02-21-2006, 12:30 PM

How accurate is the Pirates of Silicon Valley movie? It makes Ballmer look like more of a lunatic than I ever thought. And that's pretty sad that Microsoft didn't even develop MS-DOS.

The movie gave some of my friends a very negative impression of Apple Computer and Steve Jobs specifically. They now feel that Jobs is a kind of slave driver and thief as far as the Xerox GUI. I personally think that the Lisa OS and Mac OS were nothing like Xerox when those computers debuted.

The Macintosh was a radical new design nothing like any other computer available at the time. The Mac OS really launched the idea of a graphical user interface and got Microsoft to build up Windows 1.0. I feel that Jobs did get the idea of a GUI from Xerox, but it was certainly Apple designed.

02-21-2006, 12:47 PM

I have never heard of this movie.. is it a movie you can rent?

02-21-2006, 12:55 PM

Originally Posted by PowerBookG4

I have never heard of this movie.. is it a movie you can rent?

Probably. It was a TV movie that aired on TNT during the mid-90's, and I've seen it on Amazon and a few others.

02-21-2006, 01:24 PM

Who cares how it started. What matters is why its still around.

02-21-2006, 01:42 PM

I own the movie and I have also read the book it was based on "Fire in the Valley". It is more or less accurate, only a few "Hollywood" things were added.

Originally Posted by CharlesP2001

The movie gave some of my friends a very negative impression of Apple Computer and Steve Jobs specifically. They now feel that Jobs is a kind of slave driver and thief as far as the Xerox GUI. I personally think that the Lisa OS and Mac OS were nothing like Xerox when those computers debuted.

And yes, if you read the book and watch the PBS documentary "Triumph of the Nerds", you will see that both Jobs and Gates were both cutthroat, slave driving individuals. The movie accurate in that respect. Apple also stole the Xerox GUI almost to the letter. Xerox did take Apple to court for that and the case was eventually thrown out... much like Apple's subsequent and similar cases against Microsoft.

02-21-2006, 08:40 PM

I had to watch that a couple of times in High School, interesting movie. Probably would like to see it again now after owning my Mac, I would pay attention much better.

02-21-2006, 08:49 PM

Originally Posted by TOYOTA

I had to watch that a couple of times in High School, interesting movie. Probably would like to see it again now after owning my Mac, I would pay attention much better.

What class did you watch it in?

02-22-2006, 02:35 PM

Originally Posted by PowerBookG4

What class did you watch it in?

I think he watched it in eather tech-ed(Computer) Or drama. Correct me if im wrong.

02-22-2006, 05:48 PM

Seemed like a fairly accurate movie as far as what I read but it kinda make Steve Jobs look like a jerk. Made Bill Gates and Steve Ballmer look like absolute porno-addicted losers.

02-22-2006, 08:35 PM

You have to keep in mind that the movie was made at the apex of Microsoft's success and Apple's lowest point. They wanted to dramatize the fat cats of the new millenium. At the time, it looked like it was going to be Gates. Gates, Ballmer, and Jobs have all changed since the 80s. It's a great movie, but taking it as an absolute primer for how the men are would be unfair.

02-23-2006, 12:09 AM

Originally Posted by PowerBookG4

What class did you watch it in?

The first time it was some general business class. The second time was Accounting. The teacher was gone for a couple of days so we just popped that in. I wasn't complaining!

*EDIT*

I would like to know what on Earth I had on my signiture that deemed the moderators to put this...

I am the last person to have anything even close to offensive. I simply listed my Macs and their specs... :confused:

02-23-2006, 05:08 AM

True, Apple was still kind of low the the time, but this movie was released in 1999, and Apple was doing some great business with the iMac, but that shadowed in comparison to how Microsoft ruled the world of PCs with Windows 98. I am glad to see Apple being as strong as it is now.

Would you say Apple is the strongest now that it's ever been? I see Apple ads on TV more frequently, more coverage of Apple on national news, more magazine articles, more people talking about Apple, and iPods are everywhere! I think Apple may well be the strongest it's ever been. And right now, the sky is the limit!

Originally Posted by Meyvn

You have to keep in mind that the movie was made at the apex of Microsoft's success and Apple's lowest point. They wanted to dramatize the fat cats of the new millenium. At the time, it looked like it was going to be Gates. Gates, Ballmer, and Jobs have all changed since the 80s. It's a great movie, but taking it as an absolute primer for how the men are would be unfair.

02-23-2006, 07:18 AM

Seems i have to watch this movie!

02-24-2006, 04:13 AM

Wow, so how much of that movie has been embelished?

Portrays SJ as a bit of a nut case.

Great movie, glad i watched it!

02-24-2006, 06:26 PM

Watched this movie a while back and thought it was excellent. Bit of a geek movie but certainly makes you think about how these businesses rose out of nothing. Of course it is a movie and so they are going to over emphasise the qualities that they know about the characters. i.e. at the time it was known that S. Jobs was notorious for firing people. At least that is how the press liked to portray it. MS at the time was also seen as godly in terms of creating standards, even if it was for their own programs. Windows also freed people from ugly AS400 terminals while macs where too expensive.

Would love to know if S. Jobs and Bill actually met on a hill in some diggers.(atleast I think that's what happened in the movie). Anyone else remember some of the cool bits from the movie?