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The Intel Trinity: How Robert Noyce, Gordon Moore, and Andy Grove Built the World's Most Important Company – A Biography from Unprecedented Archives of the Digital Age Founders
Based on unprecedented access to the corporation’s archives, The Intel Trinity is the first full history of Intel Corporation—the essential company of the digital age— told through the lives of the three most important figures in the company’s history: Robert Noyce, Gordon Moore, and Andy Grove.
Often hailed the “most important company in the world,” Intel remains, more than four decades after its inception, a defining company of the global digital economy. The legendary inventors of the microprocessor-the single most important product in the modern world-Intel today builds the tiny “engines” that power almost every intelligent electronic device on the planet.
But the true story of Intel is the human story of the trio of geniuses behind it. Michael S. Malone reveals how each brought different things to Intel, and at different times. Noyce, the most respected high tech figure of his generation, brought credibility (and money) to the company’s founding; Moore made Intel the world’s technological leader; and Grove, has relentlessly driven the company to ever-higher levels of success and competitiveness. Without any one of these figures, Intel would never have achieved its historic success; with them, Intel made possible the personal computer, Internet, telecommunications, and the personal electronics revolutions.
The Intel Trinity is not just the story of Intel’s legendary past; it also offers an analysis of the formidable challenges that lie ahead as the company struggles to maintain its dominance, its culture, and its legacy.
With eight pages of black-and-white photos.
Often hailed the “most important company in the world,” Intel remains, more than four decades after its inception, a defining company of the global digital economy. The legendary inventors of the microprocessor-the single most important product in the modern world-Intel today builds the tiny “engines” that power almost every intelligent electronic device on the planet.
But the true story of Intel is the human story of the trio of geniuses behind it. Michael S. Malone reveals how each brought different things to Intel, and at different times. Noyce, the most respected high tech figure of his generation, brought credibility (and money) to the company’s founding; Moore made Intel the world’s technological leader; and Grove, has relentlessly driven the company to ever-higher levels of success and competitiveness. Without any one of these figures, Intel would never have achieved its historic success; with them, Intel made possible the personal computer, Internet, telecommunications, and the personal electronics revolutions.
The Intel Trinity is not just the story of Intel’s legendary past; it also offers an analysis of the formidable challenges that lie ahead as the company struggles to maintain its dominance, its culture, and its legacy.
With eight pages of black-and-white photos.
560 pages, Hardcover
First published July 15, 2014
173 people are currently reading
3434 people want to read
About the author
Michael S. Malone
45 books63 followersMichael S. Malone is a journalist and author who has been nominated for the Pulitzer price twice for his investigative journalism contributions. He has a regular column Silicon Dreams in Forbes (previosuly Silicon Insider for ABC)
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 85 reviews
March 29, 2015
As of today The Intel Trinity,The: How Robert Noyce, Gordon Moore, and Andy Grove Built the World's Most Important Company wins my award for best business book of 2015.
I got an Apple ][ for my bar mitzvah in 1978. Ever since then I've been fascinated with computers and the computer industry. I obviously missed the 1950s and 1960s, but the history of that time period has deeply informed my perspective, especially the definition of Moore's law by Gordon Moore in 1965.
I work with many first time and young entrepreneurs who know the phrase "Moore's Law" but know nothing about the origin story of Intel or the history of how Moore's Law built the base of an industry that we continue to build on. I also know many experienced entrepreneurs who seem to have forgotten that the phenomenon we experience around innovation, disruption, innovators vs. incumbents, and radical shifts in the underlying dynamics of markets is nothing new.
If you fall into this category, as hard as it may be to acknowledge, get a copy of The Intel Trinity and read it from cover to cover.
Michael S. Malone has written another excellent book (he's one of my favorite tech history writers) that does more than document the history of Intel and its impact on the universe. The best part of this book is understanding the characters of Robert Noyce, Gordon Moore, and Andy Grove, especially how they worked together as early co-founders (Noyce / Moore), an initial management troika (Noyce/Moore/Grove), and the subsequent leadership of Intel for 30 years. It's a powerful example of founding entrepreneurs and their leadership of a company from inception, through several near death events, to sustainable market dominance.
It also gives anyone who says "this time is different" some perspective. Just remember, "All this has happened before, and all of it will happen again."
I got an Apple ][ for my bar mitzvah in 1978. Ever since then I've been fascinated with computers and the computer industry. I obviously missed the 1950s and 1960s, but the history of that time period has deeply informed my perspective, especially the definition of Moore's law by Gordon Moore in 1965.
I work with many first time and young entrepreneurs who know the phrase "Moore's Law" but know nothing about the origin story of Intel or the history of how Moore's Law built the base of an industry that we continue to build on. I also know many experienced entrepreneurs who seem to have forgotten that the phenomenon we experience around innovation, disruption, innovators vs. incumbents, and radical shifts in the underlying dynamics of markets is nothing new.
If you fall into this category, as hard as it may be to acknowledge, get a copy of The Intel Trinity and read it from cover to cover.
Michael S. Malone has written another excellent book (he's one of my favorite tech history writers) that does more than document the history of Intel and its impact on the universe. The best part of this book is understanding the characters of Robert Noyce, Gordon Moore, and Andy Grove, especially how they worked together as early co-founders (Noyce / Moore), an initial management troika (Noyce/Moore/Grove), and the subsequent leadership of Intel for 30 years. It's a powerful example of founding entrepreneurs and their leadership of a company from inception, through several near death events, to sustainable market dominance.
It also gives anyone who says "this time is different" some perspective. Just remember, "All this has happened before, and all of it will happen again."
September 1, 2014
This book was sent to me free by the Goodreads First Reads program.
If you're interested in how Silicon Valley technology developed this is an interesting book. The author begins with the three who ended up being the founders of the behemoth company, Intel. Each had different skills, giving the company the exact people to make it successful. I wish Malone had given Andy Grove a bit more space, however. I read a biography of him, an immigrant from Hungary, which was fascinating and helped explain how he became the dynamo that this trio needed.
I got bogged down in the details, however. I think that this is a great book for those who want to know how the technology developed over the years, but for the general public, it's a bit much.
A good read, however, and well worth the time it takes to get through it.
If you're interested in how Silicon Valley technology developed this is an interesting book. The author begins with the three who ended up being the founders of the behemoth company, Intel. Each had different skills, giving the company the exact people to make it successful. I wish Malone had given Andy Grove a bit more space, however. I read a biography of him, an immigrant from Hungary, which was fascinating and helped explain how he became the dynamo that this trio needed.
I got bogged down in the details, however. I think that this is a great book for those who want to know how the technology developed over the years, but for the general public, it's a bit much.
A good read, however, and well worth the time it takes to get through it.
December 31, 2017
The good news: Five stars for a serviceable and needed popular story of one the most iconic companies and business teams in the history of Silicon Valley. The bios of Noyce, Moore and Grove side-by-side make a great story. The interpersonal dynamics of the founding team was fascinating. The Fairchild-to-Intel-to-memory business-to microprocessor story is well told.
The bad news: Two stars as Malone has very little insight into the damage Andy Grove and his successors did to microprocessor innovation in Silicon Valley.
The main thread of the book is the attribution of Intel's success due to a troika of great management, the pursuit of "Moores Law" and Andy Grove's relentless pursuit of operational execution. While that makes a great popular novel and a good read, that's so wrong as to make the rest of his conclusions painful to read.
The reality was that regardless of technology innovation and management skill, Intel's dominant position was equal parts technology innovator as it was ruthless monopolist. It used its monopoly power to strangle emerging competition and destroy existing ones to dominate the industry for the last 3 decades. Its failure to innovate in new markets in the 21st century is a direct result of its reliance on predatory pricing and exclusionary behavior.
Referring to the early days of the semiconductor business Malone says, "There was another anarchic force defining the semiconductor industry during these years: lawlessness....That competition often crossed the line into what would usually be considered unethical, even illegal, behavior..." but Malone never connects lawlessness to Grove's need to win at all costs. So much so that Grove institutionalized decades of Intel wining through threats, intimidation, and predatory tactics.
These were not one-time events and contrary to the books premise it wasn't just Grove's obsession with AMD, it was his antipathy to any competitor, big or small.They were not behaviors of the early days that the company outgrew. In fact the record is clear that as Intel gained share it continued to use its monopoly power in ever increasing ways.
Just one example: Malone misunderstood the Intel Inside campaign. It wasn't just a consumer branding strategy. First and foremost it was a predatory marketing campaign that turned into exclusionary behavior. PC firms that used Intel chips and put Intel Inside on their PC's were given funds to use in advertising and were reimbursed for "marketing expenses". In reality these marketing funds were actually a subsidy/discount (some would say kickback) on Intel chips. As Intel's power grew they would only give the PC manufacturers rebates if they would buy 95% of their Microprocessors from Intel. If they used AMD or other microprocessors - all the Intel rebates would disappear. By the end of the 1990s, Intel had spent more than $7 billion on the Intel Inside campaign and had 2,700 PC firms locked up. By 2001 these rebates were running $1.5 billion a year.
None of this information is hard to find. Intel has been sued in Japan (for offering money to NEC, Fujitsu, Toshiba, Sony, and Hitachi,) in the EU (for paying German retailers to sell Intel PC's only) and in the U.S. for predatory (pricing), exclusionary behavior, and the abuse of a dominant position (HP, Dell, Sony, Toshiba, Gateway and Hitachi.) The legal record is pretty clear that Intel used payments, marketing loyalty rebates and threats to persuade computer manufacturers, including Dell and Hewlett-Packard (HP), to limit their use of AMD processors. U.S. antitrust authorities have focused on whether the loyalty rebates used by Intel were a predatory device in violation of the Sherman Act. The European Commission (EC) has brought similar charges and imposed a 1.06 billion Euros fine on Intel for abuse of a dominant position.
The sum of these efforts not only killed competitors but it killed innovation in microprocessor design outside of Intel for decades
The Justice Department went after Microsoft because it was a more visible and understandable target. But both Microsoft and Intel were acting in an equally rapacious behavior.
It's hard to tell why Malone glosses over all of this. Was it, "too close to the source" or perhaps the facts didn't comfortably fit his narrative.
In either case the lack of this "Intel as a monopolist" narrative misses the Shakespearean tragedy of Andy Grove's legacy. It was Grove's dominance - at any cost - of the microprocessor market that blinded him and his successors to the coming of the mobile and tablet markets. Barrett and Ottellini inherited a culture of locking down an existing market while its competitors innovated outside of it.
The tragedy is that Malone lost the opportunity to ask Grove, "Was Intel's lack of innovation in the 21st century is a direct result of its 20th century policy of being a monopolist?"
A now reflective Andy Grove might have given him an answer he didn't expect.
The bad news: Two stars as Malone has very little insight into the damage Andy Grove and his successors did to microprocessor innovation in Silicon Valley.
The main thread of the book is the attribution of Intel's success due to a troika of great management, the pursuit of "Moores Law" and Andy Grove's relentless pursuit of operational execution. While that makes a great popular novel and a good read, that's so wrong as to make the rest of his conclusions painful to read.
The reality was that regardless of technology innovation and management skill, Intel's dominant position was equal parts technology innovator as it was ruthless monopolist. It used its monopoly power to strangle emerging competition and destroy existing ones to dominate the industry for the last 3 decades. Its failure to innovate in new markets in the 21st century is a direct result of its reliance on predatory pricing and exclusionary behavior.
Referring to the early days of the semiconductor business Malone says, "There was another anarchic force defining the semiconductor industry during these years: lawlessness....That competition often crossed the line into what would usually be considered unethical, even illegal, behavior..." but Malone never connects lawlessness to Grove's need to win at all costs. So much so that Grove institutionalized decades of Intel wining through threats, intimidation, and predatory tactics.
These were not one-time events and contrary to the books premise it wasn't just Grove's obsession with AMD, it was his antipathy to any competitor, big or small.They were not behaviors of the early days that the company outgrew. In fact the record is clear that as Intel gained share it continued to use its monopoly power in ever increasing ways.
Just one example: Malone misunderstood the Intel Inside campaign. It wasn't just a consumer branding strategy. First and foremost it was a predatory marketing campaign that turned into exclusionary behavior. PC firms that used Intel chips and put Intel Inside on their PC's were given funds to use in advertising and were reimbursed for "marketing expenses". In reality these marketing funds were actually a subsidy/discount (some would say kickback) on Intel chips. As Intel's power grew they would only give the PC manufacturers rebates if they would buy 95% of their Microprocessors from Intel. If they used AMD or other microprocessors - all the Intel rebates would disappear. By the end of the 1990s, Intel had spent more than $7 billion on the Intel Inside campaign and had 2,700 PC firms locked up. By 2001 these rebates were running $1.5 billion a year.
None of this information is hard to find. Intel has been sued in Japan (for offering money to NEC, Fujitsu, Toshiba, Sony, and Hitachi,) in the EU (for paying German retailers to sell Intel PC's only) and in the U.S. for predatory (pricing), exclusionary behavior, and the abuse of a dominant position (HP, Dell, Sony, Toshiba, Gateway and Hitachi.) The legal record is pretty clear that Intel used payments, marketing loyalty rebates and threats to persuade computer manufacturers, including Dell and Hewlett-Packard (HP), to limit their use of AMD processors. U.S. antitrust authorities have focused on whether the loyalty rebates used by Intel were a predatory device in violation of the Sherman Act. The European Commission (EC) has brought similar charges and imposed a 1.06 billion Euros fine on Intel for abuse of a dominant position.
The sum of these efforts not only killed competitors but it killed innovation in microprocessor design outside of Intel for decades
The Justice Department went after Microsoft because it was a more visible and understandable target. But both Microsoft and Intel were acting in an equally rapacious behavior.
It's hard to tell why Malone glosses over all of this. Was it, "too close to the source" or perhaps the facts didn't comfortably fit his narrative.
In either case the lack of this "Intel as a monopolist" narrative misses the Shakespearean tragedy of Andy Grove's legacy. It was Grove's dominance - at any cost - of the microprocessor market that blinded him and his successors to the coming of the mobile and tablet markets. Barrett and Ottellini inherited a culture of locking down an existing market while its competitors innovated outside of it.
The tragedy is that Malone lost the opportunity to ask Grove, "Was Intel's lack of innovation in the 21st century is a direct result of its 20th century policy of being a monopolist?"
A now reflective Andy Grove might have given him an answer he didn't expect.
May 26, 2017
So let me name some companies: Amazon, Apple, Facebook, Google, Intel, Oracle. All of these companies have something in common...they all were helped and created or assisted by a small group of engineers who would go on to inspire most of Silicon Valley. Those engineers all worked for the same company: Fairchild Semiconductor.
And led by Robert Noyce (who would go to found Intel) most of your access to the Internet in other words how we all communicate with each other...came from their innovation...
- Fairchild Semiconductor was actually a subsidiary created when a small group of engineers who were disgruntled left a company called Shockley Transistor. Shockley was a brilliant scientist but as a business leader he was paranoid, berating and cruel. He actually subjected his employees to lie detector tests. The smartest of the bunch got fed up and left.
- Robert Noyce was given a lot of latitude to run Fairchild Semiconductor at first but when he really got successful he started to get dragged into the politics of the main company and that pissed him off. He was pulled away from innovation which was really what he wanted to do. He started to break away.
- Noyce founded Intel with Gordon Moore (Moore's law) and Andy Grove. The book chronicles their fights to keep innovating within the company and to keep the cutting edge on the technology that became most of what we think of when we think of Silicon Valley.
Wild book. It's amazing that just a few of these guys have given us basically the framework for how keep in touch, find information, shop and communicate today...
And led by Robert Noyce (who would go to found Intel) most of your access to the Internet in other words how we all communicate with each other...came from their innovation...
- Fairchild Semiconductor was actually a subsidiary created when a small group of engineers who were disgruntled left a company called Shockley Transistor. Shockley was a brilliant scientist but as a business leader he was paranoid, berating and cruel. He actually subjected his employees to lie detector tests. The smartest of the bunch got fed up and left.
- Robert Noyce was given a lot of latitude to run Fairchild Semiconductor at first but when he really got successful he started to get dragged into the politics of the main company and that pissed him off. He was pulled away from innovation which was really what he wanted to do. He started to break away.
- Noyce founded Intel with Gordon Moore (Moore's law) and Andy Grove. The book chronicles their fights to keep innovating within the company and to keep the cutting edge on the technology that became most of what we think of when we think of Silicon Valley.
Wild book. It's amazing that just a few of these guys have given us basically the framework for how keep in touch, find information, shop and communicate today...
August 23, 2014
It is my policy to only rate books that I finish. However, when my issues are not content related and are extreme, then I think a rating is still justified. First incredibly irritating problem: 4 of the 14 photos in the book are not labeled as to who is who, and another one is very confusingly labeled. Maybe it's just my poor facial recognition, but I can't keep these men straight over multiple decades and different poses. One of the author's repeated laments is how these 3 men have been so forgotten/neglected so soon in tech/cultural history…maybe it's because their photos aren't labeled? I think it's criminal to have a group photo of the "traitorous eight" and not identify the individuals at all. If there is ever a second printing or second edition, this problem must be remedied. Second problem: over reliance on one-sentence paragraphs. That style probably stems from Malone's journalism career but I find it extremely bothersome.
Some of the sections I read were ok, but overall, it's just not a uniformly interesting presentation. Malone cites 2 other biographies as major sources for his book and I think I'll go try them.
Some of the sections I read were ok, but overall, it's just not a uniformly interesting presentation. Malone cites 2 other biographies as major sources for his book and I think I'll go try them.
August 17, 2017
A grudging 4 stars. The good: engagingly written corporate history and mini-biographies of the big 3, which shows the importance of the interplay between venture capital, technology, marketing, and management; along the way, the book provides a nice look into the Valley and its 60's culture. The bad: 1) the spray of superlatives (everything and everybody associated with Intel is/was the greatest and most important in business history) was both very annoying and smacks of bias, 2) the endless and breathless mentions of Moore's law. Had Moore not predicted that IC component counts would continue to double every year (or two), we'd still have room size computers that couldn't run Angry Birds. At least seemingly according to Malone.
April 8, 2015
thanks to goodreads first reads and the author for giving me this chance to read this book.i found this book to be very interesting as t o how this company came about.and the stuggles and all the challenges faced.this book will inspire people ot know that they can take risks and to overcome those risk and bring a company to light.i really did like this book and i think you will too...
August 15, 2014
Great history of Intel and Silicon Valley. Love what the founder Bob Noyce and studies confirm that central to entrepreneurs personality is having control over their own fates, even if they fail.
February 1, 2025
I was planning to skim this quickly to look for any tidbits on an adjacent subject, but I ended up reading the whole thing in earnest because it was compelling and important.
Some things I learned:
- The narrative I'd always heard was that the Intel founders left Fairchild Semiconductor because the company had been bought for cheap and they weren't given more stock options; but they stayed well after the buyout and left only after business declined (and Robert Noyce was passed over for the parent company's CEO job).
- Intel's most innovative product, the microprocessor, was started somewhat in secret because most of the company was struggling to hit its targets for its first memory chips and it would have looked bad (and probably was bad) to be dedicating focus on something new without having proven itself.
- When Intel started working with IBM for what became its PC, Big Blue was so secretive about the hardware that Intel's engineers had to give tech support from literally behind a black curtain.
- Apple probably would have used Intel chips in its first PC too, but Steve Jobs lied to Steve Wozniak about how much they were getting paid for the computers (so he could keep a larger share himself), so Wozniak went with a cheaper competitor.
Some things I learned:
- The narrative I'd always heard was that the Intel founders left Fairchild Semiconductor because the company had been bought for cheap and they weren't given more stock options; but they stayed well after the buyout and left only after business declined (and Robert Noyce was passed over for the parent company's CEO job).
- Intel's most innovative product, the microprocessor, was started somewhat in secret because most of the company was struggling to hit its targets for its first memory chips and it would have looked bad (and probably was bad) to be dedicating focus on something new without having proven itself.
- When Intel started working with IBM for what became its PC, Big Blue was so secretive about the hardware that Intel's engineers had to give tech support from literally behind a black curtain.
- Apple probably would have used Intel chips in its first PC too, but Steve Jobs lied to Steve Wozniak about how much they were getting paid for the computers (so he could keep a larger share himself), so Wozniak went with a cheaper competitor.
September 11, 2014
Disclosure: I received this book for free through Goodreads' First Read Program.
The Intel Trinity is a book about Intel and its founders that can be catoegorized as a business book, but also one about microchips and related technology as well. By discussing the people, the business, and the products, Malone details the lives of both the Noyce, Moore, and Grove trinity as well as Intel itself.
This book starts off with the beginnings of Silicon Valley and tended to focus more on the beginnings and expansion of Intel, in addition to detailing the lives of Noyce, Moore, and Grove. In the epilogue Malone actually discusses how it is a challenge to any author as to which period of a company's life to focus on. While I did not mind the extended discussion on Intel's earlier days, I was a little disappointed at how quickly Malone breezed through the 90's (besides one critical crisis), since that is the time when I actually remember the Intel brand truly taking off.
Admittedly I understand business more than technology, and much of the discussion of transistors, chips, etc. went over my head, even with the appendix on technology at the very end. With that said, I still found the book enjoyable, although The Intel Trinity would probably best be suited for people who are interested in and knowledgable of the inner workings of computers as well as Silicon Valley. I will note that Malone does touch on the fact that very few people do understand microchips and microprocessors, and discusses that the media feel more comfortable talking about software and programs (a la Google, Facebook, iTunes, etc.) rather than the guts of the machines other than the manufacturer and model of their processors. The in-depth details of the technology are not made much later on in the book, however. While there is no explanation for this, I'm guessing it is either because some of the information is proprietary or is too complex for the book at this point.
Malone did a good job summarizing the pre-Intel lives of each member of the trinity. I found Grove's background particularly fascinating, and I may very well read one or more of his books in the future.
Overall I enjoyed this book more than I thought I would, since I went into it a little intimidated by my lack of knowledge in computing technology and the book's clocking in at over 500 pages, but I enjoyed reading it and recommend it for buisness and/or Silicon Valley enthusiasts.
The Intel Trinity is a book about Intel and its founders that can be catoegorized as a business book, but also one about microchips and related technology as well. By discussing the people, the business, and the products, Malone details the lives of both the Noyce, Moore, and Grove trinity as well as Intel itself.
This book starts off with the beginnings of Silicon Valley and tended to focus more on the beginnings and expansion of Intel, in addition to detailing the lives of Noyce, Moore, and Grove. In the epilogue Malone actually discusses how it is a challenge to any author as to which period of a company's life to focus on. While I did not mind the extended discussion on Intel's earlier days, I was a little disappointed at how quickly Malone breezed through the 90's (besides one critical crisis), since that is the time when I actually remember the Intel brand truly taking off.
Admittedly I understand business more than technology, and much of the discussion of transistors, chips, etc. went over my head, even with the appendix on technology at the very end. With that said, I still found the book enjoyable, although The Intel Trinity would probably best be suited for people who are interested in and knowledgable of the inner workings of computers as well as Silicon Valley. I will note that Malone does touch on the fact that very few people do understand microchips and microprocessors, and discusses that the media feel more comfortable talking about software and programs (a la Google, Facebook, iTunes, etc.) rather than the guts of the machines other than the manufacturer and model of their processors. The in-depth details of the technology are not made much later on in the book, however. While there is no explanation for this, I'm guessing it is either because some of the information is proprietary or is too complex for the book at this point.
Malone did a good job summarizing the pre-Intel lives of each member of the trinity. I found Grove's background particularly fascinating, and I may very well read one or more of his books in the future.
Overall I enjoyed this book more than I thought I would, since I went into it a little intimidated by my lack of knowledge in computing technology and the book's clocking in at over 500 pages, but I enjoyed reading it and recommend it for buisness and/or Silicon Valley enthusiasts.
October 3, 2014
"Long after everyone else in the Silicon Valley story is forgotten -- Terman and Hewlett and Packard, Noyce, Zuckerberg, Brin, and Page, even Steve Jobs -- Gordon Moore will still be remembered. Not for his career in high tech, though it is all but unequaled, but for his law -- which future historians will point to as defining the greatest period of human innovation and wealth creation in history." (99)
"For mainframe computer memory engineers, this familiarity of failure [in DRAM and magnetic cores] bred not contempt but trust. The fact that the 1103 was cranky and didn't work quite right perversely made these engineers more comfortable about adopting this wholly new technology." (167-8)
"By comparison [to Hewlett and Packard], the Noyce-Grove-Moore troika was ultimately just as successful (intel would at one point have a market capitalization even greater than HP), and yet at various times, at least one member loathed another, and resentments flowed in various directions." (339)
"Within a few years, yield rates rose to 80 percent at the company, with equipment utilization rising from just 20 percent to an astonishing 60 percent. Other than the microprocessor, it can be said that no single idea from a single employee ever made a bigger financial contribution to Intel than [Craig] Barrett's Copy Exactly." (372)
"Like DRAMs before it, flash memory proved to be Intel's hidden moneymaking engine. While the rest of the world was focused on the company's famous microprocessor business, Intel spend twenty years quietly and consistently upgrading the power of its flash memory chips, finding more and more new customers, and cranking out profits." (407)
"When it [the Intel Inside campaign] began, Intel was still largely known only within the electronics industry or perhaps as the company once run by Bob Noyce. By the turn of the century nine years later, thanks to Intel Inside, surveys found that Intel was the second-best-known industrial brand (after Coca-Cola) in the world." (425)
"For mainframe computer memory engineers, this familiarity of failure [in DRAM and magnetic cores] bred not contempt but trust. The fact that the 1103 was cranky and didn't work quite right perversely made these engineers more comfortable about adopting this wholly new technology." (167-8)
"By comparison [to Hewlett and Packard], the Noyce-Grove-Moore troika was ultimately just as successful (intel would at one point have a market capitalization even greater than HP), and yet at various times, at least one member loathed another, and resentments flowed in various directions." (339)
"Within a few years, yield rates rose to 80 percent at the company, with equipment utilization rising from just 20 percent to an astonishing 60 percent. Other than the microprocessor, it can be said that no single idea from a single employee ever made a bigger financial contribution to Intel than [Craig] Barrett's Copy Exactly." (372)
"Like DRAMs before it, flash memory proved to be Intel's hidden moneymaking engine. While the rest of the world was focused on the company's famous microprocessor business, Intel spend twenty years quietly and consistently upgrading the power of its flash memory chips, finding more and more new customers, and cranking out profits." (407)
"When it [the Intel Inside campaign] began, Intel was still largely known only within the electronics industry or perhaps as the company once run by Bob Noyce. By the turn of the century nine years later, thanks to Intel Inside, surveys found that Intel was the second-best-known industrial brand (after Coca-Cola) in the world." (425)
December 5, 2014
This well-researched history of the Intel corporation tells its story by concentrating on Intel’s three key figures: Robert Noyce, Gordon Moore and Andrew Grove. The author has based the work on both previously published information and access to the Intel archives.
The prominent use of the Intel archives might possibly have had an effect of introducing a positive spin to the storytelling and creating an impression upon the reader that Intel has rarely done anything wrong.
However, this can’t be criticised too much as we are talking about a company that has had such a far-reaching influence upon Silicon Valley management and business practices, while also dominating the CPU market that it would be hard for anyone not to hold a degree of admiration for it.
The story of Intel is told in stages, with the book split into five parts discussing each stage. We begin with the initial meeting of Noyce and Moore while working for Shockley Semi-Conductors, including a brief history of the early days of Silicon Valley and the demise of Shockley Semi-Conductors.
From this point the book goes on to discuss the evolution of the company’s product lines along with its technical and managerial innovations over the following decades.
Throughout the book there are a number of biographical chapters that describe the early lives of the three protagonists and these help to make the book different from a standard corporate history. The chapters discussing Andrew Grove’s early life and his family’s experiences as holocaust survivors make particularly interesting reading.
In all, the book provides a very enjoyable and readable history of one of Silicon Valley’s great companies, touching on all sides of the story so that the technical, management and human parts of the story merge together into a cohesive history.
It is however a popular history and shouldn’t be purchased by anyone looking for management guidance or a technical history of chip design.
Reviewed by Nick Dunn, Senior Security Consultant, NCC Group
The prominent use of the Intel archives might possibly have had an effect of introducing a positive spin to the storytelling and creating an impression upon the reader that Intel has rarely done anything wrong.
However, this can’t be criticised too much as we are talking about a company that has had such a far-reaching influence upon Silicon Valley management and business practices, while also dominating the CPU market that it would be hard for anyone not to hold a degree of admiration for it.
The story of Intel is told in stages, with the book split into five parts discussing each stage. We begin with the initial meeting of Noyce and Moore while working for Shockley Semi-Conductors, including a brief history of the early days of Silicon Valley and the demise of Shockley Semi-Conductors.
From this point the book goes on to discuss the evolution of the company’s product lines along with its technical and managerial innovations over the following decades.
Throughout the book there are a number of biographical chapters that describe the early lives of the three protagonists and these help to make the book different from a standard corporate history. The chapters discussing Andrew Grove’s early life and his family’s experiences as holocaust survivors make particularly interesting reading.
In all, the book provides a very enjoyable and readable history of one of Silicon Valley’s great companies, touching on all sides of the story so that the technical, management and human parts of the story merge together into a cohesive history.
It is however a popular history and shouldn’t be purchased by anyone looking for management guidance or a technical history of chip design.
Reviewed by Nick Dunn, Senior Security Consultant, NCC Group
November 14, 2016
Anyone even remotely connected with the semiconductor industry should read this definitive guide of how Intel Corp becomes the most important company of the digital age, silicon valley and its impact on humanity.
A combination of three unlikely technocrats who came together from Fair child Semiconductor and then founded Intel...the trinity of Bob Noyce know for his vision and jaw dropping risk taking ability, Gordon Moore , the soft spoken technological genius ( founder of the Moore's law ) and Andy Groove( author of Only the Paranoid Survive) the business Wizard with super human energy is stuff of legends.
The defining moments when Bob Noyce co-invented the Integrated circuit ( had be been alive in 2000 he would have got a noble prize for the same) , the creation of the revolutionary 8086 Intel microprocessor which powered millions of computers in the 80s and last the greatest hitech marketing campaign of the century which is Intel Inside for the pentium chip is beautifully detailed out.
As with most businesses complacency and fatigue seems to have crept in and Intel has been caught on the wrong foot with nothing really worthwhile to contribute in the mobile era and have lost the game to more nimble companies from Korea and the Valley itself.
Nevertheless great corporations dont die away easily and are known to comeback with even more greater products and intel with its technological prowess is capable of doing it .
A combination of three unlikely technocrats who came together from Fair child Semiconductor and then founded Intel...the trinity of Bob Noyce know for his vision and jaw dropping risk taking ability, Gordon Moore , the soft spoken technological genius ( founder of the Moore's law ) and Andy Groove( author of Only the Paranoid Survive) the business Wizard with super human energy is stuff of legends.
The defining moments when Bob Noyce co-invented the Integrated circuit ( had be been alive in 2000 he would have got a noble prize for the same) , the creation of the revolutionary 8086 Intel microprocessor which powered millions of computers in the 80s and last the greatest hitech marketing campaign of the century which is Intel Inside for the pentium chip is beautifully detailed out.
As with most businesses complacency and fatigue seems to have crept in and Intel has been caught on the wrong foot with nothing really worthwhile to contribute in the mobile era and have lost the game to more nimble companies from Korea and the Valley itself.
Nevertheless great corporations dont die away easily and are known to comeback with even more greater products and intel with its technological prowess is capable of doing it .
October 29, 2016
Intel is a huge part of our lives today that I think most of us barely stop to think of it as something different than a giant corporation that is everywhere. Now, after reading this book I realized that when I was born Intel was barely a mid-size company and that it become the giant it is today during the days of my childhood.
I could barely imagine that one day Intel was struggling to survive doing memory chips and even less I would imagine that his most prominent CEO was an Holocaust survivor that came to the US running away from Stalin-ism and communism.
I think Intel is such an important company today that most people consider its existence as a fact of life without stopping to think all the things it has been trough and that although it was becoming bigger, stronger and richer, there was always and struggle for survival and that make me admire the company and the men that created the company even more.
The book is a good compilation of the story of Intel, however I think the editor didn't do a great job because the book is not ordered in the best possible way and the writing has errors that you wouldn't expect and that many times force you to read a paragraph various times to get it.
I could barely imagine that one day Intel was struggling to survive doing memory chips and even less I would imagine that his most prominent CEO was an Holocaust survivor that came to the US running away from Stalin-ism and communism.
I think Intel is such an important company today that most people consider its existence as a fact of life without stopping to think all the things it has been trough and that although it was becoming bigger, stronger and richer, there was always and struggle for survival and that make me admire the company and the men that created the company even more.
The book is a good compilation of the story of Intel, however I think the editor didn't do a great job because the book is not ordered in the best possible way and the writing has errors that you wouldn't expect and that many times force you to read a paragraph various times to get it.
November 2, 2014
Many books about the history of technology focus on the creativity and ah-hah moments involved in building the tools and infrastructure that many of us take for granted today. "The Intel Trinity" gives you a bit of that, but also focuses on the history of the company which is nearly synonymous with the underpinnings of the modern personal computer: Intel.
The "trinity" referred to in the title are the founders of the company around whom the narrative focuses: Robert Noyce, Gordon Moore, and Andy Grove. The less-remembered Noyce was the quiet genius and risk-taker who hated conflict, but often made the decisions that made Fairchild Semiconductor and Intel succeed. Moore inadvertently created the "law" that drove the microchip forward. Grove was the Hungarian immigrant who survived a harrowing childhood under Nazi occupation, idolized Moore, hated Noyce, and became the most famous executive of the PC era.
"The Intel Trinity" is an important study of these three men and the company they created.
The "trinity" referred to in the title are the founders of the company around whom the narrative focuses: Robert Noyce, Gordon Moore, and Andy Grove. The less-remembered Noyce was the quiet genius and risk-taker who hated conflict, but often made the decisions that made Fairchild Semiconductor and Intel succeed. Moore inadvertently created the "law" that drove the microchip forward. Grove was the Hungarian immigrant who survived a harrowing childhood under Nazi occupation, idolized Moore, hated Noyce, and became the most famous executive of the PC era.
"The Intel Trinity" is an important study of these three men and the company they created.
January 6, 2015
While I won this book as part of a goodreads giveaway, I still thoroughly enjoyed it to the point where I bought a bunch of Michael Malone's other books and intend to read them. So, needless to say, winning it opened up a world to how impressive he was.
Among the most useful features was the appendix explaining a lot of the concepts. (Even if you think you know, probably should read it anyway.) I would highly recommend watching the PBS American Experience documentary on Silicon Valley, which I did after I was maybe a third of the way into the book.
Certainly complex characters and I thought it was nice and touching that they a somewhat interview format was included at the end where, despite their many differences at Intel, Andy expressed missing Noyce most dearly.
Above all else, I think I was just in the right state of mind and, as is the spirit of goodreads, it just really felt like what I was looking for at the time.
Among the most useful features was the appendix explaining a lot of the concepts. (Even if you think you know, probably should read it anyway.) I would highly recommend watching the PBS American Experience documentary on Silicon Valley, which I did after I was maybe a third of the way into the book.
Certainly complex characters and I thought it was nice and touching that they a somewhat interview format was included at the end where, despite their many differences at Intel, Andy expressed missing Noyce most dearly.
Above all else, I think I was just in the right state of mind and, as is the spirit of goodreads, it just really felt like what I was looking for at the time.
August 14, 2016
I began reading this book on a whim having already been familiar with the backgrounds of the three founders - Robert Noyce, Gordon Moore and Andy Grove. Michael Malone chronicles the birth of Intel to its present state methodically and brilliantly. During the course of the narrative, the book beautifully digresses to give the reader a detailed look into the early lives of the three founders starting with Noyce, Moore and finally Grove.
The book acknowledges that it borrows from the individual biographies of its founders but doesn't come across as redundant at any point. Deeply engaging in its narrative and often poignant in its story line especially over Grove's background, I found this book beautifully compiled and enjoyed every bit of it to the point that I was a little sad when it ended.
If you are a fan of biographies, you would find this to be a great book. I'd rate is So-good-I-can't-stop-telling-you-about-it good!
The book acknowledges that it borrows from the individual biographies of its founders but doesn't come across as redundant at any point. Deeply engaging in its narrative and often poignant in its story line especially over Grove's background, I found this book beautifully compiled and enjoyed every bit of it to the point that I was a little sad when it ended.
If you are a fan of biographies, you would find this to be a great book. I'd rate is So-good-I-can't-stop-telling-you-about-it good!
January 23, 2016
Intel trinity explores the life and times of big three in Intel; Gordon Moore, Andy Grove and Robert Noyce with putiing Noyce in the front. For someone who studied engineering this will give a look at how worlds big semiconductor company works from the start (From the time of Fairchild semiconductor). Books provide lots of new information like how the name came into being, about the "Intel Inside" tagline, how it became the most successful startup, relation with AMD, patent claims with TI....
Downside
Number of pages is large
Could have written with less pages. Could see lot of repeated information.
Lots of irrelevant personal information about the trinity are there. Reader could skip if interested.
Downside
Number of pages is large
Could have written with less pages. Could see lot of repeated information.
Lots of irrelevant personal information about the trinity are there. Reader could skip if interested.
August 26, 2014
One cannot save greetings for such a trio who profoundly changed human society. What about "most important company in the world", "most important single product in history" and "extraordinary feat of design and engineering"? Quite thrilling read about their early life and personalities. Grove survived the Holocaust to become a brilliant scientist and fearless businessman. Noyce jumped from the roof of a barn to test his own glider. Moore set the pace with his "law" and managed to handle his intrepid friends. Well, there are more genius around them: Faggin, Hoff, McKenna, Barrett… the list is big and still growing.
February 25, 2016
It has taken me quite some time to work my way through this book, because it's so packed with information, but that is decidedly not a drawback. In the course of reading it, I have supplemented it with presentations and discussion panels curated by the Computer History Museum, and other interesting materials I found through an anthropology class on museums and heritage. As a result, I've learned so much, and truly come to appreciate how amazing the development of technology has been (even just within my lifetime), and continues to be.
July 11, 2015
I enjoy reading about the history of computing and looked forward to reading this. It is a complete history of Intel and there is a treasure trove of information here, not only about Intel but also a few tidbits about Apple, AMD and other Silicon Valley companies. That being said, Malone is no Steven Levy; I didn't find the book to be a page turner. Good read to find out the details of the founding of Intel, but don't expect to be captivated.
November 29, 2014
As a former Intel employee during the end of the Andy Grove years, this was a great review of what made Intel one of the most vibrant and exciting places to work.
This book covers the beginning of the semiconductor industry and how Intel grew from a small upstart to what it is today. It also covers the Intel culture during the Grove years - a blunt, confrontational, demanding environment that required thoroughness and tenacity in order to survive.
This book covers the beginning of the semiconductor industry and how Intel grew from a small upstart to what it is today. It also covers the Intel culture during the Grove years - a blunt, confrontational, demanding environment that required thoroughness and tenacity in order to survive.
Read
December 22, 2014I really liked this book. Not being in High Tech myself, this book helped me understand the impact of the chip on just about everything in the world. Having begun my career in business about the time that much of this impact was just beginning (working on the IBM XT for instance), it was fun to follow the world from the vantage point of the burgeoning semi-conductor world. I'm also a fan of books that reveal how leaders succeed (and fail) and what makes them tick.
May 20, 2016
This is not only a biography of three geniuses, it also tells the story of Silicon Valley from the perspective of the computer chip industry. The story is interesting told. At the end, the author seems to struggle to find a proper conclusion. I think part of the challenge is, that the story is still ongoing.
I also consider this a management book. It illustrates extremely well what it means to innovate at the right pace, and what happens to those that either progress too fast or too slow.
I also consider this a management book. It illustrates extremely well what it means to innovate at the right pace, and what happens to those that either progress too fast or too slow.
September 21, 2016
This book will remain in my heart for quite a lot of reasons. It talks about the entrepreneurial culture, what human effort can achieve, how technology changes every 2 years. Book gives abundant insights into how Intel came to being and describes the personalities and working styles of 3 legends of Semi conductor technology.
The book might seem slow in bits and pieces but you will derive a lot out of it.
The book might seem slow in bits and pieces but you will derive a lot out of it.
December 26, 2020
Fairly written book describing the journey of digital electronics from a transistor to the IC and then onto memories and processors. This book doesn’t speak much about how Intel managed to enter into networking and data center business in the early twentieth century. Most of the book covers about Moore’s law and how each of the trinity, being the CEO, handled company affairs from the sixties to early twentieth century.
January 29, 2019
A comprehensive, and excellent history of Intel. I am a current Intel employee, and was fascinated to learn about some seminal events in the history of the company that are part of the corporate lore here.
I also highly recommend Tim Jackson's "Inside Intel" if you would like to get a more complete picture of Intel's struggles in its early years.
I also highly recommend Tim Jackson's "Inside Intel" if you would like to get a more complete picture of Intel's struggles in its early years.
May 25, 2015
Great read. Really gives a lot of insight about a great company and its amazing leaders. Extremely readable even if you don't know much about the industry. Though one does get the feeling that the author was totally in awe of Bob Noyce and not a great fan of Andy Grove which at times is disappointing.
April 6, 2015
Okay(ish). Too repetitive for my taste. Could have been shorter by cutting out all the fluff around Moore's Law (it is an important bit but it seems as if the author has to repeat how important it is every time it comes up) and the fact that Intel almost blew up (seems like every year...).
But still an interesting read that makes me what to read the biography of the three.
But still an interesting read that makes me what to read the biography of the three.
August 30, 2015
great glimpse into the giant's success
- work with the best, don't work alone
- have no ego, think about the goal not your ego
Great success is defined by great people. With Intel, success was based on the partnership among three men, whose distinct personalities and strong desire to succeed were unmatched.
- work with the best, don't work alone
- have no ego, think about the goal not your ego
Great success is defined by great people. With Intel, success was based on the partnership among three men, whose distinct personalities and strong desire to succeed were unmatched.
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