Fire in the Valley: The Making of The Personal Computer (Second Edition) [Paperback]

Paul Freiberger (Author), Michael Swaine (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: November 29, 2000

"A book not to be missed, just plain good reading about the drama of the Kids next door turning their dreams into millions."--The New York Times"Swaine and Freiberger capture the communal spirit of the early computer clubs, the brilliance and blundering of some of the first start-up companies, the assortment of naivete, noble purpose and greed that characterized various pioneers, and the inevitable transformation of all this into a major industry. Must reading."--Philip Lemmons, editor-in-chief, BYTE Magazine

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

In the early 1970s, while Silicon Valley was designing the latest generation of digital wristwatches and pocket calculators, a ragtag group of college dropouts, hippies, and electronics hobbyists were busy creating the future in their garages. What they built was the personal computer, but what they were aiming for was something much more ambitious: a revolution. Fire in the Valley is the story of their efforts, and in particular, the contributions of an informal think tank called the Homebrew Computer Club. Its technically gifted community, comprising sci-fi aficionados and Berkeley counterculturists, believed computers could usher in an age of human empowerment, perhaps even a utopia.

The club's most famous member is Steve Jobs of Apple, whose story is told here, as is Bill Gates's, who was strongly influenced by Homebrew. What sets Fire in the Valley apart from the many other books about early days at Apple and Microsoft, though, is its focus on the brilliant engineers and coders who built the foundation that would eventually support those two companies. They included ex-Berkley Barb editor and hardware designer Lee Felsenstein, who was adamant about using computers for populist ends; Adam Osborne, who took PCs to the next level by making them portable; hacker legend John "Captain Crunch" Draper, who used telephony for his own mischievous purposes; and activist Ted Nelson, the Thom Paine of the computer revolution.

The cast of characters is sometimes tough to keep track of, and authors Paul Freiberger and Michael Swaine have wisely included a graphic timeline in the first pages of the book that readers will find useful. It stretches from 1800 to 1999, encompassing events that have occurred since Fire in the Valley's original 1984 publication. This second edition includes new chapters and photographs to document the last 15 years, but they serve as more of an epilogue than a new act in this drama. The Homebrew Club's mark on personal computing history is cemented, and Fire in the Valley is an engaging account of it, one that should inspire readers everywhere. --Demian McLean

Review

A book not to be missed, just plain good reading about the drama of the Kids next door turning their dreams into millions. -- The New York Times

Swain and Freiberger capture the communal spirit, the brilliance and blundering, the assortment of naivete, noble purpose and greed, and the inevitable transformation of all this into a major industry. Must Reading -- Byte

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 463 pages
• Publisher: McGraw-Hill Companies; 2nd edition (November 29, 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0071358927
• ISBN-13: 978-0071358927
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 7.3 x 1.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.4 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (46 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #138,625 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #66 in Books > Business & Investing > Industries & Professions > High-Tech
  • #89 in Books > Computers & Technology > Business & Culture > History

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

20 of 20 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The best antidote for recent Orwellian history rewrites, July 6, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Fire in the Valley: The Making of the Personal Computer (Paperback)

Nobody who has read Paul Freiberger's matchless "Fire in the Valley: The Making of the Personal Computer" will be fooled by spinmeisters like the author of the last sentence in the following paragraph, which just landed on my keyboard with "spin city!" scrawled in the margin:

"..However, even the industry's most innovative pioneers didn't foresee how prevalent computers would become. In fact, in 1943, IBM Chairman Thomas Watson remarked, 'I think there is a world market for maybe five computers.' Despite Watson's outlook, other computer-related companies slowly began to emerge, including Hewlett Packard in 1938, Digital Equipment Corp. in 1957, Microsoft in 1975, and Apple a year later. Then, in 1981, trailblazer IBM revolutionized the industry with the first personal computer."

Gag me with a spoon, Harold! If the author of this puff piece had ever read "Fire in the Valley", he/she would never dare to call IBM a trailblazer in personal computers!

To read about the REAL trailblazers (which admittedly do include Bill Gates and Paul Allen, as well as the Woz and Steve Jobs), you need this book. Read about Traf-O-Data, the Altair, paper tape readers, DiskBasic, the famous Letter to Users, IMSAI, the first Apple logo, CP/M, KayPro and all the rest. It's in there!

I can't believe I ever let my original copy of it get away.

.-)

17 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars I think it should be REQUIRED to be read by today's youth!, December 14, 1999

By 

Keith G Schlotthauer - See all my reviews

This review is from: Fire in the Valley: The Making of The Personal Computer (Second Edition) (Paperback)

I saw the movie "Pirates of Silicon Valley" I read the original version of Fire in the Valley. All I can say is that YOU NEED this book.

The Movie starts almost where the original book ends. The history of the computers the author relate is amazing. As I was reading I was constantly saying to myself...."I remember that year".

I live in Silicon Valley and worked in Palo Alto. The the authors mentioned different cities around the bay area...I thought...WOW, I live here. In fact I worked about 1/8 mile from where the first commercial transistor was developed (they have a momumment out there).

After reading the original book, I sat back and just thought "these early pioneers of the PC's where amazing", the time and effort they put into programming a computer less powerful than a calculator and what they did with it.

This book should be rated 10 stars!

GET THIS BOOK!...BTW....it is about 3 times thicker than the original print!

22 of 25 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Revisionist history at its best!, January 9, 2006

By 

K. Kipper "8-bit nut" (Chicagoland) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Fire in the Valley: The Making of The Personal Computer (Second Edition) (Paperback)

For the life of me, I cannot understand why this book and so many others completely fail to mention Commodore and it's contributions to the PC world. 1st millionth computer sold with VIC-20. Most computers ever sold with C64 (over 20 million!). First multitasking, etc. with Amiga. etc., etc... Commodore created the first, affordable home computer. They introduced computers to the masses. While Apple was trying to sell their Apple II series for astronomical prices, C64 was being sold for 1/3 - 1/5 the price.

I trully hope that in the end, the historical accounts of the birth of a personal computer will give credit where the credit is due - Chuck Peddle for creation of the 6502 processor, and Commodore for creation of the most sucesfull computer ever made - C64.