-
The Innovators
- How a Group of Hackers, Geniuses, and Geeks Created the Digital Revolution
- Narrated by: Dennis Boutsikaris
- Length: 8 hrs and 45 mins
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Publisher's summary
Following his blockbuster biography of Steve Jobs, The Innovators is Walter Isaacson's revealing story of the people who created the computer and the Internet. It is destined to be the standard history of the digital revolution and an indispensable guide to how innovation really happens.
What were the talents that allowed certain inventors and entrepreneurs to turn their visionary ideas into disruptive realities? What led to their creative leaps? Why did some succeed and others fail?
In his masterly saga, Isaacson begins with Ada Lovelace, Lord Byron's daughter, who pioneered computer programming in the 1840s. He explores the fascinating personalities that created our current digital revolution, such as Vannevar Bush, Alan Turing, John von Neumann, J.C.R. Licklider, Doug Engelbart, Robert Noyce, Bill Gates, Steve Wozniak, Steve Jobs, Tim Berners-Lee, and Larry Page.
This is the story of how their minds worked and what made them so inventive. It's also a narrative of how their ability to collaborate and master the art of teamwork made them even more creative.
For an era that seeks to foster innovation, creativity, and teamwork, The Innovators shows how they happen.
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Claude Shannon was a tinkerer, a playful wunderkind, a groundbreaking polymath, and a digital pioneer whose insights made the Information Age possible. He constructed fire-breathing trumpets and customized unicycles, outfoxed Vegas casinos, and built juggling robots, but he also wrote the seminal text of the Digital Revolution. That work allowed scientists to measure and manipulate information as objectively as any physical object. His work gave mathematicians and engineers the tools to bring that world to pass.
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I wanted more information about Information Theory
- By Bonny on 05-08-18
By: Rob Goodman, and others
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Electronic Dreams
- How 1980s Britain Learned to Love the Computer
- By: Tom Lean
- Narrated by: Mark Meadows
- Length: 10 hrs
- Unabridged
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In Electronic Dreams, Tom Lean tells the story of how computers invaded British homes for the first time, as people set aside their worries of electronic brains and Big Brother and embraced the wonder technology of the 1980s. This book charts the history of the rise and fall of the home computer, the family of futuristic and quirky machines that took computing from the realm of science and science fiction to being a user-friendly domestic technology.
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Awesome outline of electronic history
- By Johnny on 09-28-17
By: Tom Lean
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Data-ism
- The Revolution Transforming Decision Making, Consumer Behavior, and Almost Everything Else
- By: Steve Lohr
- Narrated by: Steve Lohr
- Length: 6 hrs and 33 mins
- Unabridged
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Coal, iron ore, and oil were the key productive assets that fueled the Industrial Revolution. Today data is the vital raw material of the information economy. The explosive abundance of this digital asset, more than doubling every two years, is creating a new world of opportunity and challenge. Data-ism is about this next phase, in which vast, Internet-scale data sets are used for discovery and prediction in virtually every field. It is a journey across this emerging world with people, illuminating narrative examples, and insights.
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More business case than serious analysis
- By Godfried Gubbels on 06-03-15
By: Steve Lohr
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Smarter Than You Think
- How Technology Is Changing Our Minds for the Better
- By: Clive Thompson
- Narrated by: Jeff Cummings
- Length: 10 hrs and 41 mins
- Unabridged
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In Smarter Than You Think, Thompson documents how every technological innovation - from the printing press to the telegraph - has provoked the very same anxieties that plague us today. We panic that life will never be the same, that our attentions are eroding, that culture is being trivialized. But as in the past, we adapt, learning to use the new and retaining what’s good of the old.
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Title should be Getting Smarter Through Technology
- By A. Yoshida on 03-10-17
By: Clive Thompson
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The Filter Bubble
- What the Internet Is Hiding from You
- By: Eli Pariser
- Narrated by: Kirby Heyborne
- Length: 7 hrs and 32 mins
- Unabridged
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In December 2009, Google began customizing its search results for each user. Instead of giving you the most broadly popular result, Google now tries to predict what you are most likely to click on. According to MoveOn.org board president Eli Pariser, Google's change in policy is symptomatic of the most significant shift to take place on the Web in recent years: the rise of personalization.
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Now in the top 3 best books I've ever read
- By Brian Esserlieu on 05-26-11
By: Eli Pariser
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Hood
- Trailblazer of the Genomics Age
- By: Luke Timmerman, David Baltimore
- Narrated by: Xe Sands
- Length: 10 hrs and 53 mins
- Unabridged
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Lee Hood did that rarest of things. He enabled scientists to see things they couldn't see before and do things they hadn't dreamed of doing. Scientists can now sequence complete human genomes in a day, setting in motion a revolution that is personalizing medicine. Hood, a son of the American West, was an unlikely candidate to transform biology. But with ferocious drive, he led a team at Caltech that developed the automated DNA sequencer, the tool that paved the way for the Human Genome Project.
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A Revealing Biography
- By Jean on 07-27-17
By: Luke Timmerman, and others
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Googled
- The End of the World as We Know It
- By: Ken Auletta
- Narrated by: Jim Bond
- Length: 13 hrs and 53 mins
- Unabridged
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In Googled, esteemed media writer and critic Ken Auletta uses the story of Google's rise to explore the inner workings of the company and the future of the media at large. Although Google has often been secretive, this book is based on the most extensive cooperation ever granted a journalist, including access to closed-door meetings and interviews with founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin, CEO Eric Schmidt, and some 150 present and former employees.
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Audio production could have been better
- By David on 11-12-09
By: Ken Auletta
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The End of College
- Creating the Future of Learning and the University of Everywhere
- By: Kevin Carey
- Narrated by: James Yaegashi
- Length: 9 hrs and 57 mins
- Unabridged
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Exploding college prices and a flagging global economy, combined with the derring-do of a few intrepid innovators, have created a dynamic climate for a total rethinking of an industry that has remained virtually unchanged for a hundred years. In The End of College, Kevin Carey, an education researcher and writer, draws on years of in-depth reporting and cutting-edge research to paint a vivid and surprising portrait of the future of education.
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40 pages of content inflated to 250 pages
- By Brian Dickinson on 04-28-15
By: Kevin Carey
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The Innovation Secrets of Steve Jobs
- By: Carmine Gallo
- Narrated by: Sean Mangan
- Length: 8 hrs and 24 mins
- Unabridged
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In The Innovation Secrets of Steve Jobs, best-selling author Carmine Gallo reveals the qualities that make the Apple co-founder the most innovative leader in business today. Each principle is backed with research, quotes, and first-person interviews with experts and business leaders, as well as specific ideas for applying those principles to every business, large or small.
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awful
- By Thomas on 10-15-11
By: Carmine Gallo
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Automate This
- How Algorithms Came to Rule Our World
- By: Christopher Steiner
- Narrated by: Walter Dixon
- Length: 7 hrs and 41 mins
- Unabridged
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It used to be that to diagnose an illness, interpret legal documents, analyze foreign policy, or write a newspaper article you needed a human being with specific skills - and maybe an advanced degree or two. These days, high-level tasks are increasingly being handled by algorithms that can do precise work not only with speed but also with nuance. These "bots" started with human programming and logic, but now their reach extends beyond what their creators ever expected.
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good start, book runs out of sustenace
- By RealTruth on 02-15-13
What listeners say about The Innovators
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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- danny
- 02-10-17
Informative and entertaining listen
Any additional comments?
I've been a fan of Isaacson's previous books about Einstein and Steve Jobs, and this work is no different. The history of technology and innovation could not be in more capable hands. Never boring, Isaacson has as much understanding of these innovators as he does of the technology itself that they pioneered. Balanced by the crisp and conversational narration of Dennis Boutsikaris, this book is a monumental achievement and can be read and enjoyed by anyone with even the slightest interest in technology.
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- Ann's Back
- 04-08-15
The steps of the technological ladder
Suddenly my life was enmeshed in computers with browsers, search engines, modems, etc., and now I understand the steps/words.
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- Julie Starnes
- 01-31-17
Must read for Tech Career Path
A history of tech. Great story version of the events we hear about from those who came before us. Story is well told and made a history lesson extremely entertaining.
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- David
- 01-16-15
Great Read
Isaacson has written a masterpiece. "The Innovators" is arguably among the most important books written in recent years.
Isaacson weaves together more than 100 years of collaborative development that has led to our current computer and Internet use. But, this is more than a book about history. Isaacson also gives the reader much to think about for our future. The way that we collaborate and use technology will surely shape our future successes and failures.
If there is any weakness in this book, it is Isaacson's attempt to defend Al Gore' assertion that he (Gore) created the internet and Barack Obama's statement that business owners didn't build their businesses. Aside from the politics involved, these brief tangents didn't add value to an otherwise extraordinary text.
"The Innovators" is both thoughtful and thought provoking. This glimpse into our technological past is important to understanding our future. Like I said. This really might be among the most important books published in recent years.
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2 people found this helpful
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- P. Lafford
- 12-18-15
Engaging History of Computing
What did you love best about The Innovators?
I got into computers with the Commodore VIC-20 in 1983, and have worked my way through all of the advances right up to today's iPhones and Microsoft's Surface. Having lived through 35 years of Moore's Law, I am still awed to think that my Apple Watch probably has more computing power than the Lunar Lander in 1969. While I enjoyed learning about all the early thorists with their Analytical Engines and all, the real pleasure was reliving the early days of personal computing, hearing the stories about Bill Gates and Paul Allen, Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak, Larry Page and Sergey Brin, the complementary collaborators who have changed the way we work...play...live.
Any additional comments?
An enjoyable listen for those who lived through the early days, and a book that will help those born with a digital spoon in their mouths appreciate the technology that we all take for granted today.
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1 person found this helpful
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- R. Bennett
- 02-15-17
Ok history of computing
Decent book giving the history of computing.
Glad I did the abridged version...more time for other interesting books. Isaacson seemed to struggle to link all of his characters together under a coherent narrative. Also, some of his attempts to make sure the reader knows he is socially enlightened come across as obsequious and unnecessary distractions from the story of computing.
Biographers are usually best when they stick to their core skills of research and storytelling.
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