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YOUR COMMENTS: CONTINUED
Inspiring show! All of the other comments I read
seem to agree. This story would make a really good
movie (in the same flavor as Apollo 13). It has
adventure, unique interesting characters, and that
touch of the American spirit of exploration and
achievment that is utterly compelling. Think about
it.
I enjoyed every minute of "Triumph of the Nerds," and I was pleased to see its honest telling of the story (including the role of Apple and the Macintosh).
Unfortunately, the producers apparantly left out
a substantial part of computer history: the
Commodore 64. It seems to me the #1 selling computer
of all time deserves at least a brief mention for
its role in computer history. A mention of the
Commodore Amiga, whose advanced concepts are only
now (12 years later) being fully emulated by OS/2
and Windows 95, would also be appropriate.
This special was beyond informative, it was inspirational. I am an information systems "nerd" myself so one might not be surprised to find that I had a high level of enthusiasm for the program. But when I returned to work the next day, I was accosted by one of our corporate lawyers who had been similarly inspired by the vision and drive of Steven Jobs and others in "Triumph of the Nerds". John Kansky Indianapolis, IN
This was probably the best documentary I've ever seen, with the possible exception of The Civil War or Baseball - which were more cinematic but not nearly so practical. Three hours of the most fascinating business/marketing/technology lesson I've been exposed to in 25 years in the business world!!! If ever anyone wanted to know what is really so amazing about the technological revolution of the past 20 years, this program is the way to find out in a way that also makes it incredibly personal. It might have been re-named ' The Nerds Will Inherit The Earth!!!" Anonymous Mission Viejo, CA
I've always admiried PBS...but this program really showed me a different side of the corporation for public broadcasting. You guys/gals did a fantastic job on "Triumph...Nerds". I must commend the entire staff and say that it forced me to become a PBS member. All I know is that I will vote against any candidate that supports cutting public broadcasting funds in the coming presidential election. Please keep up the good work. Kudos to all. julio rojas sunnyvale CA
I loved this, too, but there's some corrections and additions that need to be made. First, Cringely says that computer nerding is a "boy's game," yet the accompanying video shows several young girls in the background. I would have liked to see some background on the prehistory of Silicon Valley. You cannot discuss it and its corporate culture without mentioning Frederick Terman (former Stanford Dean of Engineering, considered the father of Silicon Valley) and the prototypical SV garage startup, Hewlett-Packard (started in the 1930s by two of Terman's students). Then, the program makes it look like Jobs and Wozniak invented, or at least named, the blue box. They did not ... many other phone phreakers of the time had put out the word about the magical 2600 Hz tone. And how can you discuss Silicon Valley and completely leave out Sun Microsystems? I realize you were focused on PCs, but they are as instrumental to the growth of computing as Apple, Microsoft or IBM. That's a big chapter to leave out there. Finally, you make it appear as if CP/M was doomed by Digital's disastrous meeting with IBM. In actuality, CP/M was one of the three original OSs offered with the IBM PC. MS-DOS succeeded primarily by being cheaper by a long shot than either CP/M or Pascal. (and speaking of MS-DOS, I find it amusing to hear the Apple-ogists here crying that MS "stole" QDOS which it had bought and paid for. I could say a lot about their comments here, but I won't).
Great show, anyway. Having had a Radio Shack TRS-80
in the late '70s I enjoyed the nostalgia for the early
days of home computing.
I loved this show! I'm 29 and grew up on the Peninsula, with Apples at scool when I was in 7th grade, and then IBM, actually Tandy computers in high school. I thought the subject was handled nearly brilliantly. He used the perfect amount of humor. It would have been easy to have been too serious about the subject. It's an amazing story, that wouldn't be so amazing without Steve Jobs at its center.
Thanks for producing such good television!
Excellent, Excellent, Excellent. This is by far the most informative and enlightening program on the history of the PC as I know of. My eyes were so glued to the show that I only paused watching just enough to call call/email all of my friends that it was showing. Excellent, Excellent, Excellent. Anonymous
I am thrilled by the progress of the personal computer over the past few years and particularly how powerful and yet user friendly it has become. However, generally I am very bored by reading or talking about how it works. I turned on this program thinking I would quickly turn the channel but I found myself glued to the TV the entire 3 hours. Allen W. Toennies Mascoutah, Il
I've been reading all the posted messages to this point and it looks unanimous, everyone loved the show, including me. I watched it twice, the first time pre-empting the Bulls NBA finals game 4. I think the program should be required viewing for EVERYONE who wants to use a PC.
Play it again and again ...
An excellent program. Having lived through all of this from another perspective it was very interesting to see your analysis. I watched it from the user side in the military as the Apple II gave us the ability to develop our own field applications, and the impact was no less dramatic than it was in industry. There were some wonderfully talented "nerds" in uniform who did not make a lot of money or headlines but made significant contributions to "desktop" use in the field. Captain (now Colonel) Keith Alexander, Capatin (now Colonel) Rick Hughes, Staff Sergents Jim Robbins and Jim Sullivan, were all just as innovative in their muddy boot world as some at Menlo Park were in theirs. Thanks for a great program. Bill Harmon Plano, Texas
I thought that the program was quite informative considering the fact that most of these guys are my parent's generation. Being a student here at UC.Berkeley which is not too far from which all of this was happening--this documentary serves as an inspiration to our generation and for many more to come. Being a Computer Science major, i can only dream to follow thier footsteps and hopefully achieve greatness in my own virtue. Alfred Adaza Berkeley, CA
It thought the show was excellent. I love watching shows about the computer industry, past, present and future. Please continue to air these great shows. However, your web site for Triumph of the Nerds, left much to be desired. I was thinking of audio transcipts, maybe video. Maybe you could've had background WAV's of excerpts from the show. Maybe some animation and JAVA. BUT THE SHOW IS GREAT!!!!!! Anonymous
Congratulations on a truly great program! I can remember working with my first Apple II in 1980. When I consider the machine that I am using today, (75Mhz Pentium with 48 megs of ram), you can truly see just how far we have come, and how fast. I only hope that the next 20 years will be just as fruitfull for computer development. At that rate, maybee the futuristic computers on shows like "STAR TREK" will be here sooner than we think. Anonymous St. Louis, MO
I have a classroom with Internet access, and find that students react to email and web page access without an attitude of awe, and use the resources for communicating with parents on Navy ships, project publishing, and a lot of chat time.
The 'Nerds materials will provide an excellent backdrop to what the students have available at their desk.
I'm the guy with the "big beard" shown about 45 minutes into Part 1. "The Apple II set a new standard for personal computers and showed there was some real money to be made. Rival companies popped-up all over, but the market was still hobbyists -- guys with big beards who thought a good use for their computer was controlling a model train set. But for microcomputers to be taken seriously, they had to start doing things that needed doing -- functions that were useful, not just for fun."
I am very curious where you found this video clip
of me, my som and our model railroad.
All around a good job... but... how in the world could you overlook Commodore? Most particularly the Amiga? Does no one remember what they brought to the computer industry and how much ahead of its time it was? Oren Miller Wheaton, IL
Thank you for an indepth look at the hey-day of computing! I watched it with my father, and it helped him to understand what I've been talking about for over six years. PBS should cover more computer subjects in the future. Well done. Nicholas J. Mincone
This show was the most informative and entertaining production I have seen on PBS since Carl Sagan's Cosmos! I work as a computer consultant at Temple University in Philadelphia and I also have a Masters Degree in education so I thought I knew a heck of a lot about the history of the desktop computer world, but Triumph of the Nerds taught me a lot! This is a subperb production and its well worth buying the video which I will do after I submit this Web form! Stanley Horwitz Pennsauken, NJ
To put my feelings for the show into as few words as possible, I thought the show was absolutely incredible. With so much up to date material, great interviews, editing, and a great host (Bob Cringely was the best), you were even able to get my mother, who doesn't even know what the "on-botton" is on the computer, to watch and enjoy the show! (That in itself was an accomplishment.) Thank you! Agoura Hills, CA
I thought the show was great until the end. In the last few minutes, Bob Cringely dismisses both Apple and IBM as bit players in the future world of computing. In fact he leaves the viewer with the impression that Apple won't be around much longer. While no one knows how long any of these companies will be around, I think it irresponsible of Cringely to put that nail in the coffin before the body is cold. Martin Maier Atlanta, Georgia
Congratulations on one of the best documentaries I have ever seen, both in content and technical presentation. Mr. Cringely demonstrated uncanny skill in succinctly describing the critical events in the formulation of the industry and the circumstances and personalities that shaped those events. I hope you air the program again soon. A word about your Web page: it would be helpful to those of us who prefer browsing speed to viewing images if you would put captions next to your images, rather than inside them. Other than that, you have done a good job on your Web page, as well! Lynn Hineman Springfield, VA
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