4 ms·
That book is awesome, if you are into computer history. This is a must read.
by trekrich 7y ago
That book is awesome, if you are into computer history. This is a must read.
- johnnyAghands 7y agoWow. So just added that book to my cart. Any other good reads like this you recommend?
- sohkamyung 7y agoThe recent book by Brian Kernighan, "UNIX: A History and a Memoir" [1], was a fascinating personal memoir about the birth of Unix as well as how things used to work at AT&T Bell Labs. [1] https://www.amazon.com/UNIX-History-Memoir-Brian-Kernighan/dp/1695978552/ https://www.amazon.com/UNIX-History-Memoir-Brian-Kernighan/d...
- vvanders 7y agoWhile not as groundbreaking as the Xerox work I'd reccomend The Soul of the New Machine of you liked Dealers of Lightning.
- increscent 7y agoYes, The Soul of a New Machine is well worth the read!
- adventured 7y agoWhere Wizards Stay Up Late: The Origins Of The Internet The Idea Factory: Bell Labs and the Great Age of American Innovation The Chip: How Two Americans Invented the Microchip and Launched a Revolution That last one is a little dry, I still found it interesting. It's about Jack Kilby and Robert Noyce. It's currently available for sale for $1.99 on the Kindle.
- myself248 7y agoI'd add Eccentric Orbits and Skunk Works, both of which are about other fields (satcom and aero, respectively), but have similar themes of innovation and its mother, necessity. (And mother-in-law, politics.)
- adventured 7y agoAlong those lines, a personal favorite is Empires of Light, covering the race for electrification and lighting. It critically includes the role of George Westinghouse, which a lot of books leave out (typically focusing more on Tesla & Edison instead).
- zuppy 7y agosimilar to skunk works there is a book named “sled driver”: https://www.amazon.com/Sled-Driver-Flying-Worlds-Fastest/dp/0929823087 https://www.amazon.com/Sled-Driver-Flying-Worlds-Fastest/dp/... here’s a funny extract that gets posted everytime: https://www.reddit.com/r/SR71/comments/2dpmw7/the_sr71_speed_check_story/ https://www.reddit.com/r/SR71/comments/2dpmw7/the_sr71_speed...
- afroisalreadyin 7y agoOne book frequently overlooked when it comes to computer and internet history is The Dream Machine. It tells the story of J.C.R. Licklider, who was a psychology and computer science professor, and a director at ARPA. He had the vision for the "Intergalactic Computer Network" which became the Internet, and either directed or came into contact with nearly every project that created fundamental computing technologies. Link: https://www.amazon.com/Dream-Machine-M-Mitchell-Waldrop/dp/1732265119/ https://www.amazon.com/Dream-Machine-M-Mitchell-Waldrop/dp/1...
- deleted 7y ago[deleted]
- l33tman 7y agoDealers of Lightning is an order of magnitude more interesting than any other book in the genre I've ever read (mainly because of Xerox PARC of course). But for 90's stuff, Chapman: "In Search of Stupidity: Over Twenty Years of High Tech Marketing Disasters" is fun and really good as well :)
- jszymborski 7y agoSeconded! In search of stupidity is a huge amount of fun. It can be a little mean-spirited/bitter at times, but it felt like a "Computer Chronicles: After Dark" kinda thing.