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Fire in the Valley: The Making of The Personal Computer
 
 
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Fire in the Valley: The Making of The Personal Computer [Paperback]

Paul Freiberger (Author), Michael Swaine (Author)
4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (26 customer reviews)

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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
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Inside This Book (Learn More)
First Sentence
THE PERSONAL COMPUTER SPRANG TO LIFE IN THE MID-1970s, BUT ITS historical roots reach back to the giant electronic "brains" of the 1950s and well before that to the "thinking" machines of nineteenth-century fiction. Read the first page
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Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Index | Back Cover
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Customer Reviews

26 Reviews
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4.3 out of 5 stars (26 customer reviews)
 
 
 
 
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4.0 out of 5 stars It's how we got where we are today..., April 8 2004
By 
CPUsports (Eastern Seaboard) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Fire in the Valley: The Making of The Personal Computer (Paperback)
The TV movie based on this book was rather lame, but this is a great read on how the PC revolution got started.
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3.0 out of 5 stars Competent overview but no depth, April 3 2004
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This review is from: Fire in the Valley: The Making of the Personal Computer, Collector's Edition (Hardcover)
This breezy read lightly covers the evolution of the personal computer mostly from the introduction of Altair until Steve Jobs' departure from Apple Computer. Covering as many people, machines and companies as possible the authors don't have time for a in-depth look at anything. The result seems like a 400 plus page newspaper or magazine article. The "Collector's Edition" has several additional chapters covering industry events up to 2000 and also contains a CD-ROM with more materials. I have not reviewed the CD-ROM.
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5.0 out of 5 stars Great review, Jan 29 2003
This review is from: Fire in the Valley: The Making of The Personal Computer (Paperback)
One those books that gives a real pleasure to read. If you are interested on how computers took over control of our lives and how a few advanced thinkers created what computers are today, you'll enjoy this book. It starts from the very beginning. No screens, no keyborads, just switchs!!!!! Have you ever wondered how computers evolved and who made it possible? Here is. Besides, there are some fantastic pictures from all those that started it all. Accurate book and full of interesting information. If you want to know all that happened, buy it. Strongly recommended.
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