Silicon Boys: And Their Valley of Dreams

Silicon Valley is a true-life Tomorrowland. Far more than an engine of economic growth and worldwide symbol of technological know-how, the Valley competes with Hollywood and Washington in the cultures of money, celebrity, and success. It is a place where tinkerers become Internet tycoons literally overnight -- a place where everyday life meets virtual reality meets unadulterated myth. It's also the only place in the world where you can buy $14 ostrich salami or pay $1 million for a fixer-upper home.In the first full-scale portrait of this fabled high-tech corner of California, an award-winning Newsweek culture writer traces the sky-rocket rise of Silicon Valley from 1938, when Bill Hewlett and David Packard started in a Palo Alto garage, to the wired corporate "campuses" of today, where young billionaires confront "The Prince of Darkness" (Bill Gates) and "Elvis" himself, Larry Ellison. We see Steve Jobs evolve from prodigy to parish to elder statesman, observe the influence of venture capitalists such as John Doerr, and watch a new generation of electronic alchemists turn megabytes into megabucks at the head of companies like Netscape and Yahoo!