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Fire in the Valley: The Birth and Death of the Personal Computer 3rd Edition

by Michael Swaine (Author), Paul Freiberger (Author)
4.6 4.6 out of 5 stars 139 ratings
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In the 1970s, while their contemporaries were protesting the computer as a tool of dehumanization and oppression, a motley collection of college dropouts, hippies, and electronics fanatics were engaged in something much more subversive. Obsessed with the idea of getting computer power into their own hands, they launched from their garages a hobbyist movement that grew into an industry, and ultimately a social and technological revolution. What they did was invent the personal computer: not just a new device, but a watershed in the relationship between man and machine. This is their story.

Fire in the Valley is the definitive history of the personal computer, drawn from interviews with the people who made it happen, written by two veteran computer writers who were there from the start. Working at InfoWorld in the early 1980s, Swaine and Freiberger daily rubbed elbows with people like Steve Jobs and Bill Gates when they were creating the personal computer revolution.

A rich story of colorful individuals, Fire in the Valley profiles these unlikely revolutionaries and entrepreneurs, such as Ed Roberts of MITS, Lee Felsenstein at Processor Technology, and Jack Tramiel of Commodore, as well as Jobs and Gates in all the innocence of their formative years.

This completely revised and expanded third edition brings the story to its completion, chronicling the end of the personal computer revolution and the beginning of the post-PC era. It covers the departure from the stage of major players with the deaths of Steve Jobs and Douglas Engelbart and the retirements of Bill Gates and Steve Ballmer; the shift away from the PC to the cloud and portable devices; and what the end of the PC era means for issues such as personal freedom and power, and open source vs. proprietary software.
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  1. ISBN-10
    1937785769
  2. ISBN-13
    978-1937785765
  3. Edition
    3rd
  4. Publisher
    Pragmatic Bookshelf
  5. Publication date
    November 25, 2014
  6. Language
    English
  7. Dimensions
    7.5 x 0.86 x 9.25 inches
  8. Print length
    424 pages
  9. See all details
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Customer reviews

4.6 out of 5 stars
139 global ratings

Customers say

Customers find the book great, easy, and well-written. They appreciate the incredible effort and pacing.

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6 customers mention "Readability"6 positive0 negative

Customers find the book great, easy, and well-written. They say it's even better than the previous version.

"...It's been updated since then. It's a great, easy, well-written read. If you have any interest in the birth of Silicon Valley, I highly recommend it." Read more

"I have the original book. As promised, this version is even better. Nice having the portability. I'm reading it on the iPad Air 2." Read more

"This is a very good book to read. Anyone who wants to understand how the personal computer came about should read this book." Read more

"Great book!" Read more

3 customers mention "Pacing"3 positive0 negative

Customers find the pacing of the book incredible, fantastic, and easy to read. They also say it's a great, well-written read.

"...It must have taken forever to write. What an incredible effort. You definitely get your money's worth!" Read more

"...This is the third edition of this fantastic work, and the authors do a credible job of describing today's melding of personal computing into the..." Read more

"...It's been updated since then. It's a great, easy, well-written read. If you have any interest in the birth of Silicon Valley, I highly recommend it." Read more

I wonder how much detail of the early days was lost in the much edited and shorter book?
3 out of 5 stars
I wonder how much detail of the early days was lost in the much edited and shorter book?
The third edition is a much shorter book in the second edition, which leads me to believe that the second edition has much richer content. 50 pages at least deleted? In the photo, the second edition is on top, the third edition is on the bottom. You decide.
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Top reviews from the United States

J. Roscovius
5.0 out of 5 stars Great read!!
Reviewed in the United States on April 4, 2024
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This book starts before the microprocessor boom of the '70s, and goes right up to the present day. My only complaint is that there's too much on Apple while other companies and companies are glossed over. I can find more on Wikipedia about a number of machines. But the book is fascinating.
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Glen Graves
5.0 out of 5 stars A Well-Researched Read About Computers
Reviewed in the United States on February 6, 2015
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After reading the book, I feel like I have completed a college course I've long wanted to take. I appreciate the names, the general history, the telling the technical story of the development of the smart-machine itself, the demonstration in the telling of how to screw up a business and how not to screw it up--really, I appreciate all the information this book has given me. It must have taken forever to write. What an incredible effort. You definitely get your money's worth!
5 people found this helpful
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Joseph Goodwin
4.0 out of 5 stars Why your PC does what it does...
Reviewed in the United States on January 8, 2017
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This is a robust look at the rise of the personal computing phenomenon, told from the perspective of those who watched the industry explode from a spark to a conflagration within a couple of decades.

Rather than taking a pure chronological approach, the narrative groups the material into themes like hardware development, evolving operating systems, user reactions, investor relations, business adoption, the growth of multimedia, corporate rises and falls, and the like. While this occasionally caused some timeline confusion (okay, are we still in the 90s? Back to the 70s?) it made the trends of history easier to follow and understand.

This is the third edition of this fantastic work, and the authors do a credible job of describing today's melding of personal computing into the more intuitive world of personal devices (phones) and a more immersive experience with the Internet. Curiously, the authors obliquely refer to this as the "fall" of personal computing, where I see if as more of an evolutionary step in our use of the technology.

I highly recommend this work to anyone who ever looked past the edges of the "C:/" prompt or the Start Button and wondered how this all really worked, and WHY computers do what they do. And for younger readers who have never known a moment without a digital connection at their side, this is a truly illuminating glimpse into the vision of those who gave us that world.
One person found this helpful
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G. S. Kennedy
5.0 out of 5 stars Great Insider Stories
Reviewed in the United States on September 29, 2020
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Having lived through the PC revolution, I greatly enjoyed the little known back stories about the people and machines they built. An example: At one point, the creator of the Altair, the first real "home computer", decided to give Bill Gates another call about using his BASIC computer language. The phone was answered by a private residence, the person had never heard of BASIC. Apparently someone wrote the phone number down wrong. For want of a nail ...
One person found this helpful
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LOK
5.0 out of 5 stars Finally Triumph of the Nerds that includes ALL Players
Reviewed in the United States on December 27, 2018
Verified Purchase
At one point My Commodore 64 was the best selling computer? Was tired of books where only the winners got to finish the story of the PC. Swaine digs deep and mentions all the players and how the whole PC history REALLY played out. Great read of PC history buffs.
2 people found this helpful
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Dianne B.
3.0 out of 5 stars I wonder how much detail of the early days was lost in the much edited and shorter book?
Reviewed in the United States on May 3, 2021
Verified Purchase
The third edition is a much shorter book in the second edition, which leads me to believe that the second edition has much richer content. 50 pages at least deleted? In the photo, the second edition is on top, the third edition is on the bottom. You decide.
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Dianne B.
3.0 out of 5 stars I wonder how much detail of the early days was lost in the much edited and shorter book?
Reviewed in the United States on May 3, 2021
The third edition is a much shorter book in the second edition, which leads me to believe that the second edition has much richer content. 50 pages at least deleted? In the photo, the second edition is on top, the third edition is on the bottom. You decide.
Images in this review
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11 people found this helpful
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AmaAddict
5.0 out of 5 stars Well-written, entertaining story of the birth of the tech industry
Reviewed in the United States on November 17, 2018
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This book was the source material for the Pirates of Silicon Valley movie. It's been updated since then. It's a great, easy, well-written read. If you have any interest in the birth of Silicon Valley, I highly recommend it.
2 people found this helpful
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Tmac
5.0 out of 5 stars Entertaining history of the personal computer revolution
Reviewed in the United States on February 12, 2019
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Great computer history book. I read original version in early 80s while in college. I still remember the Altair (bought the assembly manual but not the kit) and watched the revolution develop through the 70s.
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G M
5.0 out of 5 stars va letto
Reviewed in Italy on October 10, 2024
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libro interessante che si mantiene vivo e attuale a distanza di anni
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Alvaro
1.0 out of 5 stars I paid for a new book, but received a used one.
Reviewed in France on July 24, 2024
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Alvaro
1.0 out of 5 stars I paid for a new book, but received a used one.
Reviewed in France on July 24, 2024

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El petit príncep
5.0 out of 5 stars Genial!
Reviewed in Spain on May 5, 2023
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Muy entretenido. Imprescindible si quieres enterarte de la historia de la computación.
Para complementar el libro hay que leerse Hackers de Steven Levy, Idea Man de Paul Allen, iWoz de Steve Wozniak y the Google Story de Davis A Vise.
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Donald J. Christopher
5.0 out of 5 stars Very informative
Reviewed in Canada on July 25, 2020
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A great book on the rise of the personal computer and its eventual fall to more portable devices such as the cell phone.
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Wolfgang Nitsch
5.0 out of 5 stars Pflichtlektüre für alle interessierten Computer-Benutzer
Reviewed in Germany on July 13, 2019
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Gibt einen umfassenden Überblick über die Vor- & Frühgeschichte der "Personal Computers" und eine Entwicklungsgeschichte der Firmen & Plattformen, die wir heute täglich benutzen und/oder benutzen müssen. Fürwahr spannend!
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