I SING THE BODY ELECTRONIC

AnoutsiderisallowedintothelabyrinthtowatchaMicrosoftmultimediaprojectfromconceptiontopartialcompletion.IfyouareinterestedinunderstandingMicrosoft'sstrengths--andweaknesses--breakingintonewmarkets,thisisamust-readbook.--Thistextreferstoanoutofprintorunavailableeditionofthistitle.FreelancewriterMoodyspenttheyearfromDecember1992throughDecember1993withsixmembersofaMicrosoftunitthatwasdevelopingachildren'smultimediareferenceproductnamedSendak.Ashewasgivenvirtuallyunlimitedaccesstothegroup,Moodyisabletopresentaweek-by-weekaccountofthetrialsandtribulationsofeachteammemberastheytrytomakeSendakaviableproduct.IndescribingtheinnerworkingsofMicrosoft,Moodyrevealsacompanynotimmunetothecorporatepoliticsandpersonalityconflictsthatafflicthugecompanies,butonethatneverthelessiswillingtopushtheboundariesoftechnology,drivenbychairmanBillGates'sobsessionwithstayingaheadofthecompetition.Indeed,Moody'saccountsofmeetingswithGatesarecompelling.Afast-pacedreadthatdoesnotgetboggeddownintechnicaljargon,thebooksuffersfromoneflaw:SendakwasfarfromfinishedwhenMoody'syearwithMicrosoftwasup,sohedescribesitscompletionandlaunch?theproductwasshippedinNovember1994underthenameExplorapedia?inrelativelyfewpages.50,000firstprinting.