What the Dormouse Said: How the Sixties Counterculture Shaped the Personal Computer Industry

Book review by Deane Barker • • tags: history, tech •
An image of the cover of the book "What the Dormouse Said: How the Sixties Counterculture Shaped the Personal Computer Industry"

The title promised a discussion about how the 60s “shaped” the personal computer industry, but I just didn’t see it.

The book is a history of technology and how the seminal figures of that period interacted with culture, but it didn’t show me how society “shaped” the industry, as much as the industry just came together during that time. The central premise was supposed to be how the 60s were integral to the direction of the PC industry, but I didn’t get the feeling that the PC industry wouldn’t have formed the same way in any other era either.

As a history book, it’s solid, if a bit droning. Lot of names, lots of people, all throw together in a mishmash. I feel like The Innovators or Dealers of Lightning did this so much better.

Book Info

Author
John Markoff
Year
Pages
352
Acquired
  • I have read this book. According to my records, I completed it on .
  • A softcover copy of this book is currently in my home library.
Links to this – Dormouse November 24, 2022
This is just a specific species of mouse. The name comes from the fact that it hibernates (is “dormant”) for half the year.
Links from this – The Innovators: How a Group of Hackers, Geniuses and Geeks Created the Digital Revolution November 1, 2014
Amazingly wonderful book on the history of the digital age, all the way from Ada Lovelace and Charles Babbage through to Sergey Brin and Larry Page. Wonderfully written, always engrossing. It begins with a long discussion of Lovelace, Babbage, and Turing’s thoughts on whether a machine could ever...
Links from this – Dealers of Lightning: Xerox PARC and the Dawn of the Computer Age