2016
6.5
1.6K
NR
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Silicon Cowboys
2016
6.5
1.6K
NR
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Launched in 1982 by three friends in a Houston diner, Compaq Computer set out to build a portable PC to take on IBM, the world’s most powerful tech company. Many had tried cloning the industry leader’s code, only to be trounced by IBM and its high-priced lawyers. Explore the remarkable David vs. Goliath story, and eventual demise, of Compaq, an unlikely upstart who altered the future of computing and helped shape the world as we know it today.
Countries:
US
Languages:
English
Content Rating:
NR
Runtime:
1hrs 17min
Status:
Released
Release date:
2016-09-16
Release format:
Theater
****Surprisingly Enjoyable.****
Really good documentary, notionally about Compaq, but also about managing companies through growth, changing corporate cultures, and the development of the PC industry generally.
Really good research before they filmed. LOTS of footage of the facilities, company gatherings, the factory, ads, and more. And interviewed simply everyone.
Then edited together very well. Hardly any infographics, no voiceover, told very seamlessly by the voices of the interviewees.
I always love these documentaries about tech companies and the Internet and so forth. Having grown up in the 1980s, this feels like such an integral part of my life. I was more computer literate at 14 than I am now at 36...
And Compaq is an important part of that story. Doors were opened for other companies (such as Dell) and really ended the way we think about PCs. I do not equate IBM and PC, and almost never have, due in part to Compaq. Whereas we have never seen this same thing happen to Apple... which strategy works best?
My Score 7/10.