i highly recommend michael hiltzik's "dealers of lightning" [http://www.amazon.com/Dealers-Lightning-Xerox-PARC-Computer/dp/0887309895 http://www.amazon.com/Dea

i highly recommend michael hiltzik's "dealers of lightning" [http://www.amazon.com/Dealers-Lightning-Xerox-PARC-Computer/dp/0887309895 http://www.amazon.com/Dealers-Lightning-Xerox-PARC-Computer/...]. it's one of the two best history of computing books i've read (tied with katie hafner's "where wizards stay up late")