GUAGUA NATIONAL COLLEGES

COLLEGE OF ENGINEERING

REACTION PAPER:
PIRATES OF SILICON VALLEY

SUBMITTED BY:

ALEXISE C. HERNANDEZ
SUBMITTED TO:

ENGR. JONATHAN OCAMPO

 Pirates of Silicon Valley
Pirates of Silicon Valley is a biographical drama television filmed and premiered in June 20, 1999 directed by
Martyn Burke. Representing the characters of Steve Jobs and Bill Gates are Noah Wyle and Anthony Michael
Hall respectively. The movie is based on Paul Freiberger and Michael Swaine’s book from 1984 titled Fire in
the Valley: The making of the personal computers, this explores the impact of rivalry between Jobs and Gates
(who are the creator of Apple computer and Microsoft) on the development of the personal computers. This is
also a semi-humorous biographical film about the men who started the technology industry, their struggles in
college, how they started their businesses, and how cleverly they built up Apple Computer Corporation and
Microsoft Inc. into global corporations.
This movie consists of different characters starting with Noah Wyle as Steve Jobs who is the co-founder,
chairman, and CEO of Apple. Next is Anthony Michael hall as Bill Gates who is the co-founder of Microsoft.
Next is Joey Slotnick as Steve Wozniak who co-founded Apple with Steve jobs. Next is John DiMaggio as
Steve Ballmer who served as the chief executive officer from 2000 to 2014. There are more characters left to
see that will be seen on this movie.
It started with director Ridley Scott, Steve Jobs discusses the creation of the 1984 Apple Computer
advertisement that introduced the first Macintosh. We're making a totally new cognizance," Occupations is
endeavoring to convey. Scott is more concerned with the technical aspects of the advertisement.
At the 1997 Macworld Expo, he returned to Apple with Jobs and announced a new partnership with Microsoft.
Steve "Woz" Wozniak, his accomplice, is depicted as one of the story's two primary storytellers. Wozniak
informs the audience during this announcement of the similarity between Big Brother and the screen image of
Bill Gates projected behind Jobs. To answer the question of how they "got from there to here," the movie uses
flashbacks from when he was a child with Jobs.
The first flashback takes place in 1971 on the grounds of U.C. Berkeley during the understudy against war
developments. Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak, both young men, are shown being found on the grounds by a
group of students and police. When they reach safety, Jobs tells Wozniak, "Those guys think they're
revolutionaries." They are not revolutionaries; we are." Wozniak states, "Steve was never like you or me" after
that. He always saw things from a different angle. In any event, when I was in Berkeley, he would see karma or
the significance of the universe, while I would just see kilobytes or circuit sheets.
Using a similar structure, the film then shifts to a young Bill Gates attending Harvard University in the early
1970s with his classmate Steve Ballmer and his high school friend Paul Allen. Like Wozniak did in the first
part, Ballmer tells the story of Gates, particularly the part where Gates finds Ed Roberts' MITS Altair and leaves
Harvard. Gates and Allen's early work with MITS is seen in a different light than Jobs and Wozniak's
involvement with the "Homebrew Computer Club." With the help of Daniel and Elizabeth, Occupations and
Woz foster Macintosh PC in the carport of Occupations' family home. In the end, Mike Markkula invests
resources in the organization, allowing it to expand and move forward. At the West Coast PC Faire in 1977,
Positions, Woz, and Markkula demonstrate the Mac II. Following this occurrence, the IBM-PC was developed
in 1981 with assistance from Microsoft and Gates.
Arlene, a pseudonym for Chrisann Brennan, was an early Apple employee and Jobs's high school girlfriend. The
movie follows Jobs's relationship with Arlene and the challenges he faced in recognizing Lisa, their daughter, as
his legitimate child. Shortly before his daughter was born, Jobs unveiled his next computer, which he dubbed
Lisa. The Xerox Alto filled in as a model for both the Lisa and the Mac, which were delivered in 1984. A toast
to Steve Jobs on his 30th birthday in 1985, shortly before Apple CEO John Sculley forced him out, concludes
the main portion of the movie.
The film concludes in 1997, when Jobs, who was 42 years old at the time, returns to Apple following the
company's acquisition of NeXT Computer and announces an alliance with Microsoft at the MacWorld Expo.
Additionally, it suggests that Jobs is married, has children, and has reconciled with Lisa.
After watching the movie, I learned that great inventions can be made anywhere. Steve Jobs and Bill Gates
simply built computers in their garages and rooms. This tells me that a great inventor does not need to be from a
large company or have a lot of money. However, anyone can become an inventor, particularly if they are
dedicated to their work and passionate about it.