I moved to the Valley 15 years ago from England and haven’t regretted it at all. I’ve worked for small companies and large ones, started others from scratch and joined a few just as they were hitting it big. One of the old saws I didn’t hear you mention is that failure genuinely isn’t a stigma here, in fact, if you haven’t failed then you can’t have been trying to push the envelope; in England there’s a constant fear of failure and the perceived damage to one’s reputation that results.

It’s been a hell of a ride and puts the lie to the notion that being a computer engineer is geeky and boring. Oh, and, the weather’s great too

Nice work on the documentary.

You get the feeling with this film that you’re seeing candid interviews you wouldn’t have seen otherwise, and I think this is why it is was such an interesting documentary for me. In one scene the films director even jams out a piano duet with Jef Raskin in his home, and Raskin talks honestly about his part in the early days of Apple. The film is dedicated to the memory of him.

The only key figure missing in the film for me was Steve Jobs - but lots of the others in the film gave their own frank opinions of him - which is possibly more fascinating anyway! Marc Canter plays out the credits with what seems like a spontaneous if not slightly bitter blues guitar song about being shafted by venture capitalists! Which is great Of note also are the additional interviews in the dvd’s ‘extras’.

Altogether a really engaging and interesting documentary/film - well done guys. When’s the box set coming out?

Seeing Andy Hertzfeld show the intrepid video team the garage where the Mother of All Startups began is an interesting piece, but showing Andy coming out to greet the crew before they take that stroll gives it a more intimate feel.

Little touches like that abound. There’s no specific reason to show sunset from a deck in the Santa Cruz Mountains. But it shows the viewer that there is a lot more to Silicon Valley beyond the imposing glass and steel Adobe building or the slick, wood-paneled rooms on Sand Hill Road. The real spirit of the Valley lies in the minds of the creative people who make the Valley special. It’s not in the buildings at all.

The Burning Man connection, though it couldn’t be shown at close range, is significant. Though I haven’t been, I know more than a few people in the Valley who have. They’re always smarter and more creative than I am. Maybe I should have started going to Burning Man long ago.

Seeing so many Valley legends in one hour is inspiring. From the Appelites (Woz, Hertzfeld, Raskin, Kottke, Kawasaki) to the Open Sourcerers (O’Reilly, Behlendorf), and a host of other interesting figures, you get to see these towering figures of legend as human beings.

The extended interviews are also fascinating. Canter’s hilarious guitar rendition is almost worth the price of admission alone.

This was obviously a labor of love, and it is also obvious that John Warnock is right: the Valley truly is a state of mind. How else could three guys from the UK have made it to California, spent a month roaming all over the Valley, and created such an engaging documentary?

English subtitles are available in the DVD? I’ve checked the description but found no mention of them

thanks

No Netflix plans at the moment. I’m sorry.

If anything changes, we’ll post an update on this blog.

Thanks for the interest,

- Steve

Thanks,

Eliot