Conference noted::hackers_v1

253.0. "THE BIG SCORE: BILLION $ STORY OF SILICON VALLEY" by SYZYGY::SOPKA (Smiling Jack) Sun Jun 08 1986 01:11

review #8605-0407 from COMPUTING REVIEWS vol 27, #5, May 1986
=============================================================

Malone, Michael S.
THE BIG SCORE: THE BILLION DOLLAR STORY OF SILICON VALLEY
Doubleday & Co., Inc., New York, NY, 1985
442 pp., $18.95, ISBN 0-385-18351-8

There are many emotions that can be called forth by skilled authors to hold 
the attention of their readers.  Sex and lust are common; intrigue and
mystery are often used; some authors so involve their readers with the
characters or with the plot that pages are turned out of sheer curiosity.

This book has no sex, no intrigue, no plot and little deep character
development, but it successfully appeals to a classic emotion with which
we all readily relate: pure, unabashed, overpowering greed.  As with all
popular stories about greed, there is a dark side, a price which the rich
must pay, so that the otherwise envious readers can put down the story 
knowing that their less-wealthy lot is not so bad after all.

Malone's canvas is the geography of Silicon Valley.  As he notes, 
Silicon Valley is a metaphorical term not found on any map, overlaid 
on the concrete which now covers the prune and apricot orchards of the 
Santa Clara Valley.

As implied by the book's title, Malone writes about those people who made
it big in Silicon Valley, those sorcerers who transmuted gold from sand,
some who "made it" by dint of hard work and lasting technical accomplish-
ments, and some who made it simply by cashing out their stock option chips
before their paper walls came tumbling down.  

Some of his characters are true heroes, making the world better with their
innovations in both technology and in organizational design.  Some are 
bums who exploit employees, customers, and vendors, driving them to drink,
drugs, and divorce.

Most of his characters are well-known: the heroes include Bill Hewlett and
Dave Packard, Bob Noyce, and Jerry Sanders.  Some of the bums are not 
people but companies -- Fairchild Semiconductor is a good example.  Some
of his characters are just that -- characters.  I still don't know what
Malone thinks of Charlie Sporck or Les Hogan or William Shockley.

THE BIG SCORE is a potboiler, an attempt to weave into legend events
which happened only yesterday.  These are the people who brought the world     
micros and digitals on every wrist and on every desk.  These are events 
and companies which turned innovation into a competitive weapon in world
trade to offset the homogeneous quality and diligence of the Japanese.
But while the vignettes are interesting and sometimes fascinating, they
are somehow incomplete.  It is too soon to write the definitive story of
the denizens of Silicon Valley.  The events triggered by the invention of 
the transistor are still unfolding and weights are still being added to both
sides of the historical scales of justice.

Malone approaches his story with the eyes of a reporter.  His characters,
whether company or person, are painted with sufficient detail so that 
the readers can create mental pictures.  But, as with most news stories,
the pictures are two-dimensional, black and white, and a little grainy.
Other than abiding greed, the characters' motivations seem incomplete.
We learn little about their families and friends, their non-work 
activities, their hopes and ambitions.  We only glimpse the effects
of the price extracted by Silicon Valley's devils -- drugs, burn-out,
pollution.

As a good reporter, Malone focuses on the major events and characters,
assuming that readers already know the background.  Historians, however,
know that the background must be well described lest the readers apply
current standards to situations which occurred in a far different 
environment.  Thus, for those who have lived with the rise of Silicon 
Valley, this book is both interesting and entertaining.  Those who 
approach it with no knowledge, yet hoping to learn, must be careful
lest they hastily generalize from the pictures provided.

I came to Silicon Valley in 1965, when there were still some apricots 
to be picked alongside Sunnyvale-Saratoga Road.  I worked at Fairchild
Semiconductor from 1965 to 1969, enjoying the halcyon days of Noyce
and Sporck, resigning eventually to become one of "Hogan's Heroes."
I spent seven years in a small company, working as its president for
the last two of those years.  And for the past nine years, I have 
enjoyed the the relative sanity of Hewlett-Packard.  I know many of 
the people Malone describes and have lived many of the events; by
and large, I agree with his opinions and viewpoints, both good and
bad.

But I also know the background he takes for granted, a background of
thousands of people who are leading fulfilled lives in Silicon Valley,
riding the crests of both technological and organizational waves, 
people raising children in fine weather, educating them in outstanding
school systems.  For all its excitement and flaws, divorce and drugs,
Silicon Valley has opened opportunities for many, not just a few.  
Most of the residents of Silicon Valley are not high-tech engineers or 
venture capitalists; they are grocers, librarians, insurance sales
people, car dealers . . . and reporters.  Certainly, many are here to
seek a "big score" in their own professions, riding on the coattails
of those whom Malone describes.  But most settle happily for humdrum
comfort, for reasonable success, for reasonable challenge, for a high
median of steady-state productivity without manic-depressive cycles.

Malone is of that background, a man who grew up in the Valley, who
chose to be a writer rather than an engineer.  In its own way, this
book is Malone's attempt at his own "big score."  Who can begrudge 
him that turn at bat, especially since, as with his characters, his
ambition provides something of social value: a good book covering
the beginnings of the still unfolding tales of Silicon Valley.
				-- J. L. Podolsky, Palo Alto, California

    While we're on the subject of book reviews (of and about hacking)
    let me recommend _Poker Game_ by Fletcher Knebel.  It's about a
    new crypto-chip, the designs of which (may) have been stolen via
    a (possible) ARPAnet trapdoor (perhaps) created by a disgruntled
    former employee.  A great suspense novel with an ironic twist at
    the end.
    
      John (Who went to high school and college in Silicon Valley)