Pirates of Silicon Valley

In 1999, TNT released "Pirates of Silicon Valley", a television biopic starring Noah Wiley as Apple Computers founder Steve Jobs and Anthony Michael Hall as Microsoft founder Bill Gates. The film recounts the birth of the Personal Computer revolution, and the story is told through the rise of Apple and Microsoft in the 1970's, 80's, and 90's.

The film is straight forward in its story telling. Moreover, it successfully weaves in accurate historical facts while still managing to make Jobs and Gates into two exceptionally compelling protagonists.

When Steve Jobs biography is adapted for film, I hope it is inspired by "Pirates of Silicon Valley," and avoids the big budget cinematic polish that tends to eliminate historic truths from movies.

The real Steve Jobs was neither an angel or the devil, he is like every man, a mixture of both and should have the right to be portrayed as such on film.

I highly recommend "Pirates of Silicon Valley" to anybody looking for a Steve Jobs fix or anyone interested in business history. It is a well told story of how the four great men of the personal computer era, Steve Wozniak, Bill Gates, Steve Allen and Steve Jobs revolutionized an industry and began a revolution.

RIM takeover ...

Research in Motion’s co-CEO structure is under fire and the vultures are starting to circle. After BlackBerry product miscues and a vacuum of new...

While a Microsoft’s take over of RIM might seem like a long shot, there might be some merit to the idea.

Here are some reasons a takeover might happen:

1. Microsoft already has an exclusive deal with Nokia, and could use Black Berry production facilities to bolster the amount of Windows 7 phones on the market.

2. Nokia could fill the high end phone market with Apple while a Black Berry line could come in as Microsoft’s low end solution for the phone market. Teenagers already choose the Black Berry because of its affordability versus the Iphone.

3. Microsoft is already making 15.00 off of every Andriod phone; the additional patents owned by Black Berry could be a boon for Microsofts bottom line.

4. Incorporating Black Berry’s BBS messenger into Windows phone could give it an edge in the business market as many companies are still dedicated to using Black Berry systems for security and convenience.

5. If Black Berry’s next series of phones are a flop, shares prices will drop and as in the Skype acquisition will Microsoft be willing to sit by and see a competitor buy them instead. If Google purchased the Waterloo company, it could buy into the Nortel Patent deal it failed to win in July.

Either way, I believe that Black Berry might make a come back, Apple did it with less in 2000. It might take new leadership and a new vision of the company, but I wouldn’t count them out just yet.