Triumph of the Nerds: The Rise of Accidental Empires

Triumph of the Nerds: The Rise of Accidental Empires is a PBS documentary series hosted by Bob Cringely, telling a history of personal computers from its beginning in the 1970s to the release of Windows 95 in the mid 1990s. The series consists of three episodes, chronicling the birth and growth of Silicon Valley's personal computer industry. The first episode tells a story of early personal computers such as the Altair 8800, Apple I and Apple II - and application software such as VisiCalc and Microsoft's Basic. The second episode tells of how IBM entered PC market and dominated it in the 1980s, Compaq's successful reverse-engineering of the IBM PC, and the successful launch of Microsoft's Windows system. The third and final episode tells a story of GUI (graphical user interface) on PC from Xerox PARC in early 1970s through Apple Macintosh in the 1980s - the mid 1990s, to the release of Windows 95.


Triumph of the Nerds: Episode 1 - Impressing Their Friends
This episode tells a story of early personal computers such as the Altair 8800, Apple I and Apple II - and application software such as VisiCalc and Microsoft's Basic.

Triumph of the Nerds: Episode 2 - Riding the Bear
This episode tells of how IBM entered PC market and dominated it in the 1980s, Compaq's successful reverse-engineering of the IBM PC, and the successful launch of Microsoft's Windows system.

Triumph of the Nerds: Episode 3 - Great Artists Steal
This episode tells a story of GUI (graphical user interface) on PC from Xerox PARC in early 1970s through Apple Macintosh in the 1980s - the mid 1990s, to the release of Windows 95.



Web. Triumph of the Nerds
"Nerds" are not a recent phenomenon. It took many years and many nerds to get where we are today. Check out a brief timeline outlining the history of the personal computer and the people that shaped it.
www.pbs.org/nerds/
Web History of Personal Computers
The history of personal computers began in the 1970s. A personal computer is one intended for individual use, ...
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_personal_computers

Film.. The Machine That Changed the World
This is a 1992 documentary series on the history of electronic digital computers, from the dawn of the computer in the 1800s to the early 1990s.
www.infocobuild.com/books-and-films/science/the-machine-that-changed-the-world.html