The background of the story is the Silicon Valley of the United States in the early 1980s , when personal computers were in their infancy, and IBM had just launched its first flagship product and monopolized the market. The protagonist of the story is Joe Macmillan, a visionary, ambitious and daring former IBM official who mysteriously disappeared for a year after leaving his old club and is now working for "Cardiff Electronics Company". Joe is bent on designing revolutionary technology products to compete with his old club, and he brings together Gordon Clarke, a talented engineer who has been devastated by product failures and has no support from his wife , and who has had an affair with Joe. One-night stand tech whiz Cameron Howe. Joe uses tough tactics to force his current boss to join the torrent of an ambitious and competitive technological revolution. Innovation and exploration, challenge and opportunity, ego and greed, Joe Macmillan, will lead the humble little company to become the new leader of Halt and Catch Fire.
The term "Halt and Catch Fire" was an early computer instruction that, when executed, caused the computer to enter a race condition.
