Fire in the valley : the birth and death of the personal computer / Michael Swaine and Paul Freiberger.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Swaine, Michael, author.

Freiberger, Paul, author.

Series:

Pragmatic programmers.

The pragmatic programmers

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Microcomputers--United States--History.

Microcomputers.

United States.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (394 pages) : illustrations

Edition:

Third edition.

Place of Publication:

Dallas, Texas ; Raleigh, North Carolina : The Pragmatic Bookself, 2014.

System Details:

text file

Summary:

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.

Contents:

Your own computer

Tinder for the fire. Steam ; The breakthrough ; Critical mass ; Breakout ; Hackers

The voyage to Altair. Uncle Sol's boys ; Going for broke ; All hell breaks loose ; Putting it together ; The competition ; The fall

The miracle makers. After Altair ; Amateurs and professionals ; Building one and building two ; Miracles and mistakes ; est and entrepreneur's disease ; Death and rebirth

Homebrew. Power to the people ; The Homebrew Computer Club ; Wildfire in Silicon Valley ; Nostalgia for the future ; Sixers and seventy-sixers ; Home rule ; Homebrew legacy

The genie in the box. The Altair's first recital ; Pleasure before business ; The first operating system ; Getting down to BASIC ; The other BASIC ; Electric pencil ; The rise of general software companies ; The bottom line ; Software empires

Retailing the revolution. Spreading the word : the magazines ; Word of mouth : the clubs and shows ; Hand-holding : the first retailers ; The big players

Apple. Jobs and Woz ; Starting Apple ; Magic times ; Trouble in paradise ; Shooting for the moon

The gate comes down. The luggable computer ; The HP way and the Xerox worm ; IBM

The PC industry. Losing their religion ; Clones ; Consolidation ; Commoditization ; Cyberspace ; Apple without Jobs

The post-PC era. The big turnaround ; Getting really personal ; Into the cloud ; Leaving the stage ; Looking back.

Notes:

Includes index.

Description based on print version record.

ISBN:

9781680500455

1680500457

9781680503531

1680503537

9781680503524

1680503529

9781937785765

1937785769

OCLC:

904445345