Microsoft Rising ...and other tales of Silicon Valley

Ted Lewis delivers a first-hand account of the changing computer industry, a story of Microsoft and the Silicon Valley. Lewis maps the history of computing from 1990 to 2000, a tale of greed and emotion in the fastest growing, mainline industry of the world. In this compilation of columns from Computer, IEEE Internet Computing, and Scientific American, Lewis tries to predict and explain the chaos of Silicon Valley. This book reports the author's personal history through the early 1990's to the end of the decade. These stories often try to predict or explain the chaos of Silicon Valley. Lewis analyzes the high-technology industry and its constant change amid turmoil and upheaval. He also examines the art of software development and deals with innovation and the emergence of a techno-society. The book does not promise any answers, but rather concludes this short journey into the recent past with a number of provoking ideas about the future of hi-tech.

Ted Lewis is CEO, and President of Daimler Chrysler Research & Technology Center, North America, in Palo Alto, CA. Before that he was Professor of Computer Science at the Naval Postgraduate School, Monterey, CA. Prior to 1993, he was a Professor of Computer Science at Oregon State University and Director of OACIS—a University-Industry Research Center created to transfer technology from research into products. Lewis holds advanced degrees in Mathematics (BS), and Computer Science (MS, Ph.D.), and has over 30 years of experience with computers, starting with vacuum tube machines. More recently, he has designed e-commerce systems, web-zines, web-enabled databases, re-engineered large-scale enterprise systems, implemented video, teleconferencing systems for distance learning, defined software products for information appliances, performed technology and marketing assessments of network appliances, and advised clients on product definitions for World Wide Web Products. He has extensive experience in the technical publishing industry, having served as the Editor-in-Chief of IEEE Software magazine 1987-1990, Computer magazine 1993-1994, Editorial Board member of IEEE Spectrum magazine 1990-1998, and was elected to the Governing Board of the Computer Society, twice. Widely read in the computer industry, Lewis writes the Binary Critic column for IEEE Computer magazine, and has written the Wired Wired World column for IEEE Internet Computing. He is also an occasional contributor to Scientific American, Upside, and other trade periodicals. He has been a guest of PBS Tech Nation, Ann On-line, Business Commerce Daily, Entrepreneur Magazine, Fast Company, and a number of Silicon Valley TV and radio stations.