Computers and the Internet seems to have permeated almost every aspect of my life. I now utilize and rely on computers for fitness, education, TV, music, income, and communication. A book about the history of computers? Yes please! After all, I believe history is important in order to gain a perspective and context for our lives, and it can be very inspiring as well. Enter "The Innovators" by Walter Isaacson. The book relates the tales of those who were instrumental in the creation of these machines that speed up menial tasks and brings all of the world's information to our fingertips . The book spans from the 1850's and Ada Lovelace to Larry Page and Sergey Brin of Google fame and many people in between. I'll touch on a couple of main takeaways from this book.
1) Innovators work in teams. It's astonishing how just about every successful innovator worked with one or more people who had different and supplementary strengths. A pattern seen often is a duo where one person is a brilliant engineer while the other is highly adept at business. An innovation doesn't mean much if it isn't somehow brought to the masses, which is why those innovators without a skilled marketer generally aren't successful.
2) The innovators responsible for the advent of the modern computer were almost always people who were interested in the Humanities as well as technology. When I previously read Walter Isaacson's biography of Steve Jobs, I thought Jobs was a unique case because he so strongly believed there should be an intersection between humanities and technology, but it turns out he was one of many who held the same view. These technology innovators were also artists, poets, musicians, as well as mathematicians, scientists, and engineers.
Who should read this book?
Anyone who wants to learn history should read this book. I believe everyone should learn history, especially those living in this day in age, where it is easy to take our prosperity and ease of life for granted.
Keep in mind that there's a fair amount of technical detail. I'm no stranger to most of the technology discussed and I found all the little technical details to be very interesting. Those with no or little technical background may not find it as interesting and may want to skim over all those details, but the book remains focused on a compelling story, enough that the technical discussion does not drown it out.
This is an inspiring history of one of the most important and world changing inventions in the history of man-kind. I give this two transistors up.
