Retro books

[khisanth]

Anyone read any decent retro books recently? either stuff from back in the day or modern books looking back.

Recently I have been going through a few iWoz (signed too!), Apple Confidential, Story of the Mac and currently reading On the Edge.

Its a wonder how Jack Tramiel managed to be so successful with the way he handled himself in business. I doubt he would succeed today doing the same things.

[nurgle]

Its a wonder how Jack Tramiel managed to be so successful with the way he handled himself in business. I doubt he would succeed today doing the same things.

Wait until you get to the part where Jack Tramiel leaves. Under Jack Tramiel the company was at least able to make a profit. 

Not that Atari was very successfull either under his reign. 

Commodork is a nice book for people who have been active in the BBS scene or wanted to know what it was like. It's highly subjective, quite US centric and written by a C64 user. Nonetheless a quick and fun read:

http://www.robohara.com/commodork/

And you can't forget the lovely Gameplan books, although they are more catalogs than books, but very stylish with lovely details. I don't know their latest book yet, but own the two about consoles and joysticks. The Joysticks book is brilliant. I mean, a book about... Joysticks? How nerdcore is that? The concept alone is hard to beat in my opinion. It's only available in german though.

http://www.gameplan.de/

[Alco]

First interview with Jack Tramiel since the downfall of both Atari and Commodore.

Commodore 64 - 25th Anniversary Celebration
Jack Tramiel (CBM CEO), Steve Wozniak (Apple CEO), Bil Herd (C128 designer), Al Acorn (Pong designer)


Commodore 64 - 25th Anniversary Celebration (youtube)


Commodore 64 - 25th Anniversary Celebration(better)

[khisanth]

One of the best books I read/own is Fire in the Valley, The making of the personal computer. If you have seen the pirates of silicon valley this is the book the film is pretty much based.


This book covers it all in detail and is a really superb read.

[Gryzor]

One of the best books I read/own is Fire in the Valley, The making of the personal computer. If you have seen the pirates of silicon valley this is the book the film is pretty much based.


This book covers it all in detail and is a really superb read.

I raise you on that. A truly great read.

Another fantastic book, but quite older, that I read, was one dealing with the design and launch of one of those mini (mega) computers in the sixties... dang! will try and find the title...

[nurgle]

One of the best books I read/own is Fire in the Valley, The making of the personal computer. If you have seen the pirates of silicon valley this is the book the film is pretty much based.

This one, right?

Err, or maybe not, maybe This one!

Unfortunately it seems to be out of print and rather expensive, even used. Postage from US is a ripoff, and prices for the book at amazon.de and amazon.uk are even higher. Any other sources?

[Gryzor]

Heh...

Fire in the valley is a very nice book indeed, I do have it somewhere. It's not expensive if you get it second-hand, why not try that? And then again there are specialty second-hand bookstores, like Abebooks.

The one I was talking about: The Soul of a New Machine. Written by a non-tech journalist, it's a great read from both a tech and a business perspective. From the blah-blah:

The computer revolution brought with it new methods of getting  work   done--just look at today's news for reports of hard-driven,    highly-motivated young software and online commerce developers who    sacrifice evenings and weekends to meet impossible deadlines. Tracy    Kidder got a preview of this world in the late 1970s when he observed    the engineers of Data General design and build a new 32-bit    minicomputer in just one year. His thoughtful, prescient book, The    Soul of a New Machine, tells stories of 35-year-old "veteran"    engineers hiring recent college graduates and encouraging them to work    harder and faster on complex and difficult projects, exploiting the    youngsters' ignorance of normal scheduling processes while engendering  a   new kind of work ethic.

[nurgle]

Fire in the valley is a very nice book indeed, I do have it somewhere. It's not expensive if you get it second-hand, why not try that? And then again there are specialty second-hand bookstores, like Abebooks.

Did you look at my Amazon link? Even the used ones were expensive. But Abebooks was a good hint. Ordered.

The one I was talking about: The Soul of a New Machine. Written by a non-tech journalist, it's a great read from both a tech and a business perspective. From the blah-blah:

Odered both. Maybe I get time to read during the summer.  <- New Smileys?

[Gryzor]

<- New Smileys?

Yup! Hope you like them

Also, I hope you like the Soul. It's somewhat different from what one might be accustomed to, but it's still a fascinating business and tech reading...

[nurgle]

Also, I hope you like the Soul. It's somewhat different from what one might be accustomed to, but it's still a fascinating business and tech reading...

Only got time to read a few pages so far. The prolog is nice.

You might have mentioned the very unimportant fact that this book won the American Book Award as well as the Pulitzer Price. Quite a surprise when I got it with the big fat "Winner of the Pulitzer Price" sticker on the front cover. 

[Gryzor]

Ahhh yes I forgot about that - but it's not like I had the book in front of me

Forget the prolobue, it's a great book. Doubly so if, as I've said, you're into business books as well.