From Airline Reservations to Sonic the Hedgehog

Name: From Airline Reservations to Sonic the Hedgehog
ISBN: 026253262X

by Martin Campbell-Kelly · first published 2003

7mentions

2recommended by

5HN commenters

2012–2024first – last mentioned

40% recommend60% neutral

Programming Computer Science Software Engineering

From its first glimmerings in the 1950s, the software industry has evolved to become the fourth largest industrial sector of the US economy. Starting with a handful of software contractors who produced specialized programs for the few existing machines, the industry grew to include producers of corporate software packages and then makers of mass-market products and recreational software. This book tells the story of each of these types of firm, focusing on the products they developed, the business models they followed, and the markets they served. By describing the breadth of this industry,

BuyBookshop.org Amazon

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

View on Open Library ISBN 026253262X

Mentions per year

What Hacker News says

RNeff · Sep 28, 2012 · Recommends

Computing: A Concise History by Paul E. Ceruzzi From Airline Reservations to Sonic the Hedgehog: A History of the Software Industry by Martin Campbell-Kelly/ The Computer History Museum is in Mountain View, CA, part of Silicon Valley, close to the Googleplex and Microsoft SV. It has the second,…
on “Ask HN: Good books on the history of computer science?” ↗
Rochus · Mar 27, 2020 · Recommends

- ENIAC - The triumphs and tragedies of the world's first computer - Grace Hopper and the Invention of the Information Age - From airline reservations to Sonic the Hedgehog - a history of the software industry - History of programming languages Volumes 1 to 3
on “Ask HN: Computer Science/History Books?” ↗
Rochus · Jan 10, 2024 · Recommends

…(2012): https://www.amazon.com/Computer-Boys-Take-Over-Programmers/d... Grace Hopper and the Invention of the Information Age (2009): https://www.amazon.com/Invention-Information-Lemelson-Studie... From airline reservations to Sonic the Hedgehog - a history of the software industry (2003): https://www.amazon.com/Airline-Reservations-Sonic-Hedgehog-C...
on “Book recommendations about the history of programming” ↗
mcguire · Dec 25, 2014 · Mentions

Certainly true, in fact it's kind of my point. Take a look at the "key sentence" from Harold Perkins' review of From Airline Reservations to Sonic the Hedgehog: "The computer and its software nervous system brought a revolution in human development as significant as the steam engine, the automobile or the aeroplane, and even more effective in shrinking the…
on “The Tears of Donald Knuth” ↗
ganeumann · Jul 7, 2015 · Mentions

…hardware. If so, pickings are slim. Two that stand out are: - S. Rosenberg, Dreaming in Code, http://amzn.to/1HdbJk1 (Not really a history of code, just the history of a single project) - M. Campbell-Kelly, From Airline Reservations to Sonic the Hedgehog, http://amzn.to/1RicYpS (which, while not quite as amazing as the others, is the only history of the software industry as a whole I know of.)
on “Ask HN: How to learn about the history of computing?” ↗
krallja · Apr 22, 2022 · Mentions

The textbooks I used in university were "From Airline Reservations to Sonic the Hedgehog: A History of the Software Industry" (Campbell-Kelly) and "A History of Modern Computing (second edition)" (Ceruzzi). There is a brand-new update to the second one, "A New History of Modern Computing"…
on “Ask HN: Best way to learn about computing history?” ↗
krallja · Jul 7, 2015 · Mentions

The "History of Computing" class I took in college used Ceruzzi's "A History of Modern Computing" and "From Airline Reservations to Sonic the Hedgehog" as our textbooks.
on “Ask HN: How to learn about the history of computing?” ↗