{"product_id":"accidental-empires-9780887308550","title":"Accidental Empires","description":"\u003cp\u003eComputer manufacturing is--after cars, energy production and illegal drugs--the largest industry in the world, and it's one of the last great success stories in American business. \u003cem\u003eAccidental Empires\u003c\/em\u003e is the trenchant, vastly readable history of that industry, focusing as much on the astoundingly odd personalities at its core--Steve Jobs, Bill Gates, Mitch Kapor, etc. and the hacker culture they spawned as it does on the remarkable technology they created. Cringely reveals the manias and foibles of these men (they are always men) with deadpan hilarity and cogently demonstrates how their neuroses have shaped the computer business. But Cringely gives us much more than high-tech voyeurism and insider gossip. From the birth of the transistor to the mid-life crisis of the computer industry, he spins a sweeping, uniquely American saga of creativity and ego that is at once uproarious, shocking and inspiring. \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAbout the Author\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eCringely, Robert X.:\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e - \u003cp\u003e For eight years, Robert X. Cringely's Notes from the Field column appeared weekly in \u003cem\u003eInfo World.\u003c\/em\u003e Currently he can be seen in the public television series \u003cem\u003eTriumph of the Nerds, \u003c\/em\u003e based on this book. A former Stanford professor and foreign correspondent, he lives in Palo Alto, California.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"HarperBusiness","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":50330255130898,"sku":"9780887308550","price":14.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0831\/4771\/8930\/files\/img_4af809d0-0b12-4829-b934-92d9523e857c.jpg?v=1727796736","url":"https:\/\/surprise-castle.myshopify.com\/products\/accidental-empires-9780887308550","provider":"Surprise Castle","version":"1.0","type":"link"}