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16th out of 196 books
—
133 voters
Accidental Empires
Computer manufacturing is--after cars, energy production and illegal drugs--the largest industry in the world, and it's one of the last great success stories in American business. Accidental Empires is the trenchant, vastly readable history of that industry, focusing as much on the astoundingly odd personalities at its core--Steve Jobs, Bill Gates, Mitch Kapor, etc. and th...more
Paperback, 384 pages
Published
September 13th 1996
by HarperBusiness
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A friend gave me Bob Cringely’s Accidental Empires years ago. Finally got around to it.
Cringely is a gossip columnist for the tech industry, and even he realizes how ridiculous that sounds. It’s important context for Accidental Empires, a smart and interesting read. It’s a history of the microcomputer industry, roughly 1978-1996. It’s fascinating. It’s also more about the personalities than technology. He’s unafraid to call Steve Jobs “a sociopath” and Bill Gates a “megalomaniac”. And it’s not j...more
Cringely is a gossip columnist for the tech industry, and even he realizes how ridiculous that sounds. It’s important context for Accidental Empires, a smart and interesting read. It’s a history of the microcomputer industry, roughly 1978-1996. It’s fascinating. It’s also more about the personalities than technology. He’s unafraid to call Steve Jobs “a sociopath” and Bill Gates a “megalomaniac”. And it’s not j...more
Some of the reservations people have about Cringley's style are forgivable: if you haven't read around the subject of the PC revolution and researched the subjects for yourself, you'll think his attitude is to say the least disrespectful. When you appreciate just how weird some of these guys were/are and how arcane technology met classic American entrepreneurial spirit, you'll realize Cringley is actually being honest if not always generous.
As a fun companion to the historical record, it excels....more
As a fun companion to the historical record, it excels....more
I just re-purchased it to re-read after I couldn’t find my original. Although Accidental Empires was written in 1996, and has to be read old-school style since it’s not available on the Kindle, this is a great history of how all of the major tech companies that are still around got their start.
It talks about Microsoft, Apple, and IBM and the birth of Windows, the Mac, and the modern PC during the wild west of the computer industry. Did you know that:
• Microsoft started off by buying DOS, and the...more
It talks about Microsoft, Apple, and IBM and the birth of Windows, the Mac, and the modern PC during the wild west of the computer industry. Did you know that:
• Microsoft started off by buying DOS, and the...more
This book was written in 1992, with two add-on chapters from 1996. It's sort of a classic in the genre of histories of Silicon Valley.
It's common to read stuff about pirates or knights or whatever and either think you were born too late, or that you can't believe how those primitives endured, or both. It's less common, I guess, to do that with a book about stuff that happened 20 years ago.
There are a number of good historical tidbits in here I'd never heard. The reason the book doesn't get more...more
It's common to read stuff about pirates or knights or whatever and either think you were born too late, or that you can't believe how those primitives endured, or both. It's less common, I guess, to do that with a book about stuff that happened 20 years ago.
There are a number of good historical tidbits in here I'd never heard. The reason the book doesn't get more...more
The story presented trails off at 1992 (the publishing date) and it is surprising to see how little has been accomplished in the computer industry in almost 10 years. Cringely tries to walk a fine line between describing the personalities of the people involved and guessing their motivations. Too often he fails and the resulting invective just feels childish and trivial. Despite this, it was a fun read for someone who grew up during the birth of home computers. Familiar touchstones abounded and...more
This is a book which most people, even those pursuing Information Technology careers, will never read. I consider it indispensable in my constant quest for greater insight into PCs, programming, and the technology business in general. I can only pray or hope that today's and future generations will be interested enough in the history of technology to stop tweeting, txting, or killing each other in the latest fps (or whatever other fad happens to be current), and gain some insight by reading some...more
A pseudo-classic. I think it probably deserves that billing. I enjoyed it. I had moments of deja vu throughout, so I'm not sure if I had read it years ago -- man am I getting old, memories fading, mind turning to mush --, but it was a fun read nonetheless. I have read Cringely online for years, so there could have been some overlap with those articles and the book, too. Who knows. I especially enjoyed the opportunity to read the book with the benefit of hindsight; it is interesting to see how hi...more
Jan 01, 2013
Roger Merritt
added it
A collection of short biographies of the people who created the personal computer from the 1970s through the 1980s. I especially liked it because I was watching what was going on at the time and the names were mostly familiar to me. Bill Gates is America's richest man because Gary Kildall decided he wanted to go flying rather than meet the representatives from IBM, who were looking for an operating system for their small computer.
I really liked this book, especially after reading Black Swan and the likes, which describe the role of luck in success. The book is a great insider story about the early software and hardware ventures. It is a story of Steve Jobs and Bill Gates and their peers. Apart from the last couple chapters where author offers advice on how to start new ventures and offers his view on the future of the software industry, I had a really good time reading.
It was more educational than well-written. I learned a lot about the personalities of early pioneers in the pc industry, Steve Jobs and Bill Gates in particular. The book provides insight on decisions being made to this day in the world of Apple, Microsoft and Adobe. In particular Apple's disdain for Adobe Flash technology and Jobs' desire to own the technology rather than opening up his platforms.
awesome book about the early years of the PC (late 70s through mid 90s). There's a lot that I never know, didn't realize at the time, or had forgotten. Gives some good perspective on the current state of the industry
The book is getting pretty dated (e.g., Steve Jobs was still at NeXT when the book was written), but Cringley's currently working on some sort of rewrite/update or something
The book is getting pretty dated (e.g., Steve Jobs was still at NeXT when the book was written), but Cringley's currently working on some sort of rewrite/update or something
This is a book about the first wave of technology immigrants who became the first tech-billionairs in Silicon Valley. It is about the PC empires and the first giant software companies that fed the beast - Microsoft, Adobe, Apple, Sun, Oracle ... The time before Yahoo, Facebook, Google and the current age. It is worth reading to see that things have not really changed all that much.
I was born in 1987 in Ukraine. The first PC I have seen was IBM clone at mother's work around 1993. My first computer I got around 1998 and it was already Pentium with Windows 95 on board.
Now I work as software engineer.
During my teenage I was always wondered where are all other OS except Windows? Why only PCs are around? Why Apple Macintosh claims as professional and so expensive tool? Why IBM is not that big anymore? Why "Windows sucks"? How did it all start?
Had similar questions? Welcome to r...more
Now I work as software engineer.
During my teenage I was always wondered where are all other OS except Windows? Why only PCs are around? Why Apple Macintosh claims as professional and so expensive tool? Why IBM is not that big anymore? Why "Windows sucks"? How did it all start?
Had similar questions? Welcome to r...more
Nice history of what was going on in the tech industry when many companies were competing to get a piece of the personal computing revolution. The only issue for me with the book was that there seemed to be a lot of opinion interspersed as factual statements and the attitude of the writer seeped into the novel, detracting from the overall experience.
Some excellent insight into the workings of Microsoft, IBM, Apple and other tech firms in Silicon Valley starting from the 60's up to the late 80's. The book was written over 20 years ago, but is still an interesting read especially if you grew up a computer hobbyist during this time.
Published in 1992 this is a great history of how the tech sector came to be. This was written in the days before we called the tech sector the tech sector, but it covers Microsoft, Bill Gates, Woz, Bob Taylor and was my first glimps at Xerox PARC. 100% recommended.
Mar 25, 2009
Susan Baranoff
rated it
5 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Recommends it for:
anyone interested in computers or technology related to computer.
An excellent book that describes the beginnings of the computer revolution written by someone who "knew them when". Should be required reading for college students majoring in technical fields. Smart and snappy - a fun and entertaining book.
I read this in hard cover in 1992 and then later in trade. A well researched and written story of the start of "silicon valley" and the companies that have defined the computer industry.
Great history of the early days of the computer history, though very dated. I read this in 1994 or so. The end prophesies dark days for the world because of the Y2K bug...
If you love technology and follow the goings-on in Silicon Valley, this is a must-read primer on how today's biggest tech movers and shakers got where they are.
Chatty, readable, bold account of hardware and software industry baby steps into PC ear.
Must read for an aspiring 'entrepreneur' :-)
Must read for an aspiring 'entrepreneur' :-)
This book is actually not that good - the material is good, but the author is rambling and jumps around a lot.
Practically no technology innovation from Redmond, but crafty business deals and strategic marketing.
A fun read with plenty of personal insights into the main men and why the PC industry grew.
fabulous book. a must read if you are interested in computing and the rise of the nerds
"Develop for it? I'll piss on it!" Bill Gates on Steve Jobs' NeXT computers.
I've enjoyed the chapter by chapter re-read on cringely.com.
The book is obviously dated in that it makes comments on history leading to a "present" that was 20 years ago. Still, Cringely's got good insights into many of the companies that are still important in our world (Apple, Microsoft) and some that aren't so important anymore (IBM).
It's interesting to read about the development of hardware and software and the various alliances that are made, strengthened, weakened, and eventually broken.
Th...more
The book is obviously dated in that it makes comments on history leading to a "present" that was 20 years ago. Still, Cringely's got good insights into many of the companies that are still important in our world (Apple, Microsoft) and some that aren't so important anymore (IBM).
It's interesting to read about the development of hardware and software and the various alliances that are made, strengthened, weakened, and eventually broken.
Th...more
Great historical perspective on the early days of silicon valley.
Although now dated, this is a great history of the personal computer. Cringely had an unique perceptive of this industry as history was happening. Cringely is a very interesting guy in his own right and utilizes that to good effect to the keep the subject from getting too dry.
As I said, it is dated and makes many references to the then present, but that shouldn't stop you from reading this book. You probably won't find a better or more interesting book on this subject.
As I said, it is dated and makes many references to the then present, but that shouldn't stop you from reading this book. You probably won't find a better or more interesting book on this subject.
This is a great history of the personal computer industry. I enjoyed the insider knowledge and anecdotes about the personalities involved in bringing these technologies out. Reading this today (on my tablet) is a great way to look back and see how we arrived at the convergence devices that we now carry with us everywhere.
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Mar 26, 2009 02:22pm