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Summary: The Best of the Best!!!!!!!
Review: This is the first book that I have read where the author did not sugar coat the major icons of the industry---something that I really appreciated. Also, I enjoyed discovering those often forgotten details about how the computer industry came to be what it is today. I would recommend this book to anyone that likes the blunt, honest truth about those super giants of the industry or that is curious about the computer industry's history.
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Summary: The definitive work on the rise of the PC industry.
Review: The book runs deep and wide. Don't let the humor fool you; while it doesn't rank with The Prince, it will probably always be the best history of Silicon Valley. Psychology, finance, history, technology; Cringely has the brains to see them all.And OK, it is funny too.
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Summary: Must read for computer enthousiasts & wannabe entrepreneurs
Review: Great book about the history and myths of Sillicon Valley. The authour obviously did a great job of researching and documenting the different steps that led to the computer world we know. Not having lived the era, I learned a lot and can now much better understand the situation we live in. REALLY WORTH IT!
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Summary: A must read for all computer enthusiasts
Review: I am a 14 year old sophmore who is considered by his friends to be a computer nerd. I enjoy computers and love almost everything about them. I found it REALLY interesting to see how the industry came about. To see how Bill Gates got his billions (51 to be exact) or to find out how the spread sheet came to be. For example: the IBM-PC was first shipped w/ a choice of three Operating Systems (a very general tid bit) I thought this book was very well written and deserves the five stars.
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Summary: This book has no equal
Review: Not only is "Accidental Empires" an informative and entertaining history of the computer/software revolution, it presents a detailed and accurate analysis of the psyche of those who started the industry. This book is a MUST READ for anyone with a career in the computer industry. If you work with technical people, you'll understand them better; you'll have a clearer idea of WHY the players in this industry do seemingly illogical things. If your competition has not read this book, they are at a disadvantage. The PBS series that was based on this book doesn't do the book justice, but is a wonderful compliment to Cringely's excellent writing!
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Summary: How did we ever get into this situation?
Review: If you ever wondered how we got to the point of 35MB word processing programs that don't do THAT much more than WordPerfect 5.1 for DOS, this book will show you. Ego and arrogance instead of market research. You may hate Microsoft (this book can explain why), you may love Microsoft (this book can explain why), you will learn about at least a half dozen other companies that had thier chance to BE Microsoft but blew it! (DEC, Xerox, Apple, IBM, CA, HP, Lotus, Borland, etc.) As a network engineer and a frustrated history major, this book was written for me. The humorous/cynical/what were they thinking!? tone Cringely uses really livens up the story to a point where those outside the industry can understand and appreciate.
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Summary: Ex PC War vet likes it a lot!
Review: Gringe is to the Valley Gang as Tom Wolfe was to the Pump House Gang: makes an uncannily accurate portrait of a phenomena easy to look at. Maybe that's why Kaypro was not the centerpiece. Okay: we always felt that there was no such thing as bad press (until things REALLY got bad). But, NO press . . . ?
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Summary: Delicious AND nutritious! At least a 12!
Review: Absolutely the best book I've ever read on the history of the personal computer--both in terms of information and entertainment. In fact, one of the 10 best non-fiction books I've ever read.
A wonderfully wry, sometimes gossipy style disguises a smoothly informative narrative and keen insight. (Best example of the latter: the ice cream coupon story.) I read AE when it first came out in hardcover and bought copies for everyone I knew...read it again when it was re-issued as a trade paperback and bought copies for everyone I'd met since the hardcover was out. (I'm not rich, but I wanted everyone I knew to get the same enjoyment I'd had.) Besides, can you REALLY resist a book that has chapter titles like "Chairman Gates Leads the Happy Workers in Song"? Can ya?
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Summary: Accidental Empires: Definitely worth the read!
Review: I found this book to be very entertaining and fun to read. Cringely covers a dozen or so different people/companies throughout the book - telling stories, incidents, and rumors about each. This is one of the few books that I have found which gives the reader a sense of what it must have been like to be involved in the creation of one of the most influential eras of humankind: the computer revolution. If you're interested in the times and people which created Silicon Valley, this book is hard to put down!
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Summary: An excellent insight into how money and technology mix
Review: A fascinating potted history of an industry that is now dominating our lives. It seems that Cringely has a go at everyone but also has a strange admiration for them at the same time. I can't wait until he has another review of the situation in 10 years time
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