Description: It happened more or less by accident; the people who made it happen were amateurs; and for the most part they still are. From his own Silicon Valley garage, author Bob Cringley puts PC bigshots and nerds on the spot, and tells their incredible true stories. Like the industry itself, the series is informative, funny and brash. Some of the episode participants include: Bill Gates (Chairman of Microsoft, the richest man in the world), Steve Jobs (Hippie co-founder of Apple Computer; CEO of NeXT Computer; and the man who wanted to change the world), and Steve Wozniak (Co-founder of Apple Computer; engineering genius, practical joker).
Customer Reviews
Average Rating:
Rating: - A history of Apple, IBM, and Microsoft. Nothing more.
Robert X. Cringely (aka Mark Stephens) is a self admitted Apple revisionist who not only loves to vilify Microsoft, but often overlooks the contributions of companies like Commodore, Atari, RadioShack, and Texas Instruments. Don't kid yourself -- these were major players, too.
That's not to say Cringely doesn't deserve kudos for his contributions to computer journalism. But one should approach his works with an open mind (i.e. open to sources aside from him), and a well-tuned B.S. meter.
Rating: - Technology Teacher's Perspective
There are plenty of well written reviews here on this excellent DVD so I'll just focus on its instructional value.
I purchased this DVD a year ago right here from Amazon.com because I remembered how excellent the program was when I watched it on PBS in 1996. I teach various technology and computer programming courses at the High School level and I thought this would be a good instructional aid in teaching students about the start of the personal computer industry. To further assist the teacher, Ambrose Video provides a good lesson plan outline (on their website) on how to approach ... Read More
Rating: - Boys will be Boys!
Triumph of the Nerds (which is came from the book: Accidental Empires) is an eye opening documentary of the personal computer revolution and the who made it happen from an inside writer who knew the individuals.
Robert Cringley does an exceptionally thorough job of providing a bird's eye view of the personalities, motivations, business environment and savvy of the nerds who changed the world.
I thoroughly enjoyed reading the entire book. One of the parts that sticks out in my mind is about how the personal computer revolution happened so quickly. Cringley points ... Read More
Rating: - Triumph of the Nerds
Documentary style. Excellent if you love history and are interested in the way the computer revolution got started.
Rating: - Wonderful ... best Silicon Valley story I have known of
The documentry takes you through behind the scenes of what happened in the Valley. Typical in Bob's style, it is full of humour and comments that only someone "who has been there" can narrate.
Of almost all Silicon Valley DVDs available on Amazon, I would rate this one as the superset of all.
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