Accidental empires
by Robert X. Cringely · first published 1992
56% recommend42% neutral2% critical
Why HN recommends it
Entertaining, anecdote-rich history of the personal computer industry and early Silicon Valley, centered on founders and personalities; suits readers wanting fun historical perspective on how the PC business took shape.
Summarised by Claude from recommending comments
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Mentions per year
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In his classic book Accidental Empires (http://www.amazon.com/Accidental-Empires-Silicon-Millions-Co...), Robert X. Cringely wrote that if you think of a market as an invasion beach you can think of three kinds of employees at tech companies:…
on “Fired” ↗…business model?" In high tech this can get really messy, these are frequently inherently more fragile companies. My favorite example is from Robert X. Cringley in this great book: http://www.amazon.com/Accidental-Empires-Silicon-Millions-Co... ; from memory: One day Intel's yields suddenly went to hell (that's the ratio of working die on a wafer to non-working, and is a key to profitability). And no matter how hard…
on “How I Fired Myself” ↗His book "Accidental Empires" (http://www.amazon.com/Accidental-Empires-Silicon-Millions-Co...), and the PBS documentary miniseries that was based on it, "Triumph of the Nerds" (http://www.amazon.com/Triumph-Nerds-Bob-Cringely/dp/B00006FX...),…
on “The Decline and Fall of IBM” ↗Accidental Empires: How the Boys of Silicon Valley Make Their Millions, Battle Foreign Competition, and Still Can't Get a Date Bob Cringely (This book gets mentioned in Founders At Work... I think one of the Lycos guys…
on “Ask HN: Favorite true story tech book?” ↗Because he wrote the best book ever written on the rise of the PC industry, Accidental Empires (http://www.amazon.com/Accidental-Empires-Silicon-Millions-Co...). And then turned it into a TV documentary miniseries, Triumph of the Nerds (http://www.amazon.com/Triumph-Nerds-Bob-Cringely/dp/B00006FX...),…
on “The Fed suckered IBM into a failing cloud strategy?” ↗Accidental Empires by Robert X Cringely is worth a read. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Accidental_Empires
on “Ask HN: What are more books like “Masters of Doom” or “Showstoppers”?” ↗…was made while writing the book is also excellent. The Friendly Orange Glow (2017) by Brian Dear is also very good. He's also on HN. https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/34373814-the-friendly-or... Accidental Empires (1996) by Robert X Cringely is also pretty good: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/27652.Accidental_Empires...
on “The Birth of Unix with Brian Kernighan” ↗Stan Veit's History of the Personal Computer http://www.amazon.com/Stan-Veits-History-Personal-Computer/d... Accidental Empires http://www.amazon.com/Accidental-Empires-Silicon-Millions-Co... Go To http://www.amazon.com/Engineers-Scientists-Iconoclasts-Progr...
on “Ask HN: Books on Computer History” ↗…critical function is the responsibility of someone, don't let anything fall through the cracks simply because of oversight. At the other end of the spectrum, it's no accident that Robert X. Cringely's Accidental Empires: How the Boys of Silicon Valley Make Their Millions, Battle Foreign Competition, and Still Can't Get a Date is still in print: http://www.amazon.com/Accidental-Empires-Silicon-Millions-Co... Read/skim…
on “Ask HN: Recommendation for Books on Startups?” ↗…months or years of labor was finished in a week, and Novell had won the networking war. Six years and more than $100 million later, Microsoft finally admitted defeat. http://www.cringely.com/2013/03/24/accidental-empires-chapte... Accidental Empires is a good book.
on “NASA, CNES Warn SpaceX of Challenges in Flying Reusable Falcon 9 Rocket” ↗I thought Robert X. Cringely did an excellent summary of the time -- in Accidental Empires as well. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Accidental_Empires
on “Bob Taylor Has Died” ↗This is required reading for anyone on HN... https://www.amazon.com/Accidental-Empires-Silicon-Millions-C... ...more for fun historical perspective than anything else. Lots of great anecdotes and stories about founders. The book became a PBS series that become a movie with Noah Wiley as…
on “Why do I do this to myself? Bob's first predictions for 2018 – I, Cringely” ↗…The Cuckoo's Egg and Dealers of Lightning and these recommendations are spot on. I'd love to reread all of these soon, especially Dealers of Lightning. Something similar but perhaps a bit drier may be Accidental Empires by Robert X. Cringely about the personal computer wars. And yes, that's the same Cringely from the Triumph of the Nerds documentaries. I also do not recommend David Kushner's Prepare to Meet Thy Doom…
on “John Carmack: My Steve Jobs Stories” ↗Robert X Cringely - Accidental Empires. After reading this I knew what I want, and actually joined a startup a few years later (only to see it fail in the 2000 dotcom crash).
on “Ask HN: What book changed your life?” ↗…that Changed Everything" was also a vey good read (and only $4.99 for Kindle edition!). https://www.amazon.com/Insanely-Great-Macintosh-Computer-Eve... And not sure how well it's aged, but I remember "Accidental Empires: How the Boys of Silicon Valley Make Their Millions, Battle Foreign Competition, and Still Can't Get a Date" was a fun, breezy read. https://www.amazon.com/Accidental-Empires-Silicon-Millions-C...
on “Ask HN: Best computer history book for curious teenager?” ↗