The Dream Machine: J.C.R. Licklider and the Revolution That Made Computing Personal by M. Mitchell WaldropMy rating: 5 of 5 stars
As someone who has been fascinated by computers and internet, I have always wanted to get a comprehensive overview of the whole technology involved. A complete narrative with a beginning and the end(sort of). The only problem with that is that the whole information technology is at the intersection of diverse scientific fields and it is difficult to decode the magic even for someone well versed in one subject let alone someone who is alien to all.
This book fixes that. The author starts right where it all began. The beginning theoretical base on top of which applications were build. The visionaries(Most prominent among them, JCR Licklider- The name that stands throughout the book) who imagined it all decades earlier and laid groundwork to work towards the goal. Right from the primitive world war 2 computers to the macintosh computers, from vacuum tubes to microchips, from IBM mainframes to Intel, The book covers all major developments as well as their influence on further developments.
The history of computing is a fascinating subject and anyone interested should mark this book must-read.
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