Silicon Cowboys (2016) on Netflix
NR20161h 17mDocumentary
In 1982, Rod Canion, Jim Harris and Bill Murto set out in Houston to build a portable personal computer. Their target is IBM, whose lawyers have crushed clone makers before.
- Netflix4.2/5
- IMDb6.9/102,248 votes
- Rotten Tomatoes100%
Trailer
Plot summary
In 1982 three Texans, Rod Canion, Jim Harris and Bill Murto, start Compaq in a Houston diner, with the New York investor Benjamin M. Rosen as their chairman. Their aim is a portable, luggable computer that runs the same software as IBM's machines, in a market where earlier clone makers have been crushed by IBM and its lawyers. The documentary draws on 1980s television advertisements, in-house company videos and new interviews with the founders and Rosen to follow the young company as it sells against the industry's most powerful manufacturer. It also includes clips from the television series Silicon Valley and Halt and Catch Fire, and an account of how the Texans were viewed in California.
Cast
Did you know?!Facts and trivia about Silicon Cowboys (2016)
Can contain spoilers, watch the movie first.
- Director Jason Cohen said one of the biggest hurdles in making the documentary was finding a working Betamax videotape player to digitize the 1980s industrial video tapes.
