Accidental Empires

From: Sam Ismail <dastar_at_crl.com>
Date: Mon Aug 11 15:41:25 1997

On Mon, 11 Aug 1997, Marvin wrote:

> I just read the book "Accidental Empires" by Robert X. Cringely that was the
> basis for the PBS movie, "Triumph of the Nerds." The book deals primarily
> with the early personalities who were instrumental to the success of Apple
> and Microsoft. It is very liberally sprinkled with Cringely's ideas of why
> the major players were successful as well as the mistakes they made. I
> found it a bit disappointing in that very little mention is made of CP/M,
> its history, or the associated people, companies, and machines. However a
> lot of Apple and Microsoft history gets included and I found the anecdotes
> to be most interesting! I wouldn't call it a "must read" but rather
> something that gives one authors perspective on the happenings and sometimes
> behind the scenes events that created this industry.

I'll add that I thought the book to be extremely entertaining and a great
read. I'll comment on the fact that not much mention was made of CP/M in
that history seldom celebrates the losers.

(No I don't mean CP/M or Mr. Kildall are losers! Just that it lost the OS
wars.)

Sam
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Computer Historian, Programmer, Musician, Philosopher, Athlete, Writer, Jackass
Received on Mon Aug 11 1997 - 15:41:25 BST

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