[Cringely, 1996] Acc..

381 Pages·2011·4.87 MB·English

NATIONAL BESTSELLER
<f$r
ERT X. CRINGELY
'i1 'i1
HOW THE BOYS OF SILICON VALLEY
MAKE THEIR MILLIONS,
the
BATTLE FOREIGN
PUBLIC Tv,
COMPETITION, AND triumphof
TH*Nerds
STILL CAN'T GET ADATE '-
NEWLY REVISED AND EXPANDED
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ACCIDENTAL
E M P I R E S
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ACCIDENTAL
E M P I R E S
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HOW THE BOYS OF SILICON VALLEY
MAKE THEIR MILLIONS,
BATTLE FOREIGN COMPETITION,
AND STILL CAN'T GET A DATE
ROBERT X. CRINGELY
HarperBusiness
ADivisionofHzrperCott'msPublishen
Ahardcovereditionofthisbookwaspublishedin 1992byAddison-
WesleyPublishingCompany,Inc.Itisherereprintedbyarrangement
withAddison-WesleyPublishingCompany,Inc.
accidentalempires. Copyright©1992, 1996by RobertX.Cringely.
Allrightsreserved. PrintedintheUnitedStatesofAmerica.Nopart
ofthis bookmay beusedorreproducedin anymannerwhatsoever
without written permissionexceptin the caseof brief quotations
embodied in critical articles and reviews. For information address
HarperCollins Publishers, Inc., 10East53rdStreet,New York, NY
10022.
HarperCollinsbooksmaybepurchasedforeducational,business,or
salespromotionaluse.Forinformationpleasewrite:SpecialMarkets
Department, HarperCollins Publishers, Inc., 10 East 53rd Street,
NewYork, NY 10022.
FirstHarperBusiness editionpublished 1993.Reissued 1996.
DesignedbyJanisOwens
The LibraryofCongresshascataloguedthe previouseditionas
follows:
Cringely, RobertX.
Accidentalempires:how theboysofSiliconValleymaketheir
millions, battle foreign competition,andstill can'tgetadate/
RobertX. Cringely.
p. cm.
Includesbibliographicalreferences.
ISBN0-88730-621-7
1.Computerindustry—California—Santa ClaraCounty. I.Title.
HD9696.C63U51586 1993
338.47004^0979473—dc20 92-53427
ISBN0-88730-855-4
97 93 99 00 RRD 10 9 8 7 6 5
ForPafnmy; whoknowswe needthemoney
CONTENTS
PREFACETOTHE 1996EDITION ix
PREFACE xi
CHAPTER ONE
THE DEMO-GOD 3
CHAPTER TWO
THE TYRANNY OF THE NORMAL DISTRIBUTION 18
CHAPTER THREE
WHY THEY DON'T CALL IT COMPUTER VALLEY 33
CHAPTER FOUR
AMATEUR HOUR 48
CHAPTER FIVE
ROLE MODELS 73
CHAPTER SIX
CHAIRMAN BILL LEADS THE HAPPY
WORKERS IN SONG 93
CHAPTER SEVEN
ALL IBM STORIES ARE TRUE 119
ACCIDENTAL EMPIRES
CHAPTER EIGHT
SOFTWARE ENVY 139
CHAPTER NINE
CLONES I59
CHAPTER TEN
THE PROPHET 182
CHAPTER ELEVEN
FONT WARS 209
CHAPTER TWELVE
ON THE BEACH 230
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
ECONOMICS OF SCALE 247
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
COUNTER-REFORMATION 269
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
FUTURE COMPUTING 297
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
BUT WAIT, THERE'S MORE! 317
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
DO THE WAVE 336
INDEX 363
PREFACE TO THE
1996 EDITION
In his novel Brighton Rock, Graham Greene's protagonist, a
cocky 14-year-oldgangleadernamed Pinky, has his first sexual
experience. Nervously undressing, Pinky is relieved when the
girldoesn't laughatthe sight ofhis adolescentbody.Iknow ex
actlyhowPinky felt.
When I finished writing this book five years ago,I had no
idea how it would be received. Nothing quite like it had been
written before. Books about the personal computer industry at
that time eitherweremiredin technobabble ordescribed agee-
whizcultureinwhichtherewerenobadguys.Inthis book,there
arebadguys.Thebook containedthe totalwisdomofmyfifteen-
plusyearsinthepersonalcomputerbusiness. ButwhatifIhadno
wisdom? What if Iwas wrong?
With this newedition, Icanhappily reportthat the verdict
is in: for the most part, I was right. Hundreds of thousands of
readers, manyofwhomwork in the personalcomputerindustry,
have generally validated the material presented here. With the
exceptionofanoccasionaltypographicalerrorandmystupidpre
diction that Bill Gates would not marry,what you areabout to
readis generallyacceptedasrightonthe money.
IX
ACCIDENTAL EMPIRES
Not that everyone is happy with me. Certainly Bill Gates
doesn't like to be characterized as a megalomaniac, and Steve
Jobsdoesn't like to be described as a sociopath, but that's what
theyare.Trustme.
This new edition is prompted by a three-hour television
miniseriesbasedonthebookand scheduledto playduring 1996
in most of the English-speaking world. The production, which
tookayear to make,includesmorethan 120hoursof interviews
withthereallyimportantpeopleinthisstory—eventhemegalo
maniacsand sociopaths.Theseinterviews, too, confirmedmany
of theideas Ioriginallypresentedinthebook, aswell asprovid
ing material forthenewchapters attheend.
What follows arethe fifteen original chapters from the 1992
edition and apairof new ones updating the story through early
1996.
Soletthecomputerchips fallwheretheymay.
PREFACE
The womanofmydreams once landed ajob asthe girls' English
teacher at the Hebrew Institute of Santa Clara. Despite the fact
that it was a very small operation, her students (about eight of
them) decidedto produce aschool newspaper, whichthey gener
ally filled with gossipy stories about each other. The premiere is
sue was printed on good stock with lots of extra copies for
grandparents and forinterestedbystanderslike me. The girlsread
the stories about each other, then read the stories about each
othertoeachother, pretendingthatthey'dneverheardthe stories
before, much lesswritten them. My catsdo something like that,
too, I've noticed,whentheyhide arubber bandunderthe edge of
therug andthenallowthemselves to discoverit amomentlater.
The newspaperwasatremendous successuntilmid-morning,
whentheprincipal, Rabbi Porter,finally got aroundto readinghis
copy. "Where," he asked, "are the morals? None ofthese stories
have morals!"
I've just gone through this book you are about to read, and
danged if I can't find amoral in there either. Just more proof, I
guess, ofmy own lack ofmorality.