Notes on Chapter 29

In Chapter 29, Janet actually quits 3Com and goes to work at Netscape. I had some help from a friend who was there before the IPO, so I think I got most of the details right. I also read Jim Clark’s Netscape Time.

It was an insane time for the developers. Leaving at 8:00 pm was considered “going home early.” Nonetheless, Janet does it. At Oracle I heard a story about a friend of a friend of a friend who worked there and had to be hospitalized. Rumors.

The specter of Microsoft is all over this chapter, if you look. The folks at Netscape really did think they were going to wipe out Microsoft; after all, if you can do everything through a browser, who cares what OS you use? That’s what they thought, anyway.

Patrick, Miriam’s new husband, is at Microsoft and part of his job is to sniff out this new Internet thing. Personal note: in Jim Clark’s book, he said he got a call from Brad Silverberg at Microsoft, offering them a million dollars for their software. He turned them down.

I worked for Brad before he went to Microsoft. He became known for being the head honcho for Windows 95. A lot of what ultimately came out in the 1998 antitrust trial of Microsoft was happening right then: Gates was determined to own the Internet like he owned almost everything else then.

The cross-examination showed the world what a little weasel he was (and is), but in 1995 he was still a hero to the public. Those of us in Silicon Valley knew better.

The part of how Microsoft slow-walked Netscape on the details of how to use Windows APIs is also true. They did everything possible to make Netscape not succeed, as the trial later brought out.

Len gets a glimpse into the seamy side of Silicon Valley. He recalls during the War, some of the companies producing war materials were also, shall we say, less than 100% honest.