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Ask HN: What's the best book on the early history of the Internet and/or Web?
Whereby "best" I mean "most pleasing combination of readability, insight, and accuracy"
- kastan 8y agoWhere Wizards Stay Up Late: The Origins of the Internet By Katie Hafner & Matthew Lyon
- Domenic_S 8y agoNot strictly what you're asking for, but you might enjoy Microserfs.
- blakesterz 8y agoThe copy I own says "Soon to be a movie" I wonder what ever happened to that. I re-read it for the first time since it came out, it aged way better than Gen-X did for me.
- StrangeDoctor 8y agoWhere wizards stay up late by katie hafner Highly readable, don't know about insight, don't know about accuracy.
- DeBraid 8y agoNot a book, but a great video via Steve Blank: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZTC_RxWN_xo https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZTC_RxWN_xo
- jongold 8y agoThe Dream Machine by M. Mitchell Waldrop
- sbolt 8y agoThe Dream Machine is a good read about the vision of J.C.R. Licklider, a man who instigated the work that led to the internet. It's a very well written book and gives great insight into the pre-web era of networking Amazon link (non affiliate): https://www.amazon.com/dp/1732265119 https://www.amazon.com/dp/1732265119
- lewisf 8y agoReading this now and agree that it's very well-written.
- jolmg 8y agoWould be cool if besides the evolution of internet technologies, it also talked about significant events that happened in these various networks. An example could be Linus Torvalds' Usenet posting first announcing Linux.
- fsloth 8y agoWalter Isaacson's innovators is that book - yes, it refers to that Usenet posting as well :)
- fsloth 8y ago'Innovators' by Walter Isaacson is pretty great when combined with 'The dream machine' as suggested by others.
- Zuchi237 8y agoWhat Will Be - From Old president of MIT
- british_india 8y agohttps://topdocumentaryfilms.com/nerds-brief-history-internet/ https://topdocumentaryfilms.com/nerds-brief-history-internet... That documentary is the best.
- blakesterz 8y agoThe Nudist On The Late Shift is a great one. The Nat Geo TV series "Valley Of The Boom" was on earlier this year, that was entertaining.
- earthtoana 8y agoClose to the machine by Ellen Ullman