A people's history of computing in the United States
by Joy Lisi Rankin · first published 2018
75% recommend25% critical
Does Silicon Valley deserve the credit it gets for digital creativity and social media? Joy Lisi Rankin questions this triumphalism by revisiting a pre-PC world where schools were not the last stop for mature consumer technologies but flourishing sites of innovative collaboration. A People's History of Computing in the United States reveals a forgotten time when students taught computers, rather than the other way around, and visionaries dreamed of networked access for all. The invention of the personal computer undoubtedly liberated users from corporate mainframes and brought computing into h
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A People’s History of Computing in the United States - Joy Lisi Rankin Joy Rankin draws on detailed records to explore how users exchanged messages, programmed music and poems, fostered communities, and developed computer games like The Oregon Trail. These…
on “Ask HN: Computer Science/History Books?” ↗…https://www.amazon.com/Bitwise-Life-Code-David-Auerbach/dp/1... Gates - https://www.amazon.com/Gates-Microsofts-Reinvented-Industry-... We Are The Nerds - https://www.amazon.com/We-Are-Nerds-audiobook/dp/B07H5Q5JGS/... A People's History of Computing In The United States - https://www.amazon.com/Peoples-History-Computing-United-Stat... Fire In The Valley: The Birth and Death of the Personal Computer - https://www.amazon.com/Fire-in-Valley-audiobook/dp/B071YYZJG... How…
on “Ask HN: Material on early computing history and innovation?” ↗Also read the counterpart to friendly orange glow, "A People’s History of Computing in the United States"
on “Ask HN: Computer Science/History Books?” ↗I read a book called A People's History of Computing in the United States, which wildly oversells itself, it's just a history of Dartmouth Basic and the culture surrounding it. https://www.hup.harvard.edu/books/9780674970977 But even then it was very interesting! The philosophy…
on “BASIC turns 60” ↗