Fire in the Valley

The Birth and Death of the Personal Computer

By: Michael Swaine, Paul Freiberger

Narrated by: Don Azevedo

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.

Fire in the Valley is the definitive history of the personal computer, drawn from interviews with the people who made it happen, written by two veteran computer writers who were there from the start. Working at InfoWorld in the early 1980s, Swaine and Freiberger daily rubbed elbows with people like Steve Jobs and Bill Gates when they were creating the personal computer revolution.

A rich story of colorful individuals, Fire in the Valley profiles these unlikely revolutionaries and entrepreneurs, such as Ed Roberts of MITS, Lee Felsenstein at Processor Technology, and Jack Tramiel of Commodore, as well as Jobs and Gates in all the innocence of their formative years.

This completely revised and expanded third edition brings the story to its completion, chronicling the end of the personal computer revolution and the beginning of the post-PC era. It covers the departure from the stage of major players with the deaths of Steve Jobs and Douglas Engelbart and the retirements of Bill Gates and Steve Ballmer; the shift away from the PC to the cloud and portable devices; and what the end of the PC era means for issues such as personal freedom and power, and open source versus proprietary software.

©2014 Pragmatic Programmer (P)2016 Pragmatic Programmer

An excellent history of the PC.

The book manages to cover a wide range of topics in significant detail. The narrator has a nice conversational tone that makes the material easily digestible.

good read

great book, but extremely biased towards Apple/against Microsoft. still great book, even with the bias, as long as you already know full history of these entities and people

There's more to computers than Apple and Microsoft

I've seen some minor hate because it takes so many hours to get to Apple in this book but the early history is just as interesting. I remember the days of being one of the few in my school who had a computer. I taught myself to program by typing in games from computer magazines. The few of us who could program would help each other out. Girls would ask us if we could change grades like in Wargames and we, of course, would say yes.

I have this in book form, kindle and now audible and as I get older I don't like reading anymore so now I can listen.

If you want to learn about Apple read Steve Jobs or iWoz. Microsoft, read Paul Allens book. If you want to learn everything else (and Apple and Microsoft), read this one. BTW "Pirates of Silicon Valley" was influenced by Fire in the Valley.

Computers for everyone

A compelling read for those interested in the history of computing. The book is highly regarded for its thorough research and detailed accounts. It effectively captures the excitement, challenges, and pivotal moments of the early days of personal computing.

However, while the dry, factual tone and chronological approach provide an objective perspective, it may not appeal to readers who prefer a more narrative-driven or dramatic storytelling style. Some readers might find the tone a bit detached.

Overall, this book is a must-read for tech enthusiasts and anyone interested in the history of how personal computers came to be. It offers a comprehensive and accurate look at the era, making it an essential addition to any tech history collection.

A great bit of history on a interesting topic

As someone who lived through most of these items I still found that I learned a great deal.