The Silicon Valley Revolution - How a Few Nerds did Change the World
TV Show · Documentary

Today, the Silicon Valley is home to billion-dollar IT companies. But the beginnings were amateurish, colorful, chaotic and revolutionary. Hippies, hobbyists and businessmen once initiated an unprecedented revolution. The pioneers of the home computer wanted to change no less than the world and push "Big Brother" off the throne. What they wanted: computers for everyone. In this documentation of filmmaker Jan Tenhaven, the aged pioneers of the computer revolution recount the beginnings of the home computer in exclusive interviews. They are visionaries and innovators who - other than Bill Gates or Steve Jobs - didn´t make the big money. But without their ideals and dreams, our today´s networked world would be unimaginable.

2017 · 1h 1m

Season 1

  • EPISODE 1
    From Hippies to the first PC
    Todays’ Silicon Valley is the home for multi-million dollar IT companies. In the beginning, however, it was unsophisticated, colourful, chaotic, and revolutionary. Hippies and amateur entrepreneurs initiated an unprecedented revolution: the pioneers of the PC wanted to change the world in an attempt to dethrone the “Big Brother”. They wanted PCs for everybody instead of big computers for the powerful. In a series of exclusive interviews the pioneers of the PC revolution tell their stories.
    51 min
  • EPISODE 2
    From the first Computer Trade Fair to the WWW
    The dream of personal computers slowly turns into Big Business. The dream of a few leftist visionaries took over the world in the 1980s: the now legendary Macintosh goes on sale, Bill Gates creates the foundation for his economic imperium, the world wide web connects billions of people all over the world, Google is founded. But what happened to the ideals of the former pioneers who prompted the entire industry? The nerds and former hippies have mixed feelings about the developments.
    52 min

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The Silicon Valley Revolution - How a Few Nerds did Change the World

Documentary

Today, the Silicon Valley is home to billion-dollar IT companies. But the beginnings were amateurish, colorful, chaotic and revolutionary. Hippies, hobbyists and businessmen once initiated an unprecedented revolution. The pioneers of the home computer wanted to change no less than the world and push "Big Brother" off the throne. What they wanted: computers for everyone. In this documentation of filmmaker Jan Tenhaven, the aged pioneers of the computer revolution recount the beginnings of the home computer in exclusive interviews. They are visionaries and innovators who - other than Bill Gates or Steve Jobs - didn´t make the big money. But without their ideals and dreams, our today´s networked world would be unimaginable.

Information

Studio
ZDFE
Released
2017
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Select a country or region

Africa, Middle East, and India

  • Armenia
  • Azerbaijan
  • Bahrain
  • Botswana
  • Brunei Darussalam
  • Cape Verde
  • Egypt
  • Eswatini
  • Gambia
  • Ghana
  • Guinea-Bissau
  • India
  • Israel
  • Jordan
  • Lebanon
  • Mauritius
  • Mozambique
  • Namibia
  • Niger (English)
  • Oman
  • Qatar
  • Saudi Arabia
  • South Africa
  • Sri Lanka
  • Tajikistan
  • Turkmenistan
  • Uganda
  • United Arab Emirates
  • Zimbabwe

Asia Pacific

  • Australia
  • Cambodia
  • Fiji
  • 香港 (廣東話–繁體)
  • Indonesia (English)
  • 日本
  • Lao People's Democratic Republic
  • 澳門 (廣東話–繁體)
  • Malaysia (English)
  • Micronesia, Federated States of
  • Mongolia
  • New Zealand
  • Philippines
  • Singapore
  • 대한민국
  • 台灣
  • Thailand
  • Turkmenistan
  • Vietnam

Europe

  • Armenia
  • Österreich
  • Belarus
  • Belgium
  • Bulgaria
  • Cyprus
  • Czechia
  • Denmark
  • Estonia
  • Finland
  • France (Français)
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  • Costa Rica (Español)
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