Broad Band

Name: Broad Band
ISBN: 9780593329443

The Untold Story of the Women Who Made the Internet

by Claire L. Evans · first published 2018

7mentions

5recommended by

7HN commenters

2018–2025first – last mentioned

71% recommend29% neutral

Why HN recommends it

Nonfiction history of the early internet that centers the women who built it. It covers the Bohemian culture of early online communities, including LambdaMOO.

Summarised by Claude from recommending comments

Biography & Memoir Popular Science Web & Internet

"The history of technology you probably know is one of men and machines, garages and riches, alpha nerds and brogrammers. But the little-known fact is that female visionaries have always been at the vanguard of technology and innovation--they've just been erased from the story. Until now. Women are not ancillary to the history of technology; they turn up at the very beginning of every important wave. But they've often been hidden in plain sight, their inventions and contributions touching our lives in ways we don't even realize. VICE reporter and YACHT lead singer Claire L. Evans finally giv

BuyBookshop.org Amazon

Affiliate links. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.

View on Open Library ISBN 9780593329443

Mentions per year

What Hacker News says

johnb · Mar 27, 2020 · Recommends

A few good ones that haven't been mentioned yet: * "IBM's 360 and Early 370 Systems " https://mitpress.mit.edu/books/ibms-360-and-early-370-system... * "Broad Band: The Untold Story of the Women Who Made the Internet" https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/35953464-broad-band * "Fire in the Valley: The Making of the Personal Computer" https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1427580.Fire_in_the_Vall...
on “Ask HN: Computer Science/History Books?” ↗
rexpop · May 13, 2019 · Recommends

For a deeper understanding of the Bohemian nature of the early internet, you might want to check out this book on Goodreads: Broad Band: The Untold Story of the Women Who Made the Internet http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/35953464-broad-band
on “The Gentrification of the Internet” ↗
strictnein · Mar 25, 2020 · Recommends

A good(?) history of LambdaMOO's creation: https://undark.org/2018/07/20/wilo-evans-broad-band/
on “LambdaMOO takes a new direction (1992)” ↗
sitkack · Mar 30, 2025 · Recommends

Neat book, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Broad_Band For a copy near you, https://search.worldcat.org/title/1077130914 1hr long lecture by Claire Evans https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wLQKp8mHHJ0
on “C. Elegans: The worm that no computer scientist can crack” ↗
merrua · Sep 7, 2018 · Recommends

…Communities of Practice. Card Sorting: Designing Usable Categories. More Fearless Change: Strategies for Making Your Ideas Happen. Security and Usability: Designing Secure Systems that People Can Use. Broad Band: The Untold Story of the Women Who Made the Internet. The Well: The Epic History of the First Online Community. Programmers at Work. Science The Theory That Would Not Die: How Bayes' Rule Cracked the…
on “Ask HN: What are your favorite non-fiction books of all time?” ↗
krrrh · Oct 18, 2018 · Mentions

It may also be of interest to HN that Jona Bechtolt & Claire Evans who are leading this project are the core members of the band Yacht. Claire recently published Broad Band [1] to acclaim, which explores the history of women involved in the early years of the internet. She also edits Vice’s science fiction site. Both are very cool people who continuously crank out interesting…
on “L.A.'s Most Derided Piece of Public Art Is About to Light Up Again” ↗
BlameKaneda · Dec 13, 2019 · Mentions

…- The Diamond Age (Stephenson) - Neuromancer (Gibson) - The Shadow Rising - Wheel of Time (Jordan) - Count of Monte Cristo (Dumas) Books that I plan on reading in 2020: - Little Women (Alcott) - Broad Band: The Untold Story of the Women Who Made the Internet (Evans) - A Walk in the Woods (Bryson)
on “Ask HN: 2019 Winter Reading List?” ↗