Fire in the Valley: The Making of the Personal Computer, Collector's Edition Hardcover – December 9, 1999

I bought my first copy of this book at the Schaumburg, IL Computerland store. (That store and chain is now defunct.)I tore through that edition, savoring every page, and absolutely LOVED IT. While the chapters are short, the book reads like an easy-to-digest "action novel". While other complain of a lack of depth, I say that this book is more of a compendium, a fireside chat that just gets you an overview of this huge story and its colorful characters. In that, "Fire in the Valley" succeeds.I then lost that book in a flood in my IL basement, and regretted it deeply.I found the 2nd edition and bought that about 15 years later. While 2nd editions usually build upon the original story and expand on it, FitV's 2nd edition left out certain key characters and their unique marks on the PC business. The one I missed the most was that of the recently deceased Jack Tramiel of Atari/Commodore, and the story of how he crashed through the VIC-20's introduction at the Las Vegas Consumer Electronics Show.Jack knew the Japanese manufacturers would be there, and that the Japanese were methodical innovators. They typically did "Kaizen", stepwise, incremental improvements to products. Jack also knew that if he was able to show a disruptive technology product, which the VIC-20's sprite based color video would be, the Japanese would analyze what happened for at least 6 months, giving Jack and Commodore a market all to themselves.He related the Japanese psyche to running into a hungry grizzly bear while hiking in the forest. If you fight him, he kills and eats you. If you run, he's faster than you, with the same ending. If you quickly take off and throw down your backpack in front of him, he gets confused. He then begins to sniff and investigate this strange thing at his feet, giving you the chance to run away scott-free.That story stayed with me ever since.So, I bought the first edition of FitV, thinking I would have my Tramiel story once again. I was wrong.It's not the seller's fault. Apparently there were incremental changes to the book's content throughout the multiple printings of the 1st edition. That Tramiel story apparently went in and later got edited out...where and when I do not know. I sure do miss having it. If anyone else out there has a later printing of the 1st edition that has it, please leave a review with the info of what printing number they have.In any case, if you haven't read either the 1st or 2nd edtions, you're in for a treat. You'll like the content and pace.It's a great book for bathroom reading, too, just like an issue of Reader's Digest. Each chapter is long enough for a single "sitting", and is complete within itself...no fooling...about 10 minutes. (Ever wonder why RD was the size it was, and why the articles were the length they were? Your grandmother's bathroom was onto something smart. Only problem...FitV doesn't fit on top of the flush tank cover as easily as an issue of RD.)

This book speaks of a silent and bloodless revolution that made enthusiastic hobbyists into legends that created the PC market. It talks about the journey of computer technology, taken from the clutches of the guarded computer "priesthood", to the masses. This is current history, and it's exciting. It's relevant to today, and it even makes those of us old enough to remember some of it reminisce. School teaches children to learn from the past with the American Revolution, the French Revolution, and the Bolshevik Revolution. This is THE book to tell everyone about the Personal Computer Revolution. Fire in the Valley recounts the sparks with "The Mother of All Demos" to the storming of the gates with the GUI wars. And as a small plus, the authors have thrown in a CD with some short audio interviews, copies of pictures found in the book, and a nice timeline that's useful for reference. Anybody who has watched Pirates of Silicon Valley, and thought, "WOW", needs to find out just how amazing it really was. I can't wait to see what happens in the next 25 years, and then maybe reminisce with a 3rd edition of this book.

This is really the best book on the subject. So many fascinating stories, so many what-ifs, and why things turned out a certain way. It is always worth spending time understanding the real story about DR's Gary Kildall missing the billion dollar opportunity to provide DOS to IBM, and how Gates finessed that deal to his eternal advantage!!!

Nothing to dislike. Here fast too

This is great stuff but it misses out much of the history of the personal computer that occurred after the Internet became a public highway in 1995. My book: A Short History of the Personal Computer tells the rest of the story, when the personal computer became our main communications device as the main portal to the internet, e-mail, information sources, e-commerce and ultimately the entry into social media. Of course these roles were taken over by the smartphones starting in 2005, but they still constitute the most frequent use of the PC and continue to drive its sales.Peter Farwell

This is a great book to see the history of the personal computer and how Microsoft and Apple was started. The movie based on this book Pirates of the Silicon Valley is good to watch after you read the book.

A good account of the personal computer revolution that started in the Silicon Valley. I bought this as a gift and the person who received this was also very happy with Paul Freiberger's account of history.

Used book, but one I wanted badly. Listed as used but practically new. wanted to compare to the two movies I have seen about it.

good

Bien que s'arrêtant en 1984, on y trouve l'essentiel de l'histoire de l'informatique et les débuts de la micro. Un bon moyen de se replonger dans les techniques de l'époque et leur évolution, les hésitations, les rivalités, l'essor fulgurant de petites start-up souvent suivie de leur chute rapide...On y retrouve les grands noms actuels, mais aussi d'autres réservés aux nostalgiques, dans un milieu toujours dynamique et fluctuant.Un retour aux sources sans le prisme déformant des affirmations non documentées, recopiées à l'envi sur les forums, voire dans des articles "journalistiques"- hélas- sur qui a inventé quoi. Un excellent livre pour toute personne curieuse de technologie ou d'histoire des sciences et pas seulement les geeks ;-)