The Real Silicon Valley
Some people say that Silicon Valley is a state of mind, but the cultural trends that drive us today were actually born in a very real place—the garages and back rooms of the cities between San Francisco and San Jose, California. Geek Silicon Valley delivers Silicon Valley history, taking us from success story to failed start-up and back again as we drive the roads from Menlo Park to Palo Alto, Mountain View, Sunnyvale, and Santa Clara.
Place by place, readers get the background info on all the addresses that count: Google, Hewlett-Packard, Intel, Sun Microsystems, Oracle, Stanford University, NASA Ames, the Computer History Museum in Mountain View, Santana Row, Genentech, and many more.
Journey through a circuitry of places and people—and the stories that created today’s high-tech lifestyle—with Geek Silicon Valley.
Geek Silicon Valley
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From the Back Cover
The Real Silicon Valley
Some people say that Silicon Valley is a state of mind, but the cultural trends that drive us today were actually born in a very real place—the garages and back rooms of the cities between San Francisco and San Jose, California. Geek Silicon Valley delivers Silicon Valley history, taking us from success story to failed start-up and back again as we drive the roads from Menlo Park to Palo Alto, Mountain View, Sunnyvale, and Santa Clara.
Place by place, readers get the background info on all the addresses that count: Google, Hewlett-Packard, Intel, Sun Microsystems, Oracle, Stanford University, NASA Ames, the Computer History Museum in Mountain View, Santana Row, Genentech, and many more.
Journey through a circuitry of places and people—and the stories that created today’s high-tech lifestyle—with Geek Silicon Valley.
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
7 of 7 people found the following review helpful
By skywatcher
Format:Paperback
This is a great little book. Part historical overview, part travel guide, it's written in the breezy, easy-going style of Vance's columns in The Register, the best of the online IT rags (except that the book has been carefully proofread, unlike a typical Register story). In less than 250 pages Vance has covered almost all of the important historic events and personalities behind Silicon Valley, and provided a great set of tips of places for visiting, dining and drinking. There's even a good list of books and web sites for further reading.
I've lived in the Valley for nearly 15 years, and yet learned a fair amount from this book, including several places to visit that were new to me. There were only a few curious omissions: e.g., Halted gets a mention, but Fry's does not; neither does Buck's in Woodside; and surely Frank Drake should be mentioned in the section on the SETI Institute? - but otherwise the text is remarkably accurate, despite having condensed many complex histories, each worthy of a book in its own right, into paragraphs or pages. Vance clearly did his homework. My only historical quibble is with his description of the demise of SGI. I thought it was mainly done in by cheap graphics chips from Nvidia and the like; Itanic was just the icing on the cake.
The book mentions his web site and claims additional information can be found there, but so far there isn't anything new. Hopefully that will change over time. Another concern is that quite a bit of the information in the book will date fast; I hope Vance and his publisher refreshes the text (or the website, or both) regularly.
If you live in the Valley, visit the Valley, or you just want to know what the heck the place is about, this book is for you. And if you're a geek too, it's a must-read.
I've lived in the Valley for nearly 15 years, and yet learned a fair amount from this book, including several places to visit that were new to me. There were only a few curious omissions: e.g., Halted gets a mention, but Fry's does not; neither does Buck's in Woodside; and surely Frank Drake should be mentioned in the section on the SETI Institute? - but otherwise the text is remarkably accurate, despite having condensed many complex histories, each worthy of a book in its own right, into paragraphs or pages. Vance clearly did his homework. My only historical quibble is with his description of the demise of SGI. I thought it was mainly done in by cheap graphics chips from Nvidia and the like; Itanic was just the icing on the cake.
The book mentions his web site and claims additional information can be found there, but so far there isn't anything new. Hopefully that will change over time. Another concern is that quite a bit of the information in the book will date fast; I hope Vance and his publisher refreshes the text (or the website, or both) regularly.
If you live in the Valley, visit the Valley, or you just want to know what the heck the place is about, this book is for you. And if you're a geek too, it's a must-read.
5 of 5 people found the following review helpful
By DH
Format:Paperback
I'm a long-time reader of Vance's articles in the Reg and eslewhere. His articles are always well researched (except when intentionally not!), but it's his biting wit that always brings out the deeply burried tech geek in me. I was hoping for more of the same from this book, and was pleasantly surprised at how much more it offered than I'd hoped. The book is part biography- focusing on the heroes of the tech revolution, part history, and part guide-book. It may just inspire a trip to Silicon Valley. I even enjoyed it enough to recommend it to my 100% non-tech geek mom (who happens to like Silicon Valley).
5 of 5 people found the following review helpful
By Valley Vet
Format:Paperback
I've lived in Palo ALto for years and still learned a ton from this book. It's the perfect blend of history, context, entertaining anecdotes and insight. Vance manages to describe many "geek" innovations in layman terms, so that the book was especially helpful for a non-geek like me--someone who knew it was past time to learn about his hometown as well as the most important revolution of the 20th century. Who would have thought something so good for me would have caused me to laugh out loud at several points? Just wait until you read about Google's party plane.
Most Recent Customer Reviews
5.0 out of 5 stars
Great to know about the Bay
This book was gifted to me.
If you wish to know more about the history of the Silicon valley and why its the only bay in the world with all major technology companies present... Read more
If you wish to know more about the history of the Silicon valley and why its the only bay in the world with all major technology companies present... Read more
Published 4 days ago by Atul C.
5.0 out of 5 stars
Useful and oddly charming
This proved to be an excellent companion for a few days driving around Silicon Valley -- well-written, with lots of back stories on the personalities and events that shaped the... Read more
Published 17 months ago by Tahl
5.0 out of 5 stars
Best book for Silicon Valley tourist, as of July 2011
I found this book very helpful on a recent sightseeing trip to Silicon Valley. If you are interested in a basic history of the Valley, this is a good place to start. Read more
Published 22 months ago by Robert
4.0 out of 5 stars
Behind the scenes look at Silicon Valley History
Great introduction to some of SV's rich history. This is a base starting point , but there is so much more that this book doesn't cover. Wish it was double the size.
Published on February 23, 2011 by vincent himpe
5.0 out of 5 stars
The Indispensable guide to Silicon Valley
This book delivers as advertised. A great summary of Silicon Valley. If you've just arrived in the valley it is indispensable. Read more
Published on February 1, 2008 by Tech Historian
4.0 out of 5 stars
Geek Silicon Valley
Great overview of the valley history and key players who influenced the culture and its success. Ashley's recommendations on restaurants are eclectic and fun as well. Read more
Published on January 12, 2008 by Lawrence Laurich
5.0 out of 5 stars
Great book!!
I've been involved with the tech business for 15 years and know my way around the places and companies in the valley. I found this book hugely entertaining and informative. Read more
Published on December 10, 2007 by Dirk Steele
5.0 out of 5 stars
Tech writing... with flair
Like technology? Like history? Like good writing? OK. This is your book. A little bit travel guide, a little bit history and a lot of fun, Ashlee Vance brings his truly unique and... Read more
Published on November 21, 2007 by W. Baker
5.0 out of 5 stars
Geek Silicon Valley
Fantastic Read the Author (Ashlee Vance) has done a great job making what I thought would be a boring subject matter interesting and informative. Read more
Published on November 15, 2007 by Faye Owers
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