chintogtokh's review against another edition
4.0
Ерөнхийдөө бол таалагдлаа. Яах ч аргагүй 1800-гаад онд механик тооцоолуур гарч эхлэхээс өнөөдрийн Google, Wikipedia яаж үүссэн тухай асар урт хугацааны түүхийг бичсэн учраас зарим талаар хэтэрхий товч байсан гэж бодогдсон. Энэ утгаар [b:Hackers: Heroes of the Computer Revolution|56829|Hackers Heroes of the Computer Revolution|Steven Levy|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1406160795s/56829.jpg|1407224] номноос цар хүрээ ихтэй ч арай гүйцэхгүй санагдсан. Гэхдээ уншихад амар, монгол руу орчуулбал МТ, электроникийн салбарыг сонирхох хүмүүс ч ихсэх байх.
quinndm's review against another edition
4.0
This is the most thoroughly researched book I have come across that deals with the history of the computer and the internet. And it doesn't just feel like a history textbook on the subject because the author puts in numerous little anecdotes and stories about the specific innovators that make it entertaining and showcases the more human side of these great thinkers.
I also love that Ada Lovelace is finally getting more attention. For far too long, women inventors and thinkers have been sidelined to make way for their male counterparts, and this book perfectly explores how much of today's technical advancement is owed to a woman who opened this Pandora's Box over 250 years ago.
I also love that Ada Lovelace is finally getting more attention. For far too long, women inventors and thinkers have been sidelined to make way for their male counterparts, and this book perfectly explores how much of today's technical advancement is owed to a woman who opened this Pandora's Box over 250 years ago.
rwarner's review against another edition
4.0
I can't believe I'd never heard of this book; I picked it up in an airport, and I'm glad I did. This book ambitiously tries to cover the evolution of computers, and details much of the early history of both computers and the people imagining or inventing them. Both informative and entertaining. Highly recommend.
misterfix's review against another edition
3.0
If you are looking for a broad overview of the development of computers and the internet then this book is adequate and entertaining. Issacson also includes an excellent chapter on Ada Lovelace and works hard to acknowledge the contributions of various woman, which had been overlooked by other books on the subject. However I found the focus on the successful entrepreneurs and the positive uses of their inventions vs including technology that either didn't succeed or the negatives of the military/academic connection disturbing. Additionally the authors fascination with his idea that collaboration and a synthesis of arts and science was somehow a unique insight is a bit naive. This is true in numerous other business's including filmmaking, architecture, fashion, etc.
Other reviewers who are more knowledgeable in this subject have suggested alternate reads and I am off to the library...
Other reviewers who are more knowledgeable in this subject have suggested alternate reads and I am off to the library...
nelsta's review against another edition
5.0
If ever there were a winning combination of author and narrator, this must be it. Walter Isaacson--the esteemed biographer of Steve Jobs, Albert Einstein, Benjamin Franklin, and Leonardo da Vinci--and Dennis Boutsikaris--my all-time favorite narrator who read The Gene and Song of the Cell by Siddhartha Mukherjee. The Innovators is a unique book. It doesn't focus on a particular visionary or a single invention. Instead, Isaacson weaves an entertaining history of the creation of the technological world we all know. I felt a range of emotions while listening to The Innovators, but the most common one is awe. The panel of geniuses described here is nothing short of incredible.
Isaacson blends the stories of 200 years of technological innovation by highlighting the importance and creativity of crowds. From the beginning of computers through the rise of social media, inventions were largely driven by disparate groups of visionaries. The internet, for example, has no single inventor (Al Gore jokes aside). Even products like Twitter, Wikipedia, and Microsoft are the outcomes of people borrowing, modeling, and building upon prior discoveries. Humans don't create in a vacuum, especially in the 21st century. Our creations are the composite children of thousands of trains of thought. Collaboration is essential to technological advances.
While The Innovators was certainly inspiring, it is already dated in some ways. The last two chapters address the state of the internet as of the book's writing. Things have evolved rapidly since then, however, and some of Isaacson's claims (particularly those about AI) feel shortsighted. We can't blame Isaacson for failing to predict the future, but I think The Innovators would have benefitted from another chapter at the end that addressed potential upcoming revolutions in technology. He barely mentioned video games and entirely missed its rising domination as an industry. He discussed the influence of ad-based internet usage, but did not demonstrate how it might affect society. These are relatively minor complaints, though.
Overall, this was a fantastic read. I am consistently amazed by innovation. It isn't lost on me that I am using a product that is a direct result of the Innovators' work to share my thoughts. Writing amateur book reviews on social media is a phenomenon that is only possible because of men and women like Ada Lovelace, Bill Gates, Steve Jobs, Al Gore (seriously), JCR Licklider, Tim Berners-Lee, Larry Page, John Mauchly, Gordon Moore, and dozens of others. If you are at all curious about how we, as a society, have come to depend on computers and the internet, you owe it to yourself to read The Innovators.
Isaacson blends the stories of 200 years of technological innovation by highlighting the importance and creativity of crowds. From the beginning of computers through the rise of social media, inventions were largely driven by disparate groups of visionaries. The internet, for example, has no single inventor (Al Gore jokes aside). Even products like Twitter, Wikipedia, and Microsoft are the outcomes of people borrowing, modeling, and building upon prior discoveries. Humans don't create in a vacuum, especially in the 21st century. Our creations are the composite children of thousands of trains of thought. Collaboration is essential to technological advances.
While The Innovators was certainly inspiring, it is already dated in some ways. The last two chapters address the state of the internet as of the book's writing. Things have evolved rapidly since then, however, and some of Isaacson's claims (particularly those about AI) feel shortsighted. We can't blame Isaacson for failing to predict the future, but I think The Innovators would have benefitted from another chapter at the end that addressed potential upcoming revolutions in technology. He barely mentioned video games and entirely missed its rising domination as an industry. He discussed the influence of ad-based internet usage, but did not demonstrate how it might affect society. These are relatively minor complaints, though.
Overall, this was a fantastic read. I am consistently amazed by innovation. It isn't lost on me that I am using a product that is a direct result of the Innovators' work to share my thoughts. Writing amateur book reviews on social media is a phenomenon that is only possible because of men and women like Ada Lovelace, Bill Gates, Steve Jobs, Al Gore (seriously), JCR Licklider, Tim Berners-Lee, Larry Page, John Mauchly, Gordon Moore, and dozens of others. If you are at all curious about how we, as a society, have come to depend on computers and the internet, you owe it to yourself to read The Innovators.
mjfmjfmjf's review against another edition
3.0
This was a long slog. Reading this took longer than I'd expect from the page count and not just cause I was playing too much Ingress. Yes it was interesting and informative. But in reality I've read most of this. Except for the portions that I lived through. The latter half of the book made me feel old. Much of this book comes back to the whole comparison between the Great Man and the Times Themselves. In the end the book just fell over, there was a better slightly smaller book hiding here. A good computer industry history, just not a great one.
ronsos's review against another edition
4.0
Excellent overview about the history of computing. Isaacson starts with Babbage and Lovelace and covers everything (including hardware and software) from the first computers, the earliest hardware advances in transistors and microchips, to the emergence of the internet as we know it.
The focus is on personal stories, and not so much on the technology itself. (One of my minor criticisms is that I would have appreciated a bit deeper of a technical description in some places). The author also shows how successful innovation and invention is really a collaborative process. Individuals can make great progress, but our widest and most long lasting advancements tend to need the refinement associated with collaborative and iterative improvement.
The focus is on personal stories, and not so much on the technology itself. (One of my minor criticisms is that I would have appreciated a bit deeper of a technical description in some places). The author also shows how successful innovation and invention is really a collaborative process. Individuals can make great progress, but our widest and most long lasting advancements tend to need the refinement associated with collaborative and iterative improvement.