The New New Thing.

By Michael Lewis 

W.W.Norton & Co. *US$25.95

AT THE ADVENT OF THE THIRD MILLENNIum, the United States occupies a dominant position in the global order of things: it is the center of innovation and prosperity with new ideas in politics, economics, science, culture and fashion. This U.S. hegemony exists because of several factors, one of which is technology. As the rest of the world looks to the United States for technology, so too does the U.S. public look towards a small spot on the map where technological advances occur at the speed of supercomputers: Silicon Valley.

Michael Lewis, author of the bestseller Liar's Poker, sought one individual who personalizes the high-tech world in his latest book, The New, New Thing Lewis found that person in Jim Clark, an engineer from Plainview, Texas. Clark saw his fortunes soar to the greatest heights of innovation and wealth, thanks to his creative talents, his incredible mastery of mathematics and programming, and perhaps most of all, his eagerness to escape the conventions of big business.

Lewis's admiration for Clark is evident. But that doesn't obscure his elegant narrative about Clark's constant search for the newest thing. The book comprises two hazardous voyages that Lewis recounts with a great sense of adventure. One is the Atlantic crossing in a singlemasted and completely computerized yacht, the Hyperion. Clark was confident that he could pilot the vessel from an office in San Francisco. The second is Clark's voyage through the ocean of technology, one in which he founded Netscape, bringing the Internet to the masses. What resulted was a revolution in the world of computers and the birth of an entirely new system of communications.

"Obviously, Netscape didn't create the Internet," Clark points out. But he quickly adds that without the Netscape web browser, the Internet would have languished in the shadows, perceived as something mysterious and anarchic. Lewis sums up the importance of this medium with two quotes at the end of the book. One is from Jack Welch, chairman of the board of General Electric, who said that the Internet "is the single most important event in the U.S. economy since the Industrial Revolution."

The second quote comes from Alan Greenspan, chairman of the Federal Reserve Bank, who spearheaded the U.S. economy s spectacular boom in the last decade of the 20th century: "The revolution in information technology has altered the structure of the way the American economy works."

The life of the eccentric, irascible and talented Clark can be regarded as his revenge. Expelled from high school in a town with few opportunities, Clark signed up for a tour with the Navy. Once discharged, the young engineer decided to prove his courage to the world. According to the author, Clark is the only entrepreneur to have founded three multi-million dollar companies in Silicon Valley: Silicon Graphics, which gave "vision" to text-based computers, Netscape -- the stalwart competitor to Microsoft's Explorer -- and Healtheon, which was founded to exploit the $1.3 billion health care market.

Despite his myriad successes, Clark sees himself above all as creator of the fabulous and futuristic ship Hyperion. He is bored by his projects. He has married several times. He drives sports cars unknown to mere mortals and flies helicopters for fun. Amid the thrill-seeking whirlwind, Clark creates companies and visionary systems that revolutionize the economy and the world. As one executive puts it: Clark sees the future two or three years before the rest of us.

So, too, is Silicon Valley two or three years ahead of the rest of the world. In this snapshot of Clark's life, Lewis offers a revealing look at the technology capital of the world: how new high-tech companies are formed, how the rules that once governed big corporations are becoming obsolete, how engineers and technicians are displacing the professional executive, the "man in the grey suit." Behind this ostensible desire to create is a desire for total freedom, a need to break with a conformist past. The huge, faceless and oppressive corporation has been forced to retreat under a series of blows from jean-clad programmers entrenched in garages. It is that spirit of Silicon Valley that Lewis so masterfully depicts along this journey of technological discovery and incredible wealth that has yet to end.

Excerpt from The New New Thing

"Within this unusual place some people were clearly more unusual than others. Many of those who sought and found fortune in Silicon Valley in the 1990s could just as easily have found it on Wall Street in the 1980s or in London in the 1860s. But a certain type of person who has recently made it big in Silicon Valley could have made it big at no other time in history. He made it big because he was uniquely suited to this particular historical moment. He was built to work on the frontier of economic life when the frontier was once again up for grabs."