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The Autodesk File: Bits of History, Words of Experience
Founders recount the genesis, evolution, and history of this CAD software publisher. No bibliography. Published by New Riders Publishing, distributed by Que. Annotation copyright Book News, Inc. Portland, Or.
- GenresBiography
530 pages, Paperback
First published July 1, 1989
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John Walker
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April 10, 2010
This book is a collection of internal memos, press releases, and documents that describe the software industry from the early '80s to the early '90s (available at http://fourmilab.ch/autofile/ ).
Clearly some things have changed (bug fixes were mailed out on physical disks instead of posted to a website or automatically downloaded). However a number of things are relevant, and often for surprising reasons. For instance, in 1981 there were still a dozen or so personal computer platforms, but while it was clear that "microcomputing" was rapidly becoming a "a marketplace which is expanding at an unbelievable rate" (page 37) "where huge corporations are trying to promote your work to sell their hardware" (page 38) it wasn't clear who would be the winning supplier and it was very difficult to write cross platform programs -- much like embedded devices and smart phones right now.
The book also gives a good dose of business strategy, information about running a distributed company, a front row seat to the switch from "do a lot of things, see what takes off and cancel the rest" to "pick a focus and put the resources of a billion dollar corporation behind it" (along with obsolete tax advice and somewhat obsolete organizational advice -- the early discussions comparing a Limited Partnership vs a Corporation would now include LLCs and LLPs).
Clearly some things have changed (bug fixes were mailed out on physical disks instead of posted to a website or automatically downloaded). However a number of things are relevant, and often for surprising reasons. For instance, in 1981 there were still a dozen or so personal computer platforms, but while it was clear that "microcomputing" was rapidly becoming a "a marketplace which is expanding at an unbelievable rate" (page 37) "where huge corporations are trying to promote your work to sell their hardware" (page 38) it wasn't clear who would be the winning supplier and it was very difficult to write cross platform programs -- much like embedded devices and smart phones right now.
The book also gives a good dose of business strategy, information about running a distributed company, a front row seat to the switch from "do a lot of things, see what takes off and cancel the rest" to "pick a focus and put the resources of a billion dollar corporation behind it" (along with obsolete tax advice and somewhat obsolete organizational advice -- the early discussions comparing a Limited Partnership vs a Corporation would now include LLCs and LLPs).
Displaying 1 of 1 review