"The triumph of the nerds: the rise of accidental empires" by Robert X. Cringely

The first part of the documentary called "The triumph of the nerds: the rise of accidental empires" by Robert X. Cringely, is very interesting because it tells the story of the rise of the personal computer thanks to the inventions of great characters and to the silicon present in all current computers.

I think that silicon really took a fundamental role in the process of taking computers to the home of many people. However, it is true that Steve Jobs and Bill Gates were fundamental in this process. It is incredible that public figures like them have been interviewed in this documentary, where they tell about their childhood.

On the other hand, it seems to me that others had the resources to create the computers before the arrival of Altair 8800 (for example Intel) and, nevertheless, it was not done for the simple fact that they did not give it the indicated approach (Its use for education, business, science, etc.) This makes a lesson clear: We must open our minds to all the possibilities that innovation brings.

It is also true that, although the Altair 8800 was the first personal computer, as far as I'm concerned, it did not seem like one. It seemed more like a rare machine, without a keyboard or monitor, only switches and lights. Although of course it was a computer, you could write and save your own programs. In fact, it's surprising that, thanks to that box, Microsoft Corporation has taken shape. Paul Allen and Bill Gates, managed to create a BASIC language interpreter for the Altair. But, what is surprising is that Altair executives were interested in the product before having even programmed it.

In the interview with Woz and Steve Jobs, I found it funny that he was talking about his first product, the Bluebox, which was used to make jokes. On the other hand, I found interesting that Steve Jobs said that probably Apple would not have existed if it wasn't for the Blue Box.


Personally, I think this part of the documentary makes two things clear: the first one is that if a group of Nerds talks about a million-dollar idea, we must believe them. And the second is that, if there is a great product, you should patent it, otherwise, it can happen to you the same as the creators of VisiCalc: to have their product in miles or millions of businesses, without receiving a reward.

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