The Visionary Position: The Inside Story of the Digital Dreamers Who Are Making Virtual Reality a Reality

by Fred Moody

The dynamic story of a small group of entrepreneurs struggling to create new products and new companies, this book does for the virtual-reality industry what Soul of a New Machine did for the computer... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0812928520
• ISBN13: 9780812928525
• Release Date: February 1999
• Publisher: Crown Business
• Length: 353 Pages
• Weight: 1.20 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.2" x 6.5" x 9.5"

Customer Reviews

arbeit macht frei

fred's book is, simply put, a masterpiece. the depth, detail, and truth are simply unmatched. entertaining and educational, the visionary position is a must read for anyone living under the naive assumption that anything but pure greed, hype and lies drive the software industry. its funny too.

A Cautionary Tale And Must Read For All Startup-Visionaries

Having read Fred Moody's previous book chronicling a software development group at Microsoft, it was quite the joy to read about cutting-edge ideas and the struggle to turn them into realities. I have heard, seen, and been involved in projects gone bad and was startled to see that the cast of characters and emotional interactions are the same regardless of technology and business model - ie. hardware engineers at Microvision/HITL, software engineers at F5 Labs, artists at Zombie. You always have the visionary trying to turn the dream into reality coming to odds with the investor, project manager, executives. Was amazed to see this saga throughout the book and throughout all groups. And yes, you always do have the cast of characters: visionaries, imbiciles, jerks, bastards, friends, foes, and thoses that blur the lines. This book is a must read for all day dreamers trying to turn their vision into a reality.

Hip, Hype, and Hope...

I was at the Siggraph '90 panel session which Bob Jacobson is referring to in his review. I recall Myron Krueger shouting at Bob and forcefully taking the dais. I do not have to rely upon my memory of the event; the transcript is in the Siggraph '90 Panel Proceedings. Fred Moody's book portrays these and other events with clarity. I am not particularly familiar with the companies detailed in the book, but the description of the HIT Lab and the early days of VR are worth the price of the book.

excellent dipiction of the VIO front line

this book acurately depicts the chaos that was Virtual iO. i only wish that fred's pen wouldn't have sparred diaper butt! he attributed to as much dissarray than Linden herself. With any luck William Shatner will read this book and beg Linden to leave Seattle with him, again?! Greetings x-VIO'ers you know where i am... i'm off to buy a $17,000 table.

Fact is stranger than fiction...

I am happy to see that someone finally told the true story about Virtual i/o! Fred Moody's style gives the reader an excellent view of what it was like to be there. I can only say that it was more insane than he made it out to be. From what I hear, he is just as accurate about the other organizations in the book.I highly recommend this for people who do not want to get screwed in a technology start-up. I also recommend it for people who want to know what it is really like to be involved in a start-up.