The Mad Men of Silicon Valley

Salon ^ | 02/05/2013 | ANDREW LEONARD

[Kid Shelleen]

“We’re not that big on history,” says veteran technology journalist Michael Malone near the close of “Silicon Valley,” a documentary premiering tonight on PBS as part of the “American Experience” series. “We don’t look back very much.”

It’s an odd thing to hear. If you have even a passing interest in the history of computing, you’ve likely run across some portion of the tale told in “Silicon Valley.” How the “Traitorous Eight,” a group of brilliant scientists frustrated by the erratic behavior of their boss, Nobel prize–winning physicist William Shockley, defected to start their own company and launch the silicon chip revolution is the foundation stone of Valley myth-making

[Tublecane]

I read a pretty good book on this subject, “Accidental Empires.” If I recall correctly there were two general kinds of pirates of Silicon Valley: hippies and nerds. Generally speaking, Bill Gates would be the nerd and Steve Jobs the hippy. Gates wanted to be the richest man in the world and Jobs wanted to save the world.

[null and void]

I’ve known more than one mask designer who said that LSD enabled them to better visualize the layout, placement of parts and routing of interconnects.

Never wanted to be a mask designer that badly, my self...

[TexasRepublic]

That was an excellent documentary to watch.