I read Fred Vogelstein’s excerpt from Dogfight in the New York Times Magazine a few months ago and knew I wanted to read the whole book. My students are obsessed with smartphones and Dogfight tells the story of how APPLE and GOOGLE started out cooperating (their mutual competitor was Microsoft) but then became competitors in the smartphone market. Readers will come away with plenty of understanding of how the iPhone was developed (a fascinating story!). But the development of the Android operating system is even more amazing. Vogelstein keeps the complicated stories moving and seldom gets bogged down in techie details. I’ve decided to use Dogfight next semester in my MARKETING MANAGEMENT course. It’s a wonderful case study of how consumer products are developed and marketed. If you have any interest in APPLE and GOOGLE, you’ll find plenty of stories in Dogfight to ponder. GRADE: A-
It does sound interesting. I’m comparatively low tech: smart phone that is rarely used, laptop and desktop computers just as tools, no social media except blogging, no pad/tablet, no “apps” – mini-programs as opposed to full applications, what we used to call “programs”, used to run software/firmware – in other words I use the minimum tech to complete necessary tasks. However the tales behind the tech wars of various kinds are of interest, from the early days (Apple, Microsoft) to the stories of companies like Sun Computer or Netscape.
Rick, I found DOGFIGHT fascinating. The stories behind the stories are always compelling. Vogelstein gives a clear picture of the competition between APPLE and GOOGLE. The war between the two companies isn’t over yet!