You may have seen the TNT TV movie "Pirates of Silicon Valley." It was drawn in part from my book, Fire in the Valley, so I think I have some right to comment on its accuracy. There was some.
The moviemakers tracked down real Altairs and Apples and dressed the protagonists in appropriate period garb. In such small details, it was often surprisingly accurate. And Noah Wyle got Steve Jobs right. What doesn't come across is that Jobs really is a visionary, but that's the fault of the writing.
Too bad the movie was inaccurate on so many large, important issues. At the point where Microsoft and IBM are negotiating for an operating system that Microsoft doesn't own, the Steve Ballmer character steps out of the scene to lecture viewers on the historical importance of the event. If it was so historically important, couldn't they have got the story straight? IBM approached Microsoft, not the other way around. And writing Digital Research out of the story is adding insult to injury. The second edition of Fire in the Valley has been delayed, but for those who've asked about it, I should mention that I'll post a notice at http://www.swaine.com/ when it's released.
-- M.S.
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