Traces the history of the personal computer industry, focusing on the individuals who developed new microcomputers and software, and created new computer companies.
¿A great adventure that gives the reader a sense of being close to a historical movement that is still playing itself out.¿
¿John Markoff (The New York Times) from the Foreword In January 1975, Popular Electronics magazine published a cover story on the Altair, a screenless, keypadless, built-from-a-kit, odd metal box with common switches and blinking lights. It was an electronic curiosity that proved to be the progenitor of today¿s personal computer. The article ignited imaginations across the country but especially in California¿s Silicon Valley. Inspired by possibilities that the leaders of the electronics and mainframe computer industries couldn¿t see, unlikely entrepreneurs ¿ hippies, dropouts, phone phreaks, and electronics hobbyists ¿ seized the opportunity. Less than ten years later, the Altair was already ancient history, the modern PC was well on its way to changing our economy and culture forever, and companies with names like Apple and Microsoft were part of the business landscape. Now this hardcover collector¿s edition of the Paul Frieberger and Michael Swaine classic tells how those personal computer pioneers went from side street garages to Wall Street¿s graces, and how their brilliance, enthusiasm, camaraderie, and competition changed the world. First released in 1984, Fire in the Valley uniquely captures the explosive, frenetic energy of those early days and the meteoric rise of the PC. In this special Collector¿s Edition the authors have expanded the first edition to include new stories and feature interviews with the major players, three new chapters, over 30 new photos, and updated information throughout that carries the PC from humble beginnings to the Internet era. The authors convey the exciting development of companies such as Apple, Microsoft, Sun, Netscape, Lotus, and Oracle. Expanded and updated to give readers more than the first edition could hold, the Collector¿s Edition includes: CD ROM that is a masterpiece of sound, images, and technology¿with original audio of Gates, Jobs, Wozniak, Roberts, Felsenstein, Ahl, Melen, Kottke, and Kildall from the early days An interactive, multimedia timeline Three new chapters with additional inside stories The Collector¿s Edition photographs in an interactive collage Itself a milestone in the fascinating history of the personal computer, the Fire in the Valley Collector¿s Edition is this century¿s definitive account of how it all happened and why. About the Authors Paul Freiberger is the coauthor of Fuzzy Logic, winner of the 1993 Los Angeles Times Book Prize and has written for the San Jose Mercury News, the San Francisco Examiner, and National Public Radio and currently works at the Interval Research Corporation in Palo Alto. He lives in San Mateo, California, with his wife and two sons. Michael Swaine is editor-at-large for Dr. Dobb¿s Journal. He is also a popular columnist for print and electronic magazines in the United States, Italy, and Germany, and maintains Swaine¿s World, a Web site that tracks computer industry news, swaine.com. He lives in Grants Pass, Oregon, with his partner Nancy Groth. Stuart Sharpe is an internationally known artist of video, animation, and interactive media. His clients include Apple, Oracle, Sony, Hasbro, AT&T, Intel, and 7th Level. fireinthevalley.com Fire in the Valley: The Making of the Personal Computer Collector¿s Edition First released in 1984, Fire in the Valley remains one of the most sought-after and widely revered testaments to the dynamic visionaries and explosive growth of the PC era. Nothing captures the monumental importance of the technological, economic, and social revolution of the past twenty-five years than this special hardcover Collector¿s Edition of Paul Freiberger and Michael Swaine¿s Fire in the Valley: The Making of the Personal Computer. Updated and expanded, it contains more photos, new chapters, and includes a companion CD ROM with rare audio of Gates, Jobs, Wozniak, Roberts, and others along with a state-of-the-art interactive timeline and photo collage. The Fire in the Valley Collector¿s Edition is this century¿s definitive account of how the PC came to transform the world today--and will shape the century ahead. Praise for Fire in the Valley, First Edition ¿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 fireinthevalley.com
