Books : Accidental Empires: How the Boys of Silicon Valley Make Their Millions, Battle Foreign Competition, and Still Can't Get a Date
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Type of bind: Paperback
Dewey Decimal Number: 338.470040979473
EAN num: 9780887308550
ISBN number: 0887308554
Label: Collins Business
Manufacturer: Collins Business
Quantity: 1
Page Count: 384
Printing Date: October 23, 1996
Publishing house: Collins Business
Release Date: September 13, 1996
Sale Popularity Level: 265021
Studio: Collins Business
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Product Description:
Computer manufacturing is--after cars, energy production and illegal drugs--the largest industry in the world, and it's one of the last great sucess 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 the hacker culture they spawned as it does on the remarkable technology they created. Cringely reveals the manias and foibles of these men (they are always men) with deadpan hilarity and cogently demonstrates how their neuroses have shaped the computer business. But Cringely gives us much more than high-tech voyeurism and insider gossip. From the birth of the transistor to the mid-life crisis of the computer industry, he spins a sweeping, uniquely American saga of creativity and ego that is at once uproarious, shocking and inspiring.
Amazon.com Review:
Robert X. Cringely manages to capture the contradictions and everyday insanity of computer industry empire building, while at the same time chipping away sardonically at the PR campaigns that have built up some very common businesspeople into the household gods of geekdom. Despite some chuckles at the expense of all things nerdy, white, and male in the computer industry, Cringely somehow manages to balance the humour with a genuine appreciation of both the technical and strategic accomplishments of these industry luminaries. Whether you're a hard-boiled Silicon Valley marketing exec fishing for an IPO or just a plain old reader with an interest in business history and anecdotal storytelling, there's something to enjoy here.
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Rated by buyers 
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Accidental Empires (later made into a great TV production called: Triumph of the Nerds) is an eye opening view of the personal computer revolution and the who made it happen from an inside writer who knew the individuals.
Robert Cringley does an exceptionally thorough job of providing a bird's eye view of the personalities, motivations, business environment and savvy of the nerds who changed the world.
I thoroughly enjoyed reading the entire book. One of the parts that sticks out in my mind is about how the personal computer revolution happened so quickly. Cringley points out that the personal computer industry was totally different than any other industry. The participants shared their friendships, work, and knowledge freely. This "free sharing of knowledge" was on of the primary the lynch pin that allowed the industry to explode so quickly.
They shared this knowledge because it all started out as a hobby and many hobbyists freely share ideas. The nerds had no idea of the powder keg of an industry they were sitting on!
Cringley points out a second lynch pin was the growth of the industry was partially because of the youth and exuberance of its participants. For example, he states: "In the PC business, constant change is the only norm, and adolescent energy is the source of that change."
This is an incredible book for anyone interested in learning about the fascinating story of the start of the PC industry.
The Re-Discovery of Common Sense: A Guide to: The Lost Art of Critical Thinking
Rated by buyers -
If you are as fortunate as me, you will be able to read ACCIDENTAL EMPIRES and, at that time, realize that Mr. Robert Cringeley has a profund writing style. Better than that craft of many suspense writers. Yet, this is all real. It's as real as it gets...Rather, as real as it had been. Cringely has an immaculate sense of pace and timing...he teleports you from the distant past to the nearly present, to the potential future. A non-fiction writer who can captivate my attention with that kind of 3-Dimensial approach is, "in my books", a genius of the very first rite. Add to that, a touch of humour at exactly the right point, not just timing, but to help crystallize critical concepts, and you have someone who, as my T'ai Chi instructor once said, is practising the supreme art of the "Grand Ultimate". Mr. Cringely is artist and master. Though he is artist and master of the computer reportorial world, I was the guinea pig he describes, [my terminology, not his]. I was the real-world, unwitting consumer who suffered and struggled with the early versions of software and hardware. I saw myself in his book! In a very real sense, I was there though my experience took place thousands of miles from where Silicon Valley established itself. Now, I have the understanding of why...Knowing it was not all my fault. Knowing I was not a total moron. It all helps. Even this late in the "game". Phew! That's a relief. I thought I was losing my touch. Yippie. I've been validated by Mr. Cringely's step-by-step descriptions of the hidden agendas running amock in Silicon Valley that caught us, [me, in particular], right in the middle. My Vice President, back then, had been so impressed with my go-get-em attitude that he bought our company's very first DeskTop PC for Business Executives...and I was the very first in my company to be asked to use it. Heck...I didn't even know how to switch it on! I reminded him that I was the guy who talked his way out of taking a mandatory FORTRAN course while at my undergraduate school. Like a dope, I studied the specification manual, thinking it was a progamming language. I was just beginning to crack the darn "code" when a pal showed me a book on programming in the language of BASIC. Instantly, I was a programmer. How nifty was that?! Wow. I remember how delighted I was to create code that let a shooting star whip across my screen. I branched out into other programs that I wrote with every increasing facility. Then there was a surge of ready-made software. It caused me to question why anyone who go through the pain of learning a programming language when, with a little creative thinking, some of these new, powerful software packages can do everything you need it to do? I was among lead users of those programs in his text: Visicalc, Symphony, Lotus 1-2-3, and on and on. Then the momentus day when my very own $4,000 plus computer arrived at home, with the most advanced software from IBM, their OS2 operating system. Wow. I was excited. Impressed to be part of the legendary company, etc. What a pain that was! And Cringely now tells us why. Interesting. I was caught in that vortex!! Is there someone at IBM I can call and bill them retro-actively for all my pain and suffering? [Just kidding!] In summary, Cringely provided me with the right amount of history. I lived some of it. I dodged some of it. I was wowed by some of it. But it happened right before my eyes! I was there. I was part of that. And I make it a point of telling my children. Plus, Cringely has a mature "try me" attitude when it comes to where's it all going? What's next. Many real lessons are contained in his masterpiece. It took me a long time to learn my lesson: I waited until Dec. 25th, 2006 to ask for this to be my Christmas present from my children. If your heirs do not find this book among your most precious books on your bookshelf...well, shame on you. Congratulations, Mr. Cringely. A true masterpiece's masterpiece. Oh...PPS.: It is VERY refreshing to read a labor of love, such as this, where the writer went out and DISCOVERED the background material on a first-hand basis, him-, or herself. Bravo. It is refreshing to have such a seminal work in my library. Mr. Cringely "rules!"
Rated by buyers -
If you wish to know and better understand the computer business this book is for you. If you wish to know and better understand the computer history this book is for you too.
It's an excellent book, easy to read with full details.
Only one expection, Robert Cringley didn't metion Amiga computer and it's importance.
I recommend this excellent book for all !
Rated by buyers 
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Published in 1992, this book is a good retrospective on the rise of the microcomputer and the fortunes it helped generate. However, Cringely almost totally fails when he attempts to look into the future. Cringely writes a regular industry gossip column for "InfoWorld" and so is well connected with the inner workings of the IT industry. As you will be able to see from Cringely's writings, the choice of the title is only marginally correct.
It is true that Bill Gates, Steven Jobs and the others who gleaned enormous fortunes from the rise of the personal computer were in the right place at the right time. To this extent, the use of the term accidental is appropriate. However, they were also smart enough to recognize opportunities that others did not, so in that area there was nothing accidental about their success.
If you read this book with that in mind, then there are many benefits to reading it. However, without that perspective, you may reach the end with a biased and incorrect opinion of how these incredible fortunes were made.
Rated by buyers -
Robert Cringely's book captures the ethos of early and mid-90s Silicon Valley - when nerds were starting to change the world, but the masses didn't get it yet. He captures the gossip, makes bold predictions (Bill Gates won't get married while his Mom is still alive - doh!) and accurately relates the ethos of the era. At the time it was almost a call to arms. Now it still suffices for historical context.
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