PalmPilot: The Ultimate Guide "is the number one bestselling technical guide to the PalmPilot--offer three irresistible attractions for students of business or technology: a great story, filled with unforgettable characters; a behind-the-scenes glimpse at a Silicon Valley legend, warts and all; and business insights that can beapplied to any industry.