Accidental Empires (1996 edition)

• Robert X. Cringely
• Harper Collins
• ISBN: 0-88730-855-4

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Bob Cringely is funny, insightful, and has lived through the entire rise of the PC industry. You may know that for many years he has written an industry gossip column for Info World. This book is 361 pages of insider gossip, analysis, and comment.

For those of us who also were there at the beginning of the Computer Revolution, this book provides both insight and confirmation. Undoubtedly there have been decisions and actions that left you shaking your head, wondering if the Silicon Valley billionaires really are idiots. Robert Cringely shows you what was behind some of the apparently bone-head machinations, allowing you to see that your initial appraisal of many of these characters was probably right: they are often just as clueless as the rest of us.

Personalities, alliances, betrayals. Why did Jim Manzi tear apart his Compaq computer and ship it to Rod Canion of Compaq with a nasty note? Why does Gary Kildall want Bill Gates to explain why function code 6 ends in a dollar sign? Why was Bill Gates so worried about John Warnock's Adobe Type Manager?

Robert Cringely has the answers.

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