[.ca] All the Rave: The Rise and Fall of Shawn Fanning's Napster (ISBN 0609610937)

From Amazon.com:
It was the best of ideas, it was the worst of ideas. Perhaps the most revolutionary technological concept to emerge in the super-heated days of the internet investment bubble (with apologies to one-click ordering), the peer-to-peer .mp3 file transfer system developed by barely reformed computer hacker Shawn Fanning fueled a company that at its peak claimed 70 million users and ranked as the fastest-growing company in history. Not bad for the out-of-wedlock son of the guitarist for a Boston-area Aerosmith cover band still in his teens. The story of how Napster challenged the copyrights and distribution hegemony of the world's ruling music business cartel has become one of the e-boom's most enduring myths: David Vs. Goliath, with an outcome more like Tyson Vs. Lewis. In deconstructing the saga, veteran Los Angeles Times business reporter Joseph Menn patiently chronicles the double-dealing, ego, greed, hubris and remarkable naivete - informed by precious little long-term vision - that variously characterized both sides of the epic struggle. Perhaps Menn's most telling revelations here center around the previously under-reported role of Shawn's uncle John Fanning, the shady, entrepreneurial con-man who claimed to be Napster's co-inventor/co-founder (distinctions that actually belonged to Shawn's teen friends, Jordan Ritter and Sean Parker), cutting himself in for a whopping 70% initial stake in the company. The elder Fanning's ability to clutch defeat from the jaws of even the smallest victory is set up as nothing less than Shakespearean parable. If Menn's work has a shortcoming, it's his seeming reticence to consider the larger, long-term implications of peer-to-peer file-swapping and an internet culture that enthusiastically stood centuries-old notions of property rights and demand-and-supply pricing firmly on its head by the tens of millions. Ironically, the record industry's touted quashing of Napster was ultimately akin to killing a hydra-head monster. A variety of more lawsuit-resistant systems ultimately arose in its wake, leading one executive to ponder whether future record industry battles against file-swapping would simply degenerate into a never-ending game of "Whack-a-Mole". Jerry McCulley

undistinguished-lightweight-establishment-BLAH:
Tried hard to finish this, but couldn't. This is significant because I hate wasting money - and therefore, usually slough through to the finish on even the most unbearable works. But here in Jo Menn's "All The Rave" I found it was everything BUT Interesting and had to throw in the towel after the first 100 pages. Primarily, this book just bored me to death. The prose is written like a long newspaper article and worse still, the storyline delivers nothing but whining. Incessant whining. Nearly every character tortures you with their pleas for a scapegoat; the "WHY" this $100 million project ended up on the scrapheap can be simply put. Summary Judgement.

Napster - What A Business and Legal Mess:
Good writing about a doomed company. A nice description of an internet bubble company. Three to four stars, not 5 stars great, but a good book. Worth the money - Yes. Dont expect to learn much about business from this book unless it is a list things to avoid. The company had zero income, i.e.: no customers and no sales. Not may corporations can get away with that. It got the recording companies (RIAA) aggitated and not interested in working with Napster so it was bound to fail and it did. Fortunately for Napster, the number of users just soared into the millions (as we all know) and the investors came and invested impulsively like casinio gamblers without due diligence but hoping the "customer base" could eventually be charged a fee for music and their stock would increase 100 fold. But Napster illegally allowed people to steal music avoiding copyright. The company lasted until the Recording Industry Association of America took it to court and won. Napster tried to stall through an 11th hour appeal saying Napster was really like a tape recorder or VCR machine and the court had erred. But the RIAA won the appeal and the investments stopped. The lights were turned off at Napster. A book for Tech Types. Jack in Toronto

Major disappointment - Uncritical & Lacking Analysis:
Before buying/reading this book ask yourself if you want to invest the time/money reading what the author promises goes below the "surface" on all previous Napster reporting when most of the book's focus is sugjugated on events/descriptions like: - Shawn Fanning's encounter with Courtney Love (according to the book he met her one night) - Business tips from Shawn Fanning's estranged biological father (the author tracks this loser down to get his take on Shawn's new business - and he recommends Shawn sell it ASAP) - Shawn's love affair/tryst with a woman we are told is "beautiful" FOLKS THIS RUSHED PROJECT I GIVE 1 STAR.

Fantastic book, well written, very imformative:
I just got done reading this book and I have to say that this is one of the best books I have ever read. You could tell that the author, Joseph Menn, put a lot of work into this with many quotes, facts, and background information on each of the people he introduces. The story that Menn tells is fully detailed and I felt as if I was part of the napster crew myself. The story never has any boring momements and he illustrates the personal relationships between the workers fantastically. I always wanted to know what happened at the napster company and now i know. I recommend this book to anyone who needs a break from fiction and would like to know the story of a kid's idea that changed the entertainment world forver. This book is nothing short of an A+

A terribly slow rehash of previously published material:
Just finished Menn's "All The Rave," a.k.a. the Napster chronicles.... for what it's worth, i found very little new material here - most of the scoop is previously published.... & to my dismay, nothing is reported on Shawn Fanning's new venture, Snocap. An interesting twist for Shawn with Snocap, several journals are reporting that Fanning's new company seeks to end illegal file-swapping with an avalanche of controls...interesting twist, wouldn't you say for the guy who created fild-sharing to begin with...again nothing of this is reported in Menn's book which feels heavily dated by now. At any rate, the book read kinda slow....though the thing i do appreciate the most is the book's cover art - kitty in black.