In the Plex

How Google Thinks, Works, and Shapes Our Lives

By: Steven Levy

Narrated by: L. J. Ganser

Length: 19 hrs and 45 mins

Publisher's summary

Few companies in history have ever been as successful and as admired as Google, the company that has transformed the Internet and become an indispensable part of our lives. How has Google done it? Veteran technology reporter Steven Levy was granted unprecedented access to the company, and in this revelatory book he takes listeners inside Google headquarters - the Googleplex - to explain how Google works.

While they were still students at Stanford, Google co-founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin revolutionized Internet search. They followed this brilliant innovation with another, as two of Google's earliest employees found a way to do what no one else had: make billions of dollars from Internet advertising. With this cash cow (until Google's IPO, nobody other than Google management had any idea how lucrative the company's ad business was), Google was able to expand dramatically and take on other transformative projects: more efficient data centers, open-source cell phones, free Internet video (YouTube), cloud computing, digitizing books, and much more.

The key to Google's success in all these businesses, Levy reveals, is its engineering mind-set and adoption of such Internet values as speed, openness, experimentation, and risk taking. After it's unapologetically elitist approach to hiring, Google pampers its engineers with free food and dry cleaning, on-site doctors and masseuses, and gives them all the resources they need to succeed. Even today, with a workforce of more than 23,000, Larry Page signs off on every hire.

But has Google lost its innovative edge? It stumbled badly in China. And now, with its newest initiative, social networking, Google is chasing a successful competitor for the first time. Some employees are leaving the company for smaller, nimbler start-ups. Can the company that famously decided not to be "evil" still compete?

No other book has turned Google inside out as Levy does with In the Plex.

This edition of In the Plex includes an exclusive interview with Google's Marissa Mayer, one of the company's earliest hires and most visible executives, as well as the youngest woman to ever make Fortune's "50 Most Powerful Women in Business" list. She provides a high-level insider's perspective on the company's life story, its unique hiring practices, its new social networking initiative, and more.

©2011 Steven Levy (P)2011 Audible, Inc.

Critic reviews

"Thoroughly versed in technology reporting, Wired senior writer Levy deliberates at great length about online behemoth Google and creatively documents the company’s genesis from a 'feisty start-up to a market-dominating giant'.... Though the author offers plenty of well-known information, it’s his catbird-seat vantage point that really gets to the good stuff. Outstanding reportage delivered in the upbeat, informative fashion for which Levy is well known." ( Kirkus Reviews)

"The book, a wide-ranging history of the company from start-up to behemoth, sheds light on the biggest threats Google faces today, from the Chinese government to Facebook and privacy critics." ( The New York Times)

“With a commanding voice, L.J. Ganser narrates this history and exploration of Google….Ganser’s stern voice is clear and moves through the text with determination.” ( AudioFile)

This is a company I interact with everyday.

Where does In the Plex rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?

Pull up a ball. Sit back, relax, and enjoy this googly story about the quirky history of Google and the people behind its making. It's a fun story.
This book ranks among the top ranks.

What other book might you compare In the Plex to and why?

The Innovators. Because they are both about computers, programming, and the key people who played a role in advancing the science.

Have you listened to any of L. J. Ganser’s other performances before? How does this one compare?

No. It was real easy to follow and understand his reading.

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

For the most part. It was interesting, well written, and kept me listening for hours. I finished it in two days.

Any additional comments?

The innovation and moral compass of this company make it a favoured company to do business with.

the Plex is complex ... no doubt !

It's great to be informed about that most ubiquitous technology that is in sooo much of our mobile/online lives.
I'm not a techie, but it's good to know of Google's philosophy & the founders' thinking as time rolls on.
And 3 cheers for Maria Montessori.
Here in Australia there are just a few Montessori junior high schools.
I believe a Montessori high school experience is sooo good for shaping & rounding young teens, the benefits compared to a regular high school curriculum are immeasurable !

Amazing history of the Internet

For anyone who wants to know the background on how Google came to be what we know today, this is an excellent book. The added bonus is hearing what was happening in the tech industry and how other major players in the Internet interacted to shape what we use today. I highly recommend it!

Fascinating window into the Googleplex

Compelling and complex coming of age story of one of the most important companies in human history

Thought Provoking and Intersting

What did you love best about In the Plex?

There wasn't one single thing that you could love best about

What did you like best about this story?

The best part about this story is having experienced and remembered some of the public events and seeing the story from a new point of view (ie. Google's) and going

Which character – as performed by L. J. Ganser – was your favorite?

I can't say that a single character performed by L. J. Ganser was my favourite, as there were many colurful and inspiring figures in the book which I believe the reader captures quite well. When listening to the audiobook, sometimes you can actually feel like you're standing in the room and observing the figureheads go toe to toe with their arguments.

Any additional comments?

Overall this is a great book and I would strongly recommend it to anyone who's interested in the internet and the way Google works and performs as it's an excellent insight into the way Google has evolved since the beginning. I am a little disappointed that they didn't go into detail of how, say YouTube functioned, but it is interesting listening to the fan fare around the other products like Wave, or other things that have come out of the Google Labs.

Worth more than you think

I started this book only mildly interested and ended with an example of how to build a new world. I could have used a lot more detail on the technical aspects of this story: page rank, server clusters, etc.; and less of the internal politics and business models. But the message which was repeated throughout this story was "change the world for the better and let the algorithms do the heavy lifting". It is almost curious that such a bunch of technonerds could make such a profound humanitarian statement, but that is Steven Levy's genius for detail as much as anything purposely done of the principals in this story. Ganser did a superb narration job. If we are lucky this will be the first volume with another installment in 20 or so years. Spolier Alert: Paleonerds will really enjoy this tale. For all others, proceed with caution.

Excellent Narration with Excellent content

Where does In the Plex rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?

The author takes you to the inside out of the Google and answers all the question about What and How did Google do it. This book is really inspiring, fun and can motivate you to a startup. :-)

What does L. J. Ganser bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

I have listened to several audio books. I would rate this book as one of top books that was narrated exceptionally well.

Any additional comments?

This is a must read for all the people who want to know everything about Google.

In the PLEX should be called In the GOOGLE.

I loved this book, I had no idea how google got started and the interworking of it. Steven Levy does a great job covering the beginning through the time of printing. Makes me like google so much more.

Dive into the real story of Google

Google's slogan don't be evil, more like don't let others see you being evil. Great book, engaging and factual.

Fantastic - I enjoyed this book immensely.

This book was a very thorough look into all of Google's products from a social, historical and technological perspective. I'm a big user of Google products, and I learned a lot from this book that helped me understand Google's purpose and trajectory even better than before. I love Steven Levy's writing, and would recommend this book to anyone interested in the behemoth that is Google. My only caveat would be that if you're not a technically oriented person, that some of the material might be over your head.