The New New Thing : A Silicon Valley Story

by Michael Lewis

Book Overview

In the weird glow of the dying millennium, Michael Lewis set out on a safari through Silicon Valley to find the world s most important technology entrepreneur. He found this in Jim Clark, a man whose... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0393048136
• Release Date: October 1999
• Publisher: W. W. Norton & Company
• Length: 272 Pages
• Weight: 1.35 lbs.
• Dimensions: 9.6" x 1.0" x 6.5"

Customer Reviews

Entertaining, but not just flash

This is an entertaining, readable book that manages to convey a surprisingly clear-eyed picture of today's Silicon Valley. I don't feel that the author overrated his subject, as Clark's achievements would be notable in any context: he started out as a solid technical expert, and subsequently combined a good "nose" for the New New Thing with a Pied-Piper-like ability to attract talented people and build a phenomenal work team. I also think he deserves considerable credit for his habit of sharing the wealth with the engineers who designed a product; in the past, the only people who got rich from an invention were the executives who marketed it and the investors who backed it! On the other hand, the author unsparingly chronicles Clark's less admirable behavior -- his temper tantrums, whims, failed relationships, and years-long grudges -- so I felt that overall the picture was a balanced one. Much of wealth creation today consists, not of coming up with a better mousetrap, but of convincing investors to buy into your "vision," and the stories of how Clark did this were very instructive.I also found the book rather scary in its depiction of how our educational system fails to "connect" with the brightest students: Clark was bored in school, became a prankster, and eventually was expelled; if he hadn't chanced to meet a teacher who recognized his great talents in math, it's likely that his ingenuity and his desire for wealth would have led him into a life of crime. I felt that the author's attempts to explain Clark's behavior in terms of his unhappy family history and trying to "prove something" to the folks back in Plainview were rather weak: he's a typical "gifted" person in that he has an all-consuming interest in technology and will subordinate everything else to his pursuit of that. (If he were motivated only by a desire for wealth, he wouldn't be so willing to risk his own!) Our schools are still designed to turn out well-behaved "organization men," following the 1950's model that Lewis succinctly describes, and their failure to recognize real talent and teach its possessors how to use it well are, I feel, a major national failing. All in all, this is a book that makes you think, as well as being amusing, and I feel everyone with an interest in high technology should read it.

At Least for Now....

Michael Lewis makes a substantial contribution to our efforts to understand what is happening now in today's business world...and what is likely to occur next. His is "a Silicon Valley story." As such, it has the obligatory plot and characters as well as a number of themes which he carefully develops. The net result is both informative and entertaining.Exactly what is "the new new thing"? This moment's answer may be wrong by the time you finish reading this sentence. Really? Yes. Especially in the Silicon Valley, the next "new new thing" is the 21st century's equivalent of the Holy Grail. The problem is, as Lewis carefully explains, it is often an illusion..and even when manifest, it can so quickly become obsolete. "Silicon Valley to the United States what the United States is to the rest of the world." What is that? Briefly, "the capital of innovation, of material prosperity, of a certain kind of energy, of certain kinds of freedom, and of transience." As I soon discovered when reading the first few chapters, Lewis has written a literary hybrid: it combines the dominant features of the picaresque novel (featuring a central character who seeks and experiences a series of adventures) with the sequential essay (separate but interdependent discussions of a common subject). Lewis introduces his concept of "the searcher" who seeks the "new new thing" and "conforms to no well-established idea of what people should do for a living. He gropes. Finding the new new thing is as much a matter of timing as of technical or financial aptitude, though both of those qualities help." Lewis employs the searcher inorder to examine -- and understand -- a process which creates "fantastic wealth" in the Silicon Valley. The searcher is a "disruptive force" as he gropes his way along, constantly on the move...his mind moving much more quickly than his feet, preferring to live perpetually "with that sweet tingling discomfort of not quite knowing what what it is he wants to say. It is one of the little ironies of economic progress that, while it often results in greater levels of comfort, it depends on people who prefer not to get too comfortable." The searcher, for example.Are we to believe that people who grope their way through life, wandering through the Silicon Valley, are playing a major role (a wholly new role) in wealth creation? Exactly. (This is a mentality and a behavior which Guy Claxton discusses so well in Hair Brain Tortoise Mind.) The main character of this story "had a structure to his life. He might not care to acknowledge it, but it was there all the same. It was the structure of an old-fashioned adventure story. His mere presence on a scene inspired the question that propels every adventure story forward: What will happen next? I had no idea. And neither, really, did he."Throughout this book, as Lewis casually but precisely tells his "story", we are introduced to some of one of the most successful residents of the

Better than LIAR'S POKER?

Michael Lewis has a fascination with wealth and greed, evidenced by both his immensely popular LIAR'S POKER and the new THE NEW NEW THING. In LIAR'S POKER, greed, arrogance, and hubris take center stage in a funny, wicked, and entertaining tale. In THE NEW NEW THING, greed, arrogance, and hubris become supporting actors on a bigger stage. An older and more mature Mr. Lewis has captured a story that pits technogeeks against venture capitalists and, well, it would spoil the story to tell you who prevails. This book has it all: cult of personality, fortunes made and lost, suicide, luck, timing, largesse, personal failure, professional success, sailing off into the sunset and then returning, billion-dollar business plans scribbled on cocktail napkins with "a--hole" as the plan's centerpiece--all told superbly by Mr. Lewis. It is neither as funny nor as wicked as LIAR'S POKER, but it is not intended to be. It is, ultimately, inspiring. If you want a book that leaves you less concerned about wicked greedy selfish bastards than LIAR'S POKER, you may find this book better than LIAR'S POKER. Or at least more satisfying.

An Insightful Read About A Silicon Valley Visionary

Michael Lewis has written a humorous and insightful book about Jim Clark, the founder of Silicon Graphics, Netscape,Healtheon and myCFO. The story is educational in that it provides an insight into the process of conceptionalizing a technology idea, packaging and selling the idea to the venture capitalists,individual investors and those that have to bring the idea to a reality,convince the Wall Street investment bankers of the marketability of such a scheme to the investing public and the final IPO which makes everyone along the food chain rich. This educational story will certainly make you think twice before investing in future technology IPOs. For some, valuation is not a consideration. Lewis has a great style, which is not only informative, but also humorous. I especially liked the way he chides the American legal system (page 195). Anyone who has experienced serving jury duty will appreciate the arrogant and pompous process described by Lewis as the Department of Justice begins the trial against Microsoft. This is a must read for anyone who has ever invested in a high flying technology stock or wondered about life in the Silicon Valley.

Fun, Educational and Inspiring

This book is just a fun read. It is not an academic book, and Lewis does love to dwell on the excesses or silly points, but Lewis captures better than any other author the culture and people of Silicon Valley, who have legally created a stupendous amount of wealth in less than a decade. There were two parts of the book I particularly loved: First, the part on the engineers from India was compelling. These kids grow up on the brink of starvation and work their tails off to make it to Silicon Valley to seek their dreams. The book keenly demonstrates how Jim Clark is able to harness these kind of people and let their talents operate in the most productive way, and also make them rich beyond their wildest dreams.Second, the best part of the book was the second to last chapter, about how Jim Clark came from absolute poverty in Texas. Clark had to defend his mother from his drunken father, and his mother had only $5 a month after the bills were paid. The book keenly demonstrates how Clark's sense of anarchy and adventure led him to rise far above the hand he was dealt in life. The story of how Clark has made 3 different billion dollar companies is amazing, and even more amazing is that he is using his talents to create a fourth company instead of only sailing his crazy boat.You'll learn a lot when you read this book, it will inspire you, and you'll enjoy it. Read it soon, before the next new new thing makes it irrelevant.