One doubts if the word "begrudgery" exists in the lexicon of the United States of America. Americans adore success and celebrate it in a way the natives of this country cannot comprehend.
In the US, it's money that counts, not the fields in which the money is made. Some would have problems with equating Michael Jordan with Ernest Hemmingway in the contribution-to-American-culture stakes, but the democratisation of renown can be refreshing.
In the Land of the Free, business success is happily acknowledged with people such as Bill Gates, Lee Iacocca and Warren Buffet enjoying the limelight alongside Hollywood and locker room greats.
In In the Company of Giants Candid Conversations with the Visionaries of the Digital World (McGraw-Hill, £19.45) Rama Dev Jager and Rafael Oritz seek the wisdom of the men who have carved large fortunes and serious reputations out of the electronics industry.
They bring together interviews with, among others Bill Gates (Microsoft), Steve Jobs (Apple founder, Apple Refugee and now putative Apple saviour), Michael Dell (Dell) and Bill Hewlett (Hewlett-Packard) among others. This week's announcement of an alliance between Apple and Microsoft means Mr Jobs and Mr Gates will be working closer together.
In the book, the authors ask each man what the secret of their success is, what advice could they give fledgling entrepreneurs and what would they do differently (if anything).
The answers are simple, direct and, seemingly, glaringly self-evident. All emphasise the need to seize a gap in the market, to treat the customer as king, the need for team-work, the importance of hiring the right staff, the ability to be flexible and seriously hard work. Above all, they emphasise the necessity of remaining resolutely focused on the final goal.
In this relentlessly upbeat book there are occasional glimpses of disharmony, notably from Apple's Steve Jobs. He co-founded Apple with Steve Wozniak and grew it into the darling of the PC users.
However, Jobs got involved in a row with John Sculley, recruited from Pepsi as chief executive officer, which he lost and left the company to form NeXT, which was subsequently bought by Apple. Jobs' invective regarding Sculley and the corporate culture fostered under his reign jars with his we're all-in-it-together clubbiness. More of that kind of stuff would have nicely spiced up the fare.
This is a well-crafted offering, providing a sketch of what drives some of the biggest names in the PC/software industry. The potted biogs at the start of each interview are useful, but you wish for more in-depth stuff.
