Review: On the Edge: The Art of Risking Everything

On the Edge: The Art of Risking Everything by Nate Silver
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

This was an odd book. The first half was basically all about poker. As someone who doesn't play, most of it was over my head. I found myself powering through just to see if it would lead to anything else. While he does change the subject later on, I can't really say he segues into it. Regardless, some very interesting tidbits, mostly because he is an intelligent, observant person who has personal knowledge of interesting people (SBF and Sam Altman, as well as Peter Thiel and Musk to an extent).

His theory about Rivers and the Village etc. sort of holds water.


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Review: Valley of Genius: The Uncensored History of Silicon Valley, As Told by the Hackers, Founders, and Freaks Who Made It Boom

Valley of Genius: The Uncensored History of Silicon Valley, As Told by the Hackers, Founders, and Freaks Who Made It Boom by Adam Fisher
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

An excellent history of Silicon Valley, from its origins to the passing of Steve Jobs. 

I confess the format really turned me off at the beginning, and I was about to leave it unfinished. Especially with the audio version, this takes some getting used to. But after a while it sort of grows on you. 

Always interesting to hear about General Magic. I remember seeing a documentary on it which was fascinating. 

Also fascinating to read about The Well (The whole earth ‘lectronic link) as the first online community/social media. This group of misfits and hackers still decided real ID had to be used to sign up for The Well because “you have to own your words”. Seems like a gap in the market these days tbh. 

The predictions at the end of the book were a bit telling, however. When they talk about the Valley extending and making one big city past Berkely, it sounds a tad naive, having seen the cities empty out during Covid, and a race by many people to move to more isolated areas. 

Also the prediction of self-driving cars basically becoming RVs and making houses obsolete seems very US-centric. I like the idea of making houses obsolete, but I think the idea would be that with a phone+laptop you don't really need a car or anything else. I guess. 

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