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)

20 Hour Infomercial?

Smart. They're all super smart. Big. Google is big. It's very big. Everyone at Google is smart. It's very smart. Big and smart.

Did I mention they're all smart? Yes, it's smart. And it's really big.

Fascinating history of a Tech Giant

If you could sum up In the Plex in three words, what would they be?

Fascinating, intriguing, enlightening

What did you like best about this story?

The history of how Google began, the transition from being a start-up to the huge corporation they are today

Which scene was your favorite?

The Chinese struggle, the story of Android

Did you have an extreme reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?

Neither, but it was very intersting

too bad

too bad I found it 4 years after it was released . very entertaining and enlightening. written on my android phone.

A must read for every programmer

Understanding the story of some of the tech giants, their motivations and their values is something that I think every one the tech industry should attempt to achieve. It's so easy to sit back and criticize these companies thinking about what they're actually going through. it made the people at Google very real people I think.

A very thorough look into Google

Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?

Yes. This book is ideal for anybody in the tech industry or who has a passion for tech.

Any additional comments?

Into the Plex covers a very comprehensive history of Google, from it's beginning at Stanford to the introduction of Google+. Unfortunately, this book was published too early to cover things like the NSA Prism debacle, but that's no fault of the author's.

If you're looking for a thorough biography of Google, this is a wonderful choice.

Excellent.

This is a fantastic book that gives you a completely new view of Google. By understanding more of its origins, I have a clearer understanding of their future and how some recent decisions/products (self-driving cars, glasses, etc) now make more sense in the context of a greater mission. Very well researched - highly recommend this book.

A Fun Book to Listen To

Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?

I HAVE recommended this book to friends. They would hear me laughing as I heard stories about the early days and I would re-tell them the best I could until I just said

What was one of the most memorable moments of In the Plex?

The story of the

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

No, I enjoyed listening to it over several sittings. In on sitting, I think it might be too much to fully appreciate and enjoy.

Any additional comments?

A great story, fun tales, and very good value for the book. I'm VERY glad I got this one.

Loved learning about their climb to the top!

Being in the SEO world, to say Google is everything is an understatement. The story of Google's rise to the top is a great one. I also really liked the not-so-good stories of Google and how some of their decisions eventually came back to haunt them.

love the story and the way it is told!

Levy provides a true insider view on how google works and what moves it, while providing context on the technology boom worldwide. a very entertaining and interesting read indeed!

good read

there's a lot of good information that a person like myself, from a human resources perspective, can learn.