If we can talk about silly reality TV shows like Bravo’s Startups: Silicon Valley, then we would be doing a great disservice if we also did not tell you about the PBS show airing tonight called Silicon Valley. It is part of PBS’ series American Experience. It begins with the history of the region with the late 1970’s invention of the microchip by Robert Noyce and carries forward from there.
The show’s description:
In 1957, decades before Steve Jobs dreamed up Apple or Mark Zuckerberg created Facebook, a group of eight brilliant young men defected from the Shockley Semiconductor Company in order to start their own transistor business. Their leader was 29-year-old Robert Noyce, a physicist with a brilliant mind and the affability of a born salesman who would co-invent the microchip — an essential component of nearly all modern electronics today, including computers, motor vehicles, cell phones and household appliances.
For an extended look, see the Silicon Valley in the 60s and Robert Noyce goes to Silicon Valley excerpts.
It premieres tonight on PBS at 8 PM central time. You can currently watch the first chapter on YouTube with the rest to follow after tonight’s premiere.
For more information about PBS’ Silicon Valley visit www.pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/films/silicon/