Accidental Empires

“Robert X. Cringely” was the byline of a long-running computer-industry columnist, and this book collects his view of the first fifteen years of the personal computer business. It is funny, sharp-tongued, and sure of itself, and it has shaped how many people picture that era.

What it’s about

The full title is Accidental Empires: How the Boys of Silicon Valley Make Their Millions, Battle Foreign Competition, and Still Can’t Get a Date, and it tells you the tone. Cringely’s argument is that the personal computer industry was built less by careful planning than by a small number of ambitious people, a few lucky decisions, and the mistakes of large companies that should have known better.

He covers the major players: Apple and its founders, IBM’s decision to enter the PC market, Microsoft and how it came to supply the operating system, and the culture of the engineers and marketers who worked in between. It reads like a long conversation with someone who was in the room, or at least knew who was.

A companion television series, Triumph of the Nerds, aired on PBS in 1996 and drew on the same material.

Why it belongs on coldboot

It covers exactly the period this site begins with. If you want the personality-driven version of the story behind the MS-DOS article and the other 1980s pieces, this is the book that made that version popular.

Keep in mind

This is a journalist’s opinionated account, not a footnoted history, and some of its stories have been retold differently by the people involved. Enjoy it for the voice and the big picture, and check any specific claim against primary sources, as the articles on this site try to do.

Edition linked: HarperBusiness paperback (1996).