In Search of Stupidity:
Over 20 Years of High-Tech Marketing Disasters
Book Review

By Dale Farris, Vice President Golden Triangle PC Club July 2004 General Overview "In Search of Stupidity" is National Lampoon meets Peter Drucker. It's a funny and well-written business book that takes a look at some of the most influential marketing and business philosophies of the last 20 years, and, through the dark glass of hindsight, provides an educational and vastly entertaining examination of why they didn't work for many of the country's largest and best-known high-tech companies. Make no mistake: most of them did not work. Marketing wizard Richard Chapman takes readers on a hilarious ride in this book, which is richly illustrated with cartoons and reproductions of many of the actual campaigns used at the time. Filled with personal anecdotes spanning Chapman's remarkable career (he was present at many now-famous meetings and events), In Search of Stupidity is a no-holds-barred look at the best of the worst hopeless marketing ideas and business decisions in the last 20 years of the technology industry. Merrill Chapman has an answer to why so many so-called excellent high-tech companies crashed and burned, or underwent painful and wrenching trauma. He believes that high-tech companies periodically melt down because they fail to learn from the lessons of the past and thus make the same completely avoidable mistakes again and again. His super book chronicles high-tech marketing errors from the past to the present, so that we can all move on to create new and unique catastrophes of our very own. You will enjoy learning as you examine exhibits of some of the worst high-tech marketing collateral and programs ever created. Table of Contents The eleven (11) chapters include the following: 1)   Introduction 2)   First Movers, First Mistakes: IBM, Digital Research, Apple, and Microsoft 3)   A Rather Nutty Tale: IBM and the PC Junior 4)   Positioning Puzzlers: MicroPro and Microsoft 5)   We Hate You, We Really Hate You: Ed Esber and Ashton-Tate 6)   The Idiot Piper: OS/2 and IBM 7)   Frenchman Eats Frog, Chokes to Death: Borland and Philippe Kahn 8)   Brands for the Burning: Intel and Motorola 9)   From Godzilla to Gecko: The Long, Slow Decline of Novell 10) Ripping PR Yarns: Microsoft and Netscape 11) Purple Haze All Through My Brain: The Internet and ASP Busts Target Readers Author Merrill provides incisive, witty information that is packed with detail and is very funny. This is an essential book for anyone who wishes to understand what companies do to fail, and who wants to know what they can do to avoid yesterday's mistakes again, and who desperately desires to never see their company profiled in a sequel. This is an important book that chronicles many of the past marketing and software program failures in the high-tech world of computers. Author Merrill takes readers through many interesting tales of woe and mistakes in the information technology business, and even integrates some of Microsoft's own mistakes. Readers who have an interest in computers will definitely find this a fascinating book that fills in many gaps in the stories of these high-tech firms. All college and university business and computer information systems programs will definitely want to seriously consider adding this book to their collections. The book will also serve as a super supplemental reading text for any business class focusing on high-tech businesses, as well as in computer classes. Book Contents 288 pages; foreword by Joel Spolsky (www.joelonsoftware.com / www.fogcreek.com); about the author; acknowledgments; b/w photographs; drawings; page notes; afterword; glossary of terms; bibliography; index Author Merrill R. (Rick) Chapman About the Author Merrill R. (Rick) Chapman has worked in the high-technology and software industry since 1978 as a programmer, salesman, field sales engineer, support representative, senior marketing manager, and consultant for many different companies, including WordStar (really MicroPro, but no one remembers the name of the company), Ashton-Tate, IBM, Inso, Novell, Bentley Systems, Berlitz, Hewlett-Packard, and Ziff-Davis. His first computer was a Trash One (you antiques out there know what that is), and he began his career writing software inventory management systems for beer and soda distributors in New York City. Merrill is the author of "The Product Marketing Handbook for Software," coauthor of the Software Industry and Information Association's "US Software Channel Marketing and Distribution Guide," and periodically writes articles about software and high-tech marketing for a variety of publications. He enjoys writing, lecturing, and consulting about various aspects of high-technology marketing. He currently resides in Killingworth, Connecticut with his wife, daughter, and his standard schnauzer who was misrepresented at the time of purchase as a miniature version of the breed. Based on his experiences, he now recommends the standard schnauzer to anyone seeking to own a great dog. For more information about this book and Mr. Chapman's other books and publications, please visit: www.insearchofstupidity.com www.aegis-resources.com www.softwaremarketsolution.com ISBN July 2003 - First Edition 1-59059-104-6 List Price $24.99 About Apress Apress is a publishing company devoted to meeting the needs of programming professionals. Apress' unique approach to computer book publishing grew out of conversations between Dan Appleman and Gary Cornell, Apress' founders, who believe that too many programming books are of such low quality that they are a complete waste of time. Computer professionals need quality books that are not just rehashes of documentation. The "A" in Apress stands for The Author's Press, and their books have "The Expert's Voice." Apress acquires manuscripts of the highest quality by attracting the best authors and technical experts that the world has to offer. Apress makes authors partners in the publishing process, doesn't impose a "house style" on authors, and doesn't make them conform to a series that straightjacket's them. Apress also makes sure that authors are treated equitably. Another key feature of the Apress approach to publishing books is taken from the software industry. Apress treats the technical review process as seriously as the best software companies treat the quality assurance process. Apress is convinced that the innovations listed above make it possible for them to produce the highest quality books, recruit the highest quality authors, and publish titles that information technology professionals need and want. The Apress management team ensures that the distribution and fulfillment of Apress titles is second to none, and that the capital is available to move aggressively and take advantage of any publishing opportunities that arise. To accomplish this, Apress has entered into a partnership with Springer-Verlag, one of the world's most respected publishing houses. Springer-Verlag is convinced that Apress will be the publisher of quality trade computer paperbacks in the years to come. Apress will continue to publish titles of the highest quality, and has compiled a team of authors that reads like a veritable "Who's Who" list of the computing industry. The company founders have published over 200 software titles by leading software professionals, all of whom have "The Expert's Voice." Publisher Contact Chloe Benjamin Marketing Associate Apress 2560 Ninth Street, Suite 219 Berkeley, California 94710 510-549-5930 ext. 120 FAX 510-549-5939 chloe@apress.com www.apress.com