Accidental Empires: How the Boys of Silicon Valley Make Their Millions, Battle Foreign Competition, and Still Can't Get a Date [Paperback]

Robert X. Cringely (Author)

Book Description

Release date: September 13, 1996

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 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.

Editorial Reviews

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 humor 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.

From Publishers Weekly

Rich in relevant, entertaining digressions, this breezy but informative history recounts how gifted, maverick "nerds," "hippies" and entrepreneurs like Apple's Steve Wozniak and Steve Jobs invented and developed microprocessors and operating systems into today's volatile, ego-driven, highly competitive personal computer industry, in which ever-changing technical standards propel the market. Info World columnist Cringley charges that the astronomical sales of PCs ($70-billion worldwide in 1990) "both created the longest continuous peacetime economic expansion in U.S. history and ended it." While current dominance by IBM spurs competitors to further research and networking, the author predicts that by the year 2000 single chips will render today's PCs obsolete and that of American technology only software will survive.
Copyright 1991 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 384 pages
• Publisher: HarperBusiness; Reprint edition (September 13, 1996)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0887308554
• ISBN-13: 978-0887308550
• Product Dimensions: 5.3 x 0.9 x 8.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 9.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (82 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #215,916 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

21 of 21 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Great book, even if you're not a nerd! October 23, 1999

By A Customer

Format:Paperback

If you're interested in the birth and growth of the PC industry this is your guide!

After I saw the TV series I wanted to have the book, I even mailed Bob Cringely for the ISBN. A book like this could be a rather dull book, but this isn't one of those. This is a great book full of facts served with plenty of humour. Cringely was there when it happened, he knows what he's writing about. This book tells you about never released software, missed opportunities, killer applications, where the GUI came from, and much more in a language that isn't just for nerds.

I've read this book twice, I'm pretty sure I'll read it again...

37 of 41 people found the following review helpful

3.0 out of 5 stars Interesting content but Cringely's attitude makes me cringe July 19, 2000

By Ellen Isaacs

Format:Paperback

As someone who's been working in Silicon Valley for years, I found this book interesting for its insight into the history of the computer business and the strong personalities who created it. It focuses on the early giants of IBM, Apple, Microsoft, Compaq, and the like, well before the Internet became a popular medium. The book highlighted for me how much an industry is shaped by the people and their peculiarities, and how the culture of an organization shapes its perception of and reaction to events.

Still, Cringley's smug, know-it-all attitude detracted from the book and made me question the credibility of his analysis. He paints people in black and white strokes, often portraying the object of his ridicule as blind to the obviously correct course of action. Cringely is especially harsh on people he perceives as ego-driven and insecure, which, ironically, is just how he struck me.

I suspect people who are not particularly tied into the computer culture won't find this worth reading. But if you are among those hooked on the computer industry and you can get past Cringely's attitude, the book has some useful insights, anecdotes, and facts.

16 of 18 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars History of Computing for People Like Us September 10, 2001

By Walter Nicolau

Format:Paperback

Accidental Empires is the suggestive title of a journey into the story of computing starting from its humble beginnings during the early seventies and ending just before the Internet revolution. It is by all means a fascinating account of the people and events that shaped the marketplace and gave it a direction and turned it into a multibillion industry. I still find it hard to believe that the first computer available on the market came in unassembled parts and the user had to put it together and the end product had no harddrive, no OS, and no applications to run. And this happened only 25 years ago...
As a journalist for Infoworld, Cringely leads us with a firm hand and clear passion for disentangling the intricate dependencies and relationships that reign in the computing industry. His book is a well informed account of the evolution of operating systems, hardware, networking, and print technologies starting from the day these were just wild ideas. Although the lecture may sound a little too technical and hence a bit complicated, this book is easy to follow. Through Cringely's talent we get a (funny but very plausible) portrait of the people, their desires, shortcommings, and in most cases genius and totally obsessive personalities.
Apart for the obvious animosity that the author nurtures towards Gates and Jobs whom he claims to be to various degrees true sociopaths, one with ambition to dominate the world, the other one to be accepted and loved, I find the whole overview to be an objective and informative account of the fascinating and tumultuous evolution of computing as we know today. Overall, Cringely argues that despite the incredible brainpower, no founding geek was ever capable of truly assessing the enormous impact the creation of personal computing, a user friendly OS, and networking technologies would have on our world and their pockets (this is to confirm that one can excel in many things but not all things). At the same time, it is simply stupefying to read about the incredibly ill advised strategic decisions that established companies, such as IBM and Xerox, made. For more info on the 200 billion dollars misstake, turn to the IBM files.
Along with The Sillicon Boys, this is the best book on the history of computing for the layman I've read so far, I don't hesitate to give it five stars.