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The New New Thing: A Silicon Valley Story
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In the weird glow of the dying millennium, Michael Lewis set out on a safari through Silicon Valley to find the world’s most important technology entrepreneur. He found this in Jim Clark, a man whose achievements include the founding of three separate billion-dollar companies. Lewis also found much more, and the result—the best-selling book The New New Thing—is an ingeniou
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Paperback, 349 pages
Published
January 6th 2014
by W. W. Norton Company
(first published 1999)
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Start your review of The New New Thing: A Silicon Valley Story

This is a book which would be of interest to investors and to computer engineers. I read The New New Thing because Michael Lewis is one of the very best investigative journalists of our times. His research into the business side of Silicon Valley during the 1980s and 1990s provides information only those who read the scientific journals would have knowledge of. His biography of Jim Clark tells of his desire to design a robotic sailboat. This has now been accomplished. Students from the Universit
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It is hard to fathom Jim Clark, whom this book is really about, lead three different Billion Dollar companies: Silicon Graphics, Netscape, and Healtheon (WebMD). He and his companies are the focus of this book. The author also gives a heck of a review of the crazy times that were the late 1990s in technology but as well as the stock market. I think Biff Tannen (you know Biff from Back to the Future) would have been better off with this book than his Sports Almanac. Imagine knowing the exact comp
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“Never was a man’s love of risk so beautifully amplified by his environment as Clark’s was in Silicon Valley.”
― Michael Lewis, The New New Thing: A Silicon Valley Story
I did like Lewis' exploration of the relationship of Investment banking and the information technology companies that seemed to weed up in Silicon Valley during the late 90s. The normal venture technology relationship seemed to invert in Silicon Valley. Power shifted from the money men to the idea men, or perhaps not even the i ...more
― Michael Lewis, The New New Thing: A Silicon Valley Story

I did like Lewis' exploration of the relationship of Investment banking and the information technology companies that seemed to weed up in Silicon Valley during the late 90s. The normal venture technology relationship seemed to invert in Silicon Valley. Power shifted from the money men to the idea men, or perhaps not even the i ...more

My least favorite of the in-depth Lewis books, but that's not saying much. Unlike Liar's Poker, which Lewis thought would bring sweeping change by bringing some sketchy practices to light but still rings true, The New New Thing feels dated now, 10 years later. Nonetheless, as someone who understood the late 1990s tech boom only peripherally, this book was insightful, both in terms of those companies' business models (or lack thereof, as the case may be) and some of the relevant personalities. (S
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Nov 22, 2018
Santhosh Guru
rated it
really liked it
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review of another edition
Shelves:
silicon-valley-story
This my 4th stop on my journey to know more about the history of Silicon Valley. This book is about Jim Clarke and it gives me a perfect lens to view the history of SGI, NetScape, Healtheon (all of which was founded by Jim Clarke) through Michael Lewis' writing. It was a really an interesting book to listen to.
I was really suprised to hear Jim being quite scared off Microsoft as a competitor, but given the timeframe of events and the dominance of Microsoft in the PC market, it makes a lot of sen ...more
I was really suprised to hear Jim being quite scared off Microsoft as a competitor, but given the timeframe of events and the dominance of Microsoft in the PC market, it makes a lot of sen ...more

Hero Worshipping the Devil
Michael Lewis - one of my favourites - often centres his books around heroes - whether nice or nasty - and the New New Thing has his most blatant hero so far - Jim Clark. He is as repulsive as a hero gets, often confusing us with his selfish, ludicrous behaviour. Lewis falls for Clark like a high school sweetheart - blindly in love, yet somehow keeping enough of his senses to avoid being buggered to death.
Jim Clark is a genius, and as such invites our sympathy. Having a ...more
Michael Lewis - one of my favourites - often centres his books around heroes - whether nice or nasty - and the New New Thing has his most blatant hero so far - Jim Clark. He is as repulsive as a hero gets, often confusing us with his selfish, ludicrous behaviour. Lewis falls for Clark like a high school sweetheart - blindly in love, yet somehow keeping enough of his senses to avoid being buggered to death.
Jim Clark is a genius, and as such invites our sympathy. Having a ...more

Quick read, like most of Michael Lewis' books, but it felt less engaging than others. But, despite this book being published over a decade ago, it's still relevant and provides a lot of interesting context for the beginnings of the tech industry as we know it today.
One main takeaway was how Jim Clark helped to shift the startup value system to favor labor (founders) and their ideas/execution over capital (VCs), but that's only true for some companies (Google, Facebook, etc.) but not for others, ...more
One main takeaway was how Jim Clark helped to shift the startup value system to favor labor (founders) and their ideas/execution over capital (VCs), but that's only true for some companies (Google, Facebook, etc.) but not for others, ...more

I think I was on a quest to read every Michael Lewis book at the time I read this. Dude. This book was straight awful. I figured Michael Lewis + Silicon Valley = great novel. Wrong. I remember it was vaguely about technology beginning it's rise, but I swear half of the book about some rich douche and his sailing escapade. Do not read.
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It was a very good book about the internet browser startup craze in Silicon Valley in the mid-1990s. It described the rivalries between Microsoft Internet Explorer and Netscape Navigator, which were the two main internet browsers back when the internet was still very new. I believe that a good theme for this book is that great ideas can set the standard for future products. I say this because Silicon Graphics allowed modeling cars, airplanes, and ships. This opportunity lead to dramatic improvem
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The New New Thing chronicles a few years in the life of Jim Clark, billionaire founder of Netscape and Healtheon. Part biography, part internet success story, The New New Thing doesn't have the same focus as Moneyball or The Blind Side, meandering from Clark's various business successes to his obsession with building a computerized sailboat. The book would have benefited from a stronger narrative thread. Lewis's efforts to coin a phrase ("the new new thing") also fall flat.
Ultimately, Clark is ...more
Ultimately, Clark is ...more

what Michael Lewis does not emphasize enough in this book (and he should have) is the fact that this is not just yet another story of from rags to riches but the story of just how the mania of the internet bubble came to existence in the 90s and how that influenced not just the traditional investors, wall street bankers and the silicon valley then new venture capitalists.... it shows u how the technicians, the coders, the hackers, the wizards, the architects of the new world who were supposed to
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I love Lewis' style of writing and have thoroughly enjoyed this book. My personal interest in Web and it's history was one of the reasons why I picked up this book in the first place and although it follows the career of one man, Jim Clark, the founder of Netscape, I still found it very interesting.
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A few tidbits about Jim Clark, and Silicon Valley. That's the only good thing in this book. The rest is a bore about his yacht, and the healtheon venture.
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I came to the Silicon Valley in 2000, just before the dot.com crash. I witnessed the tail end of the boom and the prolonged bust. You could not spend an hour without someone day trading and making or losing a few thousand dollars each minute. I saw the overflowing BMW lot at El Camino and 237 swell and shrink and littered eventually with slightly old cars on fire sale. Stories of second mortgages invested in the stock market and crazy AMT left a mark.
I was 5 years too late to arrive and probably ...more
I was 5 years too late to arrive and probably ...more

If you pick up The New New Thing, don't expect it to help you understand how the Internet business environment works, or how to create a successful Internet startup. For that kind of insight read books like The Cluetrain Manifesto by Christopher Locke, Rick Levine, David Weinberger, and Doc Searls, The Cathedral and the Bazaar by Eric Raymond, and even High Stakes, No Prisoners by Charles Ferguson.
The New New Thing is really an old old kind of book, with more in common with biographies of 19th c ...more
The New New Thing is really an old old kind of book, with more in common with biographies of 19th c ...more

This book felt like a stylish AB De Villiers innings on a flat track against a weak bowling attack. It looks good but doesnt feel good as u know it lacks substance. And you have seen much better by AB.
When I read GR reviews of this book earlier, I came across the same complaint :- This was Lewis' weakest, the style is good but it was unsatisfying. But, I read a couple of books by highly rated authors who called "Netscape" as something that really opened the floodgates of the Internet. And so, I ...more
When I read GR reviews of this book earlier, I came across the same complaint :- This was Lewis' weakest, the style is good but it was unsatisfying. But, I read a couple of books by highly rated authors who called "Netscape" as something that really opened the floodgates of the Internet. And so, I ...more

A humorous and insightful look at Silicon Valley in the 1990s, through the eyes of the serial billionaire Jim Clark. I usually don't care at all for these kinds of biographical-type books on rich people, but the amusing and irreverent nature of Lewis' writing makes it more than bearable, especially since there is actual analysis and discussion about the political economy of Silicon Valley startups and venture capital and tech. You actually do learn something about how tech capitalism works by vi
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Published in 1999, "The New New Thing: A Silicon Valley Story," by Michael Lewis, is yet another delightful work of nonfiction by this author.
This book delves into the life of Jim Clark, a technology entrepreneur who helped launch the age of the Internet boom in the 1990s. "The New New Thing" examines Clark's personal history, his extremely adventurous daily life in the '90s, and his work founding Silicon Graphics, Netscape, and Healtheon (which soon merged with WebMD).
I laughed a lot. I found ...more
This book delves into the life of Jim Clark, a technology entrepreneur who helped launch the age of the Internet boom in the 1990s. "The New New Thing" examines Clark's personal history, his extremely adventurous daily life in the '90s, and his work founding Silicon Graphics, Netscape, and Healtheon (which soon merged with WebMD).
I laughed a lot. I found ...more

Have always been a fan of Michael Lewis and this book did not disappoint! The story about one of the most active mind, “the least happy optimist in Silicon Valley”, from when he started his first company to when he stumbled and when he recovered. Through all ups and downs he managed to stay in touch with his determination and curiosity to fix things in this world.

Michael Lewis is a great storyteller but this one just didn't grab me as much as some of his other books have.
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I bought this solely based on the fact that it was written by Michael Lewis. I had no idea what it was about. Guess what? I loved it. Perfectly written. The subject is Jim Clark (who I barely remember) and the internet boom of the late 90s, which goes hand in hand with the Wall Street bubble created around it (which I recall vividly). I especially appreciated the detail around the sailboat venture; as the daughter of a sailor I know just enough to confirm that Jim Clark is a lunatic!!

An entertaining read, even if it is like Halt and Catch fire without the creative joy. Also a reminder that big tech didn't suddenly become shallow and craven, it was that way from the start.
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Years down the road when fables of capitalism are written, Silicon Valley’s boom of the 90s will hold an immortal place.
I was always interested to learn more about the tech boom of the 90s and the key players that contributed to it. While this book touches slightly on other players that contributed to the tech boom, it revolves more around Jim Clark - the man who founded Silicon Graphics, Netscape and Heltheon. Like a master chef who exploits a well stocked kitchen to create tasty delicacies, J ...more
I was always interested to learn more about the tech boom of the 90s and the key players that contributed to it. While this book touches slightly on other players that contributed to the tech boom, it revolves more around Jim Clark - the man who founded Silicon Graphics, Netscape and Heltheon. Like a master chef who exploits a well stocked kitchen to create tasty delicacies, J ...more

The New, New Thing (2001) by Michael Lewis looks at Jim Clark and the internet age. It’s one of a number of books including Nudist on the Night Shift and Triumph of the Nerds that looks at the first Dot-com Bubble in Silicon Valley.
Jim Clark founded Silicon Graphics Incorporated (SGI) which was the computer company that brought real-time 3D graphics to the market. Clark laid out a chip called the geometry engine that was a VLSI design that performed matrix transformations, clipping and mapping a ...more
Jim Clark founded Silicon Graphics Incorporated (SGI) which was the computer company that brought real-time 3D graphics to the market. Clark laid out a chip called the geometry engine that was a VLSI design that performed matrix transformations, clipping and mapping a ...more
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