The Innovators

Executive Summary: A very well written and fascinating look at the rise history of computers and the internet and those who helped to shape it.Audiobook: For any nonfiction book I simply want a narrator who reads at a good pace and tone and is mostly unremarkable. Dennis Boutsikaris was that for me. He did a good job at keeping me focused on the history and not his narration.Full ReviewI added this book to my list after listening to Mr. Isaacson better know work: [b:Steve Jobs 11084145 Steve Jobs Walter Isaacson https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1511288482s/11084145.jpg 16005831]. Jobs was fascinating and that book was well written, but I always feel like he gets way too much credit as an innovator.This book was a nice counter to that. While Jobs is mentioned as appropriate, he focuses mostly on the people whose technical knowledge led to the personal computer, the internet and eventually the smart phone.That said, he does spend time talking about the important of those like Jobs. People who are are to recognize, nurture and market a good idea so it has a chance to make an impact. In fact one of his main themes in this book was how much better innovation works in a team setting than it does with a lone genius.The book is pretty extensive in its coverage. It starts back with Eda Lovelace and ends with the rise of smart phones and social media. There were a lot of details and people I was already familiar with from other computer history books I've read, but there was a lot of material in this book that was new to me.I'm awful at names, so I can't rattle off all the key people, but the way Mr. Isaacson's went about telling the history worked really well for me. I love that he spent time on both the hardware and software and even did a brief chapter on video games. Overall I found this an excellent book both for people completely unaware of computer history or for people like me who are looking for a deeper dive than some other books on the subject.