Pirates of Silicon Valley

An excellent movie ....

Those who refuse to learn from the mistakes of the past are doomed to repeat them!! BIG corporate America incapable of a little (personal computer) vision. Put the two together and you've got ENTERPRISE.

HOW TO WIN AT BIG BUSINESS: Step #1 - Show them (the customer) that YOU have something that they really can't live without, Step #2 - CAPITALIZE on their weakness(es).

The movie is about how Steve [Steven Paul Jobs (2/24/55), Apple Computers; Cofounder, Steven Wozniak] and Bill [William Henry Gates III (10/28/55), Microsoft; Cofounder, Paul Allen] built their respective companies into their own view of what they wanted computers to be and then, in the end, who eventually gobbled-up whom.

The high point in the movie, for me at least, was when Bill Gates found himself in jail and the door to his cell was closing in on him (for a traffic violation).

In the last few scenes we hear Steve talking to Bill. "We're better than you are ... we have better stuff," Steven Jobs. "You don't get it, Steve, THAT doesn't matter!" Bill Gates.

The movie may have ended, but the STORY goes on ....

Rating: 10 out 10 stars

This is an engaging historical-fiction look at the development of the famous computer companies Apple and Microsoft. The performances are terrific, but the film suffers from trying to handle several main characters and cover a lot of historical events. It is also unfortunate that there are three main characters all named "Steve."

The story is told from the perspective of Steve Wozniak (Joey Slotnik), who is portrayed as a gentle head and caring foil to Noah Wyle's brilliant but cruel portrayal of Steve Jobs, Wozniak's Apple co-founder. Anthony Michael Hall obviously has a wonderful time playing the weaselly Bill Gates.

The title is a pun referencing both the buccaneering style Jobs celebrated at Apple, and the idea of unethically 'pirating' the computer developments of other engineers. The film's main point is that both Apple and Microsoft gained their key functionality, the image-based screen display of a computer system (GUI) and the 'mouse' pointing device, by 'pirating' the ideas. Apple swipes them from Xerox, then Microsoft swipes them from Apple.

This is a personality study and not a technical review, and while that may make it more accessible the film doesn't make it entirely clear why Jobs provides so much access to Gates and his crew (presumably Gates is supposedly modifying his computer language, BASIC, to work on the Apple?)

I'd have to know a lot more about Wozniak, Jobs, and Gates before judging them from this film, which is especially hard on Jobs. Wyle portrays him as a selfish and arrogant adolescent, exploiting and manipulating friends and subordinates. Altogether the film is worth watching, but bittersweet and possibly slanted.

Even for TNT, this is a great movie. Could have been cut around the edges with scenes like the kid's birthday, Jobs' relationship with his daughter that never connected with his role as the founder of Apple, and Xerox's ignorance in the triumph of both Microsoft and Apple. The entire movie is filled with 'monsters' if you are the anti-businessman. Then again, most of the movie's audience is businessmen or computer freaks. Hall's performance is outstanding. HE makes Bill Gates love-able and hate-able at the same time.

This is definitely a must-see for any IT person or anyone just wanting to see a great movie. The cast is incredible, the acting is incredible, the story is also incredible. I wish that this had been released on dvd, I would be first in line to purchase it. It is basically the story of how Apple Computers grew, and how Microsoft grew, they met up, and Microsoft took over. Im not sure how historically accurate this is, however I do know the basic jist is correct. The real life "Woz" validated on his website the correctness of this movie. He also said that the way people are portrayed is how they were. Noah Wyle is excellent as a heartless and cruel Steve Jobs. Anthony Michael Hall is equally great as a geeky Bill Gates. I hope TNT replays it at some point in time, in case it does, RECORD it. I believe its also available for rent. SEE THIS MOVIE.

Just as with the urban legend there are legends as to how Microsoft and Apple came to being. This story based on a book by Paul Freiberger and Michael Swaine is about the story of two parallel personalities; one wants to make a dent in the universe, the other wants to keep his enemies close.

Many realities and key players were glossed over, not to mention the CPM and MPM operating systems. However, if we delve into two may diverse parts of this story we would lose our focus and cohesion.

It is fun to watch the parallel growth of Apple's Steve Jobs (Noah Wyle) and Microsoft's Bill Gates (Anthony Michael Hall). Especially the ability to get into their heads and the many exacerbations or the other guy.

As a previous owner of an Altair, Commodore, TRS-80, and Apple among others, this movie had a special interest for me.