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Ask HN: Books on Computer History
I've been starting a personal collection of stories about the history of the computer industry- I'd love any suggestions of books that other people enjoyed or that I might want to take a look at.
Which books have you enjoyed? Which ones are worth avoiding?
I've included a list of some of the ones that I've found, but I'd love any thoughts.
Revolution in The Valley: The Insanely Great Story of How the Mac Was Made
Accidental Empires: How the Boys of Silicon Valley Make Their Millions, Battle Foreign Competition, and Still Can't Get a Date
Making Silicon Valley: Innovation and the Growth of High Tech, 1930-1970
High Stakes, No Prisoners: A Winner's Tale of Greed and Glory in the Internet Wars
Founders at Work: Stories of Startups' Early Days
Computing in the Middle Ages: A View From the Trenches 1955-1983
iWoz: Computer Geek to Cult Icon: How I Invented the Personal Computer, Co-Founded Apple, and Had Fun Doing It
Digital Retro: The Evolution and Design of the Personal Computer
The Victorian Internet: The Remarkable Story of the Telegraph and the Nineteenth Century's On-line Pioneers
Where Wizards Stay Up Late: The Origins Of The Internet
What the Dormouse Said: How the Sixties Counterculture Shaped the Personal Computer Industry
The Dream Machine: J.C.R. Licklider and the Revolution That Made Computing Personal
DEC Is Dead, Long Live DEC: The Lasting Legacy of Digital Equipment Corporation
Priming the Pump: How TRS-80 Enthusiasts Helped Spark the PC Revolution
Casting the Net: From ARPANET to INTERNET and Beyond
Fools Rush In: Steve Case, Jerry Levin, and the Unmaking of AOL Time Warner
The HP Way: How Bill Hewlett and I Built Our Company
Fire in the Valley: The Making of The Personal Computer
Bell Labs: Life in the Crown Jewel
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- michael_dorfman 17y agoYou missed the absolute best of the genre: The Soul of a New Machine, by Tracy Kidder. It's a single case study, but told in such loving detail as to be Pulitzer-worthy. Also, there's a lot of good primary source material in "Programmers At Work", by Susan Lammers.
- e1ven 17y agoI don't know how I missed adding Soul of a New Machine. I've read it several times, and it's a wonderful work. I hadn't heard of "Programmers at Work" yet, but it looks like a great read- I suspect in retrospect that it was the inspiration for the name of Jessica Livingston's book. Thanks. I've also just found http://www.landsnail.com/apple/ http://www.landsnail.com/apple/ which looks like it has a great set both Apple-specific and general interest material.
- deutronium 17y agoOne of my favorite non-fiction computer related books is 'Hackers - Heroes of the Computer Revolution' http://www.stevenlevy.com/index.php/other-books/hackers http://www.stevenlevy.com/index.php/other-books/hackers Very nice list, a lot I haven't heard of.
- RobGR 17y agoSteven Levy is a good writer. I read pretty much anything he puts out. His books "Crypto" and "Insanely Great" are good also, Crypto is the better one.
- ableal 17y agoThis 1982 textbook by Siewiorek, Bell and Newell seems to be available in HTML from Gordon Bell's pages at MS: http://research.microsoft.com/en-us/um/people/gbell/Computer_Structures_Principles_and_Examples/index.htm http://research.microsoft.com/en-us/um/people/gbell/Computer... If memory serves, the book illustrated concepts by examining implementations. It's interesting to see how many bones have been moved from multi-ton mainframes to single chips ... P.S. At the very bottom of this page http://research.microsoft.com/en-us/um/people/gbell/Pubs.htm http://research.microsoft.com/en-us/um/people/gbell/Pubs.htm, the book links include the above book and a similarly titled 1971 book (apparently an earlier version), which may be of historical interest. Page 280: core, drum and tape - Mel can't be far ...
- RobGR 17y ago"The Hacker Crackdown: Law and Disorder on the Electronic Frontier" by Bruce Sterling, should really be on on the must-read list. Another on I highly recommend is "The New Hacker's Dictionary" by Eric S. Raymond. Finally, although it is a bit far afield, probably every hacker should read David Kahn's "The Codebreakers".
- dlevine 17y agoOne of my favorites is "In Search Of Stupidity", by Merrill Chapman. It talks about the marketing mistakes that ultimately killed a lot of top tech companies.
- dantheman 17y agoStan Veit's History of the Personal Computer http://www.amazon.com/Stan-Veits-History-Personal-Computer/dp/1566640237 http://www.amazon.com/Stan-Veits-History-Personal-Computer/d... Accidental Empires http://www.amazon.com/Accidental-Empires-Silicon-Millions-Competition/dp/0887308554 http://www.amazon.com/Accidental-Empires-Silicon-Millions-Co... Go To http://www.amazon.com/Engineers-Scientists-Iconoclasts-Programmers-Revolution/dp/0465042260/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1247887841&sr=1-3 http://www.amazon.com/Engineers-Scientists-Iconoclasts-Progr...
- domodomo 17y agoOn the Edge: the Spectacular Rise and Fall of Commodore (http://bit.ly/11KMaT http://bit.ly/11KMaT Amazon). Commodore has been kind of ignored in computing history, but they were the first company to sell 1 million units. This book has a lot of big characters in it, including the ruthless, cigar chomping, Jack Tramiel. I'm biased though, as I cut my teeth on a C64.