- Paperback: 478 pages
- Publisher: McGraw-Hill Publishing Co.; 2nd Revised edition edition (1 Dec 1999)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 0071358927
- ISBN-13: 978-0071358927
- Product Dimensions: 23.1 x 18.5 x 4.1 cm
- Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars See all reviews (10 customer reviews)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 804,435 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- See Complete Table of Contents
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Product Description
Amazon.co.uk Review
Fire in the Valley is not a computer book but rather a history of the personal computer. Even if the computer isn't your thing, and maybe you don't remember arguing with Commodore 64, Apple II, and TRS-80 owners over whose computer was the best, you'll find the writing engaging and the subject matter more than entertaining. Who would have thought a bunch of misfit nerds could make history?
Fire in the Valley is an accurate, insightful, and often entertaining look at the many accidents and mistakes that eventually led to the computer you have on your desktop today. The history of the personal computer comprises a series of well-planned errors, with eccentric personalities floating from company to company, and geniuses so twisted they created for the sheer joy of it--never imagining the multi-billion dollar industry that would result.
This book is magnetic and the consistent and strong writing draws the reader in. The entire story of the personal computer, from the vacuum tube to the iMac, is told and told well.
Fire in the Valley is an old book, originally published back in 1984. This review refers to the current "collector's edition" and it's been updated to reflect some recent issues. The book is hardbound, hence the hefty cover price. (It also has a CD-ROM, but I don't do CDs in books.) The book is highly recommended--especially for anyone who's into high tech and wants to understand the value of not putting creativity into a bottle. --Dan Gookin --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
Review
The authors tell their tale with surprising human as well as technological insights.Freidberger and Swaine are blessed with a remarkable tale to tell.Fire in the Valley offers many nerd pleasures, not the least of which is a stroll down memory lane, back to a sunny time of youth and innocence and endlessly whirring floppy drives. All the highlights are covered.One of the strengths of this fine book is that it isn't tendentious about its subject matter. If Fire in the Valley has any thesis, it's that, like Englebart, the very earliest players weren't much motivated by money. Some were simply visionaries. Others just loved computers. Others still couldn't fit in anywhere else.
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First Sentence
THE PERSONAL COMPUTER SPRANG TO LIFE IN THE MID-1970s, BUT ITS historical roots reach back to the giant electronic "brains" of the 1950s and well before that to the "thinking" machines of nineteenth-century fiction. Read the first page
Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Index | Back Cover
THE PERSONAL COMPUTER SPRANG TO LIFE IN THE MID-1970s, BUT ITS historical roots reach back to the giant electronic "brains" of the 1950s and well before that to the "thinking" machines of nineteenth-century fiction. Read the first page
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Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Index | Back Cover
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
This is quite simply one of the most fascinating books on the industry. Plenty of revelations, fascinating tidbits, and some really good cheesey photos of Bill Gates and others to boot. Definately five stars
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
Really enjoying this book... the photographic expression of steve jobs being handed 92million dollars is so dead-pan!
..if you didnt know a film was made as well...check Amazon for 'The Pirates of Silicon Valley'. Shame its only video and US format.
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
Freiberger and Swaine capture the early history of the microcomputer brilliantly - right from the development of the first microprocessor to the evolution of the first generation of IBM PCs and Macintoshes. Their view is very much an American one (so fans of the early British micros won't find much here), but this is very much a Silicon Valley story.
They cover not only the evolution of hardware (CPUs, buses, systems) but also of software (particularly at Microsoft, Digital Research and Apple) and of the industry that grew up around the machines - the culture (computer clubs and shows), the retail industry, the magazines. A very broad view is taken.
If the rest of the book was as good as the first 250 pages or so it'd get five stars, but the attempt to cover the software-led period from the mid-80s on feels rather rushed - it all gets rather rushed after the tale of how Philippe Kahn built up Borland, although there's some amusing stuff about Oracle in there too. Otherwise, rather difficult to fault this book. It is readable, occasionally amusing, full of interesting detail, and even has a small selection of well-chosen photographs.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
Fire in the Valley: Making of the Personal Computer
An excellent and well written book which, gives a comprehensive account on the history of the personal computer a must for anyone studying undergraduate Computer studies courses.
Published 11 months ago by Mr. Noel J. Griffiths
Read and re-read !!!
This is the best chronicle of how the PC industry came into being from people that lived the events themselves in first person. Read more
Published on 27 Oct 2002 by "wartaal73"
For the entrepeneur!
This book (very) effectively conveys the excitement, and disappointment, of those early pioneers in the PC business. Read more
Published on 23 April 2001 by Prof G. J. Parker
The one book to read about the birth of the modern computer
If there is one book you have to read, this one is it - it is witty and gives a pretty complete historic view of those early days of computing. Read more
Published on 17 Nov 2000 by patrick.cardon@the-pc.prestel.co.uk
The very very best, so far...
This is the very best book I have ever read, describing the history of the personal computer. I found it exiting that the same time periods are covered multiple times in different... Read more
Published on 24 Aug 2000 by ervar@wmdata.dk
An entertaining book that is worth buying
I found the book quite informative and entertaining, and I wish I had access original release to it when I was writing a post-graduate paper years ago. Read more
Published on 10 May 2000 by A. Karantze
Good stuff
Fire in the valley takes you on a journey through the evolution of personal computing from the standpoint of the US hobbyist community. Read more
Published on 26 Jan 2000 by s.d.birchall@surveying.salford.ac.uk
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