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Summary: The best history of the Computer Revolution out there
Review: This book is the best history of the Computer Revolution written so far. It does limit most of its history to the micro-computer part of that revolution and how Apple, Microsoft, and IBM became the powers they are in the computer industry. It does bring up old names that once were huge in the Micro-computer field: MITS, Tandy, TI, IMSAI, Commedore, Proc Tech, and others. It also brings forward names of people like Ed Roberts, Doug Engelbart, Ted Nelson, also among others... who deserve as much credit as Steve Jobs or Bill Gates for the computer revolution. The book of all the history of the computer revolution has yet to be written though. There have been books written about very early days, the Internet, and the micro-computer parts. But much of its still has yet to be written. This is a fine contribution to the field from Swaine and Freiberger though. Very fine.
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Summary: Revolution!
Review: This book speaks of a silent and bloodless revolution that made enthusiastic hobbyists into legends that created the PC market. It talks about the journey of computer technology, taken from the clutches of the guarded computer "priesthood", to the masses. This is current history, and it's exciting. It's relevant to today, and it even makes those of us old enough to remember some of it reminisce. School teaches children to learn from the past with the American Revolution, the French Revolution, and the Bolshevik Revolution. This is THE book to tell everyone about the Personal Computer Revolution. Fire in the Valley recounts the sparks with "The Mother of All Demos" to the storming of the gates with the GUI wars. And as a small plus, the authors have thrown in a CD with some short audio interviews, copies of pictures found in the book, and a nice timeline that's useful for reference. Anybody who has watched Pirates of Silicon Valley, and thought, "WOW", needs to find out just how amazing it really was. I can't wait to see what happens in the next 25 years, and then maybe reminisce with a 3rd edition of this book.
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Summary: Competent overview but no depth
Review: This breezy read lightly covers the evolution of the personal computer mostly from the introduction of Altair until Steve Jobs' departure from Apple Computer. Covering as many people, machines and companies as possible the authors don't have time for a in-depth look at anything. The result seems like a 400 plus page newspaper or magazine article. The "Collector's Edition" has several additional chapters covering industry events up to 2000 and also contains a CD-ROM with more materials. I have not reviewed the CD-ROM.
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Summary: Great book but don't buy the Collectors Edition
Review: This is a great updated reprint of a classic book on the history of the personal computer. If you are interested in reading about the amazing success stories and the equally amazing failures of the early computer pioneers then order the paperback version of this book. I was anxious to hold out for the coll-ed when I heard it would contain a CD with pictures and origional audio interviews. The CD turns out to be a total rip-off in my opinion as it only contains a few poorly scanned photos which are already in the book and the audio clips are very short. Get the 5 star paperback version and save the extra money.
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Summary: Take a thrill ride through Silicon Valley!
Review: What a thoroughly enjoyable book! This is a stunning picture of the development of the personal computer and companies it spawned. It tries to cover an enormous amount of ground, which is why I forgive it for being somewhat shallow at times. Its coverage of the early days, such as the 1975 Altair, is in some ways better and more detailed than later years. I wanted a few more technical details and a few less horror stories about companies folding from competition with Microsoft. But overall, it is still a great read, very fast. The chapters are small, which helps!
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Summary: The Way it Was -- And This Books Gets a Lot of it Right!
Review: When I first heard about this book, I couldn't wait to get my copy. I ordered the Collector's Edition because early micro history is special to me -- I was there, a software seller and early user. This book gets a lot of it right because it was originally written in the 1980s and the authors knew a lot of the people involved in early micro hardware and software. They are strong on Silicon Valley history, but weak on what was happening in the rest of the country, where microcomputers sold in Radio Shack stores reached across America. People in big cities and little towns snapped up the $600 TRS-80 and users created tons of software. The book barely mentions Steve Leininger who worked alone in an old factory in the stock yards of Fort Worth Texas to build the first TRS-80. I was privileged to be part of that era, beginning with a TRS-80 Model I in 1978, going into business, and selling some great stuff. Computer users had so many choices that a software guidebook from the 80s listed more than 30 word processors, businesses of that era bought custom-programmed software written by kids still in high school, and thousands of little companies created and sold the software that was the first wave of the small computer revolution. It was a heady time and reading this book brought some of it back. The authors correctly credit Michael Shrayer with creating the first word processor for micros -- Electric Pencil. My husband, David Welsh, authored a best-selling word processor for the TRS-80, which we sold all over the world in the years from 1979 to 1985. See our web site ... for more on computer history. I was disappointed with the CD that came with the book. I thought it would contain the book's text, but it doesn't. The interview clips are very short and don't add much, although they are historic since they are from the 1980s interviews. The newly-written parts of the book are not as good as the old parts. There was an excitement in the early days that cannot be recaptured, even with the explosive growth of the internet. On the whole, this book has a lot of great tales from the early days and will show readers a time when computers were not all about big money and IPOs, but were about vision and freedom, the freedom to have your own personal computer. Once upon a time, all computer users were programmers; now few people learn to program. The computer has become an appliance. But this thing we all use now and take for granted had a beginning. Those early pioneers, who you will meet in the pages of this book, are responsible for the ubiquity of computers today; they deserve to be remembered and their stories are better than fiction. Buy this book and be prepared for some good reading.
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Summary: Excelente!
Review: With this book you will know who were the principal actors in the birth of the PCs. Also, you will know stories never before told. The book was made from interviews with the people who made the PCs a reality.
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Summary: The bible of PC history.
Review: You'd be hard-pressed to find a more entertaining or informative chronicle of the hobbyists and entrepeneurs who created the multi-billion dollar PC industry from practically out of nowhere in the mid 70's. The basis of the great HBO movie Pirates of Silicon Valley starring Noah Wyle and Anthony Michael Hall, to call it a page-turner would be gross understatment. From the Altair to Apple to the world-wide pervasiveness of the Internet, the entire tale is told in an entertaining and easily read manner, accompanied by a wealth of facinating photographs. Early history with companies such as MITS and IMSAI battling it out for the hearts and minds of computer hobbyists is painstakingly covered, along with a careful tracking of the rise of two pairs of PC pioneers: Steve Jobs and Stephen Wozniak, and Bill Gates and Paul Allen. Over and over the reader is baffled by the ignorance of the large corporations unable or unwilling to understand the market for computers on desks or people's homes, and the bravado of garage start-ups convinced they're on the brink of a new revolution. Originally published in 1984, the book has been painstakingly reviewed and updated by its authors to bring it up to events in 1999. There are a few bugs, however. Things tend to drag a bit in the middle portion as the authors detail the hobby groups and magazines that sprang up to cover the PC action. Also, I counted only one measy mention of the Amiga, and Commodore only receives a handful of mentions. Of course, what did Commodore ever do for the computer industry, besides creating the C-64, still the single best-selling computer line of all time? This continues a baffling ignorance of Commodore's immense contribution to personal computer history on the parts of digital historians. But besides this oversight, Fire in the Valley is still an addictive page-turner. It really is a bible for anyone even remotely interested in how this whole business got started, much to the surprise of even those who created it.
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