SUNNYVALE (The Rise and Fall of a Silicon Valley City)

Author: Jeff Goodell
Publisher: Vintage
Publication Date: 2001-08-01
Features: Sunnyvale is a small town located in the middle of Silicon Valley in California. Interwoven with the story is the family's sometimes connection and usual lack of connection to the technological revolution being created there. The author worked at Apple Computer, as did his mother, in the heady days just before the IPO and the development of the Mac. To Mr. Goodell at the time, Apple was just a paycheck, a place where his Mom could get him a job. Soon bored, he left and worked in casinos at Lake Tahoe. Only years later did he discover a love for computers when his parents sent him a Mac to help him with his writing. His mother, on the other hand, moved toward technology. First, getting more training, she went on to become a component designer of printed circuit boards. His father was never able to connect with the technology revolution, nor was his brother. After false starts and delays, his sister did. Mr. Goodel eventually becomes better acquainted with his father's father and finds that he has always been involved with technology.