Listen free for 30 days
-
The Innovators
- How a Group of Hackers, Geniuses, and Geeks Created the Digital Revolution
- Narrated by: Dennis Boutsikaris
- Length: 17 hrs and 28 mins
- Unabridged Audiobook
- Categories: Biographies & Memoirs, Professionals & Academics
Add to Cart failed.
Add to Wish List failed.
Remove from wish list failed.
Follow podcast failed
Unfollow podcast failed
Audible Membership
$14.95 a month
Buy Now for $47.03
No default payment method selected.
We are sorry. We are not allowed to sell this product with the selected payment method
Listeners also enjoyed...
-
Kissinger
- A Biography
- Written by: Walter Isaacson
- Narrated by: Malcolm Hillgartner
- Length: 34 hrs and 30 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
By the time Henry Kissinger was made secretary of state in 1973, he had become, according to a Gallup poll, the most admired person in America and one of the most unlikely celebrities ever to capture the world’s imagination. Yet Kissinger was also reviled by large segments of the American public, ranging from liberal intellectuals to conservative activists. Kissinger explores the relationship between this complex man's personality and the foreign policy he pursued.
-
-
Five stars
- By Anonymous User on 2019-01-01
Written by: Walter Isaacson
-
Benjamin Franklin: An American Life
- Written by: Walter Isaacson
- Narrated by: Nelson Runger
- Length: 24 hrs and 40 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Benjamin Franklin is the founding father who winks at us - an ambitious urban entrepreneur who rose up the social ladder, from leather-aproned shopkeeper to dining with kings. In best-selling author Walter Isaacson's vivid and witty full-scale biography, we discover why Franklin turns to us from history's stage with eyes that twinkle from behind his new-fangled spectacles. In Benjamin Franklin, Isaacson shows how Franklin defines both his own time and ours. The most interesting thing that Franklin invented, and continually reinvented, was himself.
-
-
Audio engineers need to be fired - buy the book
- By Ashton on 2020-04-14
Written by: Walter Isaacson
-
Leonardo da Vinci
- Written by: Walter Isaacson
- Narrated by: Alfred Molina
- Length: 17 hrs and 1 min
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Leonardo da Vinci created the two most famous paintings in history, The Last Supper and the Mona Lisa. But in his own mind, he was just as much a man of science and engineering. With a passion that sometimes became obsessive, he pursued innovative studies of anatomy, fossils, birds, the heart, flying machines, botany, geology, and weaponry.
-
-
Incredible way to learn about history science and art
- By Mr. Micah Peterson on 2018-03-20
Written by: Walter Isaacson
-
Einstein
- His Life and Universe
- Written by: Walter Isaacson
- Narrated by: Edward Herrmann
- Length: 21 hrs and 30 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Why we think it’s a great listen: You thought he was a stodgy scientist with funny hair, but Isaacson and Hermann reveal an eloquent, intense, and selfless human being who not only shaped science with his theories, but politics and world events in the 20th century as well. Based on the newly released personal letters of Albert Einstein, Walter Isaacson explores how an imaginative, impertinent patent clerk became the mind reader of the creator of the cosmos.
-
-
enlightening
- By Jacques Huot on 2018-08-15
Written by: Walter Isaacson
-
The Code Breaker
- Jennifer Doudna, Gene Editing, and the Future of the Human Race
- Written by: Walter Isaacson
- Narrated by: Kathe Mazur, Walter Isaacson
- Length: 16 hrs and 4 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The bestselling author of Leonardo da Vinci and Steve Jobs returns with a “compelling” (The Washington Post) account of how Nobel Prize winner Jennifer Doudna and her colleagues launched a revolution that will allow us to cure diseases, fend off viruses, and have healthier babies.
-
-
Not Historical or Balanced
- By Wandering on 2021-04-03
Written by: Walter Isaacson
-
Steve Jobs
- Written by: Walter Isaacson
- Narrated by: Dylan Baker
- Length: 25 hrs and 18 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Based on more than 40 interviews with Jobs conducted over two years—as well as interviews with more than a hundred family members, friends, adversaries, competitors, and colleagues—Walter Isaacson has written a riveting story of the roller-coaster life and searingly intense personality of a creative entrepreneur whose passion for perfection and ferocious drive revolutionized six industries: personal computers, animated movies, music, phones, tablet computing, and digital publishing.
-
-
don't hold this one off
- By Alex on 2020-06-17
Written by: Walter Isaacson
-
Kissinger
- A Biography
- Written by: Walter Isaacson
- Narrated by: Malcolm Hillgartner
- Length: 34 hrs and 30 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
By the time Henry Kissinger was made secretary of state in 1973, he had become, according to a Gallup poll, the most admired person in America and one of the most unlikely celebrities ever to capture the world’s imagination. Yet Kissinger was also reviled by large segments of the American public, ranging from liberal intellectuals to conservative activists. Kissinger explores the relationship between this complex man's personality and the foreign policy he pursued.
-
-
Five stars
- By Anonymous User on 2019-01-01
Written by: Walter Isaacson
-
Benjamin Franklin: An American Life
- Written by: Walter Isaacson
- Narrated by: Nelson Runger
- Length: 24 hrs and 40 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Benjamin Franklin is the founding father who winks at us - an ambitious urban entrepreneur who rose up the social ladder, from leather-aproned shopkeeper to dining with kings. In best-selling author Walter Isaacson's vivid and witty full-scale biography, we discover why Franklin turns to us from history's stage with eyes that twinkle from behind his new-fangled spectacles. In Benjamin Franklin, Isaacson shows how Franklin defines both his own time and ours. The most interesting thing that Franklin invented, and continually reinvented, was himself.
-
-
Audio engineers need to be fired - buy the book
- By Ashton on 2020-04-14
Written by: Walter Isaacson
-
Leonardo da Vinci
- Written by: Walter Isaacson
- Narrated by: Alfred Molina
- Length: 17 hrs and 1 min
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Leonardo da Vinci created the two most famous paintings in history, The Last Supper and the Mona Lisa. But in his own mind, he was just as much a man of science and engineering. With a passion that sometimes became obsessive, he pursued innovative studies of anatomy, fossils, birds, the heart, flying machines, botany, geology, and weaponry.
-
-
Incredible way to learn about history science and art
- By Mr. Micah Peterson on 2018-03-20
Written by: Walter Isaacson
-
Einstein
- His Life and Universe
- Written by: Walter Isaacson
- Narrated by: Edward Herrmann
- Length: 21 hrs and 30 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Why we think it’s a great listen: You thought he was a stodgy scientist with funny hair, but Isaacson and Hermann reveal an eloquent, intense, and selfless human being who not only shaped science with his theories, but politics and world events in the 20th century as well. Based on the newly released personal letters of Albert Einstein, Walter Isaacson explores how an imaginative, impertinent patent clerk became the mind reader of the creator of the cosmos.
-
-
enlightening
- By Jacques Huot on 2018-08-15
Written by: Walter Isaacson
-
The Code Breaker
- Jennifer Doudna, Gene Editing, and the Future of the Human Race
- Written by: Walter Isaacson
- Narrated by: Kathe Mazur, Walter Isaacson
- Length: 16 hrs and 4 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The bestselling author of Leonardo da Vinci and Steve Jobs returns with a “compelling” (The Washington Post) account of how Nobel Prize winner Jennifer Doudna and her colleagues launched a revolution that will allow us to cure diseases, fend off viruses, and have healthier babies.
-
-
Not Historical or Balanced
- By Wandering on 2021-04-03
Written by: Walter Isaacson
-
Steve Jobs
- Written by: Walter Isaacson
- Narrated by: Dylan Baker
- Length: 25 hrs and 18 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Based on more than 40 interviews with Jobs conducted over two years—as well as interviews with more than a hundred family members, friends, adversaries, competitors, and colleagues—Walter Isaacson has written a riveting story of the roller-coaster life and searingly intense personality of a creative entrepreneur whose passion for perfection and ferocious drive revolutionized six industries: personal computers, animated movies, music, phones, tablet computing, and digital publishing.
-
-
don't hold this one off
- By Alex on 2020-06-17
Written by: Walter Isaacson
-
Leonardo da Vinci
- Written by: Walter Isaacson
- Narrated by: Alfred Molina
- Length: 9 hrs and 12 mins
- Abridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Leonardo da Vinci created the two most famous paintings in history, The Last Supper and the Mona Lisa. But in his own mind, he was just as much a man of science and engineering. With a passion that sometimes became obsessive, he pursued innovative studies of anatomy, fossils, birds, the heart, flying machines, botany, geology, and weaponry. His ability to stand at the crossroads of the humanities and the sciences, made iconic by his drawing of Vitruvian Man, made him history's most creative genius.
-
-
Not appropriate for audio
- By DARCY R DELAMERE on 2017-12-08
Written by: Walter Isaacson
-
Idea Man
- A Memoir by the Cofounder of Microsoft
- Written by: Paul Allen
- Narrated by: Sean Runnette
- Length: 12 hrs and 42 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In 2007 and 2008, Time named Paul Allen, the cofounder of Microsoft, one of the 100 most influential people in the world. Since he made his fortune, his impact has been felt in science, technology, business, medicine, sports, music, and philanthropy. His passion, curiosity, and intellectual rigor - combined with the resources to launch and support new initiatives - have literally changed the world. With honesty, humor, and insight, Allen here tells the story of a life of ideas made real.
-
-
Mr. Allen, we miss you!
- By P P on 2021-03-10
Written by: Paul Allen
-
Invent and Wander
- The Collected Writings of Jeff Bezos, with an Introduction by Walter Isaacson
- Written by: Jeff Bezos, Walter Isaacson - introduction
- Narrated by: L. J. Ganser
- Length: 8 hrs and 55 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In this collection of Jeff Bezos' writings - his unique and strikingly original annual shareholder letters, plus numerous speeches and interviews that provide insight into his background, his work, and the evolution of his ideas - you'll gain an insider's view of the why and how of his success. Spanning a range of topics across business and public policy, from innovation and customer obsession to climate change and outer space, this book provides a rare glimpse into how Bezos thinks about the world and where the future might take us.
Written by: Jeff Bezos, and others
-
George Lucas
- A Life
- Written by: Brian Jay Jones
- Narrated by: Jay Snyder
- Length: 18 hrs and 18 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
On May 25, 1977, a problem-plagued, budget-straining, independent science-fiction film opened in a mere 32 American movie theatres. Conceived, written, and directed by a little-known filmmaker named George Lucas, Star Wars reinvented the cinematic landscape, ushering in a new way for movies to be made, marketed, and merchandised. Simply put, George Lucas is one of the most influential filmmakers of the past 50 years.
-
-
Necessary Trading
- By Grant Dawson on 2021-04-07
Written by: Brian Jay Jones
-
The Master Algorithm
- How the Quest for the Ultimate Learning Machine Will Remake Our World
- Written by: Pedro Domingos
- Narrated by: Mel Foster
- Length: 13 hrs and 3 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Under the aegis of machine learning in our data-driven machine age, computers are programming themselves and learning about - and solving - an extraordinary range of problems, from the mundane to the most daunting. Today it is machine learning programs that enable Amazon and Netflix to predict what users will like, Apple to power Siri's ability to understand voices, and Google to pilot cars.
-
-
Worth the read for beginners
- By Bogdan on 2019-05-24
Written by: Pedro Domingos
-
Elon Musk
- Tesla, SpaceX, and the Quest for a Fantastic Future
- Written by: Ashlee Vance
- Narrated by: Fred Sanders
- Length: 13 hrs and 23 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In the spirit of Steve Jobs and Moneyball, Elon Musk is both an illuminating and authorized look at the extraordinary life of one of Silicon Valley's most exciting, unpredictable, and ambitious entrepreneurs - a real-life Tony Stark - and a fascinating exploration of the renewal of American invention and its new makers.
-
-
Hey Elon, you hiring?
- By Amazon Customer on 2020-05-05
Written by: Ashlee Vance
-
Hatching Twitter
- A True Story of Money, Power, Friendship, and Betrayal
- Written by: Nick Bilton
- Narrated by: Daniel May
- Length: 9 hrs and 35 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Twitter seems like a perfect start-up success story. In barely six years, a small group of young, ambitious programmers in Silicon Valley built an $11.5 billion business out of the ashes of a failed podcasting company. Today Twitter boasts more than 200 million active users and has affected business, politics, media, and other fields in innumerable ways.
-
-
Thorough and Engaging.
- By John Schmidt on 2018-09-13
Written by: Nick Bilton
-
The Second Machine Age
- Work, Progress, and Prosperity in a Time of Brilliant Technologies
- Written by: Erik Brynjolfsson, Andrew McAfee
- Narrated by: Jeff Cummings
- Length: 8 hrs and 49 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In recent years, Google’s autonomous cars have logged thousands of miles on American highways and IBM’s Watson trounced the best human Jeopardy! players. Digital technologies — with hardware, software, and networks at their core — will in the near future diagnose diseases more accurately than doctors can, apply enormous data sets to transform retailing, and accomplish many tasks once considered uniquely human.
Written by: Erik Brynjolfsson, and others
-
The Idea Factory
- Bell Labs and the Great Age of American Innovation
- Written by: Jon Gertner
- Narrated by: Chris Sorensen
- Length: 17 hrs and 28 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In The Idea Factory, New York Times Magazine writer Jon Gertner reveals how Bell Labs served as an incubator for scientific innovation from the 1920s through the1980s. In its heyday, Bell Labs boasted nearly 15,000 employees, 1200 of whom held PhDs and 13 of whom won Nobel Prizes. Thriving in a work environment that embraced new ideas, Bell Labs scientists introduced concepts that still propel many of today’s most exciting technologies.
-
-
Great Listen
- By Alex on 2021-11-09
Written by: Jon Gertner
-
That Will Never Work
- The Birth of Netflix and the Amazing Life of an Idea
- Written by: Marc Randolph
- Narrated by: Marc Randolph
- Length: 11 hrs
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In the tradition of Phil Knight's Shoe Dog comes the incredible untold story of how Netflix went from concept to company - all revealed by cofounder and first CEO Marc Randolph. From idea generation to team building to knowing when it's time to let go, That Will Never Work is not only the ultimate follow-your-dreams parable, but also one of the most dramatic and insightful entrepreneurial stories of our time.
-
-
Nobody Knows Anything
- By Anthony on 2019-11-09
Written by: Marc Randolph
-
Alibaba
- The House That Jack Ma Built
- Written by: Duncan Clark
- Narrated by: Jim Meskimen
- Length: 9 hrs and 9 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In just a decade and a half, Jack Ma, a man from modest beginnings who started out as an English teacher, founded Alibaba and built it into one of the world's largest companies, an e-commerce empire on which hundreds of millions of Chinese consumers depend. Alibaba's $25 billion IPO in 2014 was the largest global IPO ever. A Rockefeller of his age who is courted by CEOs and presidents around the world, Jack is an icon for China's booming private sector.
-
-
Storytelling style not my cup of tea
- By Jez on 2020-07-13
Written by: Duncan Clark
-
Creative Selection
- Inside Apple's Design Process During the Golden Age of Steve Jobs
- Written by: Ken Kocienda
- Narrated by: Ken Kocienda
- Length: 7 hrs and 28 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Creative Selection recounts the life of one of the few who worked behind the scenes, a highly respected software engineer who worked in the final years of the Steve Jobs era - the Golden Age of Apple. Ken Kocienda offers an inside look at Apple’s creative process. For 15 years, he was on the ground floor of the company as a specialist, directly responsible for experimenting with novel user interface concepts and writing powerful, easy-to-use software for products including the iPhone, the iPad, and the Safari web browser.
-
-
Good if you’re a coder
- By Milena on 2020-02-26
Written by: Ken Kocienda
Publisher's Summary
2015 Audie Award Finalist for Non-Fiction
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.
More from the same
What listeners say about The Innovators
Average Customer RatingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- philip moss
- 2021-03-20
The people who built our digital world
Very engaging story. Lots of interesting characters. Will seek out other works by this author.
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Anonymous User
- 2020-11-13
Awesome book
Can’t recommend this book enough for anyone interested in tech. Isaacson was honest in his high emphasis on the importance of the rebellious-creative types who had the vision for leveraging technology to enhance our capabilities and experiences. There are so many great stories and characters to draw inspiration from in this book!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Manuel R Avila
- 2020-06-29
Walter Isaacson never disappoints
I got this book because I was fascinated by his biographies of Steve Jobs and Albert Einstein and wanted to see what this mashup of biographies would be like. The result is mesmerizing. I enjoyed this book through and through. The pacing is great and the new ingredient is how Walter weaves together the different stories with a very clear storyline. Highly recommended!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Sahil
- 2018-09-26
just perfect
perfect book for innovators and curious minded people. a must read. highly recommended. loved it #Audible1
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Hamish
- 2018-05-20
Thoroughly enjoyed it!
I found a few of the concepts difficult to picture in my mind, but found this book to be fascinating pretty much from start to finish, and full of information which was both new to me and very interesting.
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Daniel W.
- 2018-02-16
a great story to learn the process of innovation.
Often times we like to sensationalize a single causal factor in the process of innovation. This book does a great job cutting through and painting a more realistic picture.
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- W Perry Hall
- 2015-10-06
With Atlantean Shoulders, Fit to Bear
This book is a grand and gratifying overview of the Innovators who have played a major role in forging today's dynamic technology and our high-tech society, with its main focus on the last 80 or so years.
Only Walter Isaacson, who has written bios of Jobs and Einstein, would have the brilliant ability to research (on the shoulders of a wealth of prior research), comprehend and assimilate all this intriguing and highly complex information and transform it all into an inquisitive and fascinating look at our technological Innovators, coherent and clear enough for the average reader to understand AND enjoy.
I took away a much more informed perspective of how we got here and a distinct reverence for the innovators in the text and generally for the human capacity for incredible intellect and curiosity as well as our enduring and limitless creativity.
The following quote gives the best overview, in my opinion, of the book to an average reader (such as I):
"Most of the successful innovators and entrepreneurs in this book had one thing in common: they were product people. They cared about, and deeply understood, the engineering and design. They were not primarily marketers or salesmen or financial types; when such folks took over companies, it was often to the detriment of sustained innovation. “When the sales guys run the company, the product guys don’t matter so much, and a lot of them just turn off,” Jobs said. Larry Page felt the same: “The best leaders are those with the deepest understanding of the engineering and product design.”
Another lesson of the digital age is as old as Aristotle: “Man is a social animal.” What else could explain CB and ham radios or their successors, such as WhatsApp and Twitter? Almost every digital tool, whether designed for it or not, was commandeered by humans for a social purpose: to create communities, facilitate communication, collaborate on projects, and enable social networking. Even the personal computer, which was originally embraced as a tool for individual creativity, inevitably led to the rise of modems, online services, and eventually Facebook, Flickr, and Foursquare. Machines, by contrast, are not social animals. They don’t join Facebook of their own volition nor seek companionship for its own sake.... Despite all of the proclamations of artificial intelligence engineers and Internet sociologists, digital tools have no personalities, intentions, or desires. They are what we make of them.”
Dennis Boutsikaris, an accomplished actor, is always a first-class narrator.
This book is due all exceptional acclaim.
46 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- K
- 2014-10-10
Inspiring stories about technology & innovation
Isaacson's THE INNOVATORS is a series of inspiring stories about technologists and their innovations. The stories are woven together to give the book a cohesive flow and it reads like a novel. For technology fans, some of the stories won't be new... but the way the stories are told and juxtaposed with other innovators' achievements makes this book unique. These are geeks' stories told lovingly by someone who clearly respects them and what they've done. I listened to the audible.com version of this book and found the narration well-done. I highly recommend this book to those interested in technology or innovation.
43 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Mark
- 2014-10-21
A History of the Ancient Geeks
I have a PC, a laptop, a smartphone, an Ipod and an electronic keyboard. I'm not boasting. Most people in the West who aren't embroiled in poverty probably own a similar range of digital devices. These digital machines have taken over the World and occupy large chunks of our time. And I'm not complaining. I get huge pleasure listening to talking books (a gift of the digital age) and browsing the internet. 25 years ago I got my first computer and it had a hard drive less than 500mb. I hadn't heard of internet or email, There was no Wiki, Google or Facebook. 25 years earlier, when I was a toddler, the only computers were massive creaking mechanical dinosaurs hidden away in military facilities or NASA.
I find this dramatic recent change in our way of life astounding. And I'm not a computer geek at all. I have no idea how they work, I just enjoy the way they present information, entertainment and interactions with my old friends whenever and wherever I want them.
So this book is the story of how that all came about. The visionaries and eccentrics who took the series of steps, starting with adding machines and progressing to the first personal computers, video games, the internet, search engines and social networking. The book presents the Goliaths such as Bill Gates, Steve Jobs and Alan Turing, along with the many Davids with whom they collaborated so productively. It might not be everyone's cup of tea, but I found it a fascinating listen.
53 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Jean
- 2014-10-26
Fascinating
“The Innovators” is a serial biography of the large number of ingenious scientist, and engineers who led up to Jobs and Wozniak. Isaacson covers the transistor, the microchip, microprocessor, the programmable computer and software. He also covers videogames, the internet and web, search engines, touch screens taken together it is called the digital revolution.
The digital revolution has changed many things for all people. Some people call this the third industrial revolution. The first based on coal, steam and iron, the second on steel, electricity and mass production.
The author tells the story of how the digital revolution happened, through the accomplishment of many individuals. Isaacson draws attention to organizations that, for a time hosted groups that were more than the sum of their individual parts. At the “idea factory” that was AT&T’s Bell Labs the physicists John Bardeen, Walter Brattain and William Shockley created the transistor, the fundamental building block for the microprocessor. It has been called the most important invention of the 20th century. The creative teams at Intel, the key company in development of the microprocessor industry and Xerox-PARC probably the single most fertile source of electronic innovation in the 1970s, they created the Ethernet, the graphic user interface, and the famous mouse. Texas Instruments created the personal calculator. The creation of demand for personal devices has blossomed.
It was Robert Oppenheimer, who at wartime Los Alamos so effectively found ways of getting scientists with radically different fields, skills and personalities to work together in designing the atomic bomb. Bell Labs, Intel, Xerox-PARC continued this team approach with great success. Silicon Valley took team innovation, venture capital, Stanford and University of California Berkeley Universities put them together to create what is called the “Ecosystem”. The authors shows how Silicon Valley took this “Ecosystem” of innovation and turned it into a powerful pool of creative revolution
The author tells of Gordon "Moore’s Law” predicting the doubling of a microprocessor’s power every year and half focused energies on a goal that was authoritatively said to be attainable. Bill Gates foresaw that hardware could be commoditized.
Isaacson tells of mathematician Ada Lovelace, daughter of poet Lord Byron, as she set out to create analytical engines. Isaacson weaves his enormous amount of research into deftly crafted anecdotes into gripping narrative about these imaginative scientists who transformed our lives. The book is a fun and informative read. Dennis Boutsikaris did a good job narrating the book.
24 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Shane
- 2014-11-14
History of Computing 101
Would you listen to The Innovators again? Why?
If you know little about the history of computing this is a great listen. It covers a lot of ground, and the narration is superb.
My only gripe is that if is very superficial in many areas. Many innovations outside the USA get little or no credit (like those my the Japanese, Germans, Australians, Koreans, or Taiwanese), and if you are already familiar with computing history then you may already know much of the content, in which case it may bore and frustrate you.
Recommended for those not so hardcore into computer science, or looking to stoke a passion in that field.
What was one of the most memorable moments of The Innovators?
The tales of Lady Loveless and Babbage.
What does Dennis Boutsikaris bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?
Timing. He gives the words a chance to sink in, especially at key moments.
Did you have an extreme reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?
It inspired me to continue deeper into the field of robotics. Thank you!
Any additional comments?
Audiobooks are awesome.
15 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- LMB
- 2017-07-24
Who is this for?
The research behind this book is impressive and useful for those teaching a history of the industry. But it is dry and dull. It is like listening to the required standard textbooks in Uni. It was nearly impossible to fight my mind from drifting. I hardly made it through 3 chapters, and I wanted to learn the content. Maybe this is easier to learn from in print. But in audio form, it can only compete with the audio version of a Drivers manual.
25 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Dan Collins
- 2017-04-26
Innovation: the Blending of Talents
The author highlights the fact that innovators tend to have both scientific and the aesthetic sensibilities. Innovation is not pure engineering, even in high technology industries. The trophy does not necessarily go to the best technology every time. Presentation and implementation matter.
3 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Kimberly
- 2015-02-12
Who knew that hippies were responsible for the PC
Or, that the programmable computer was foreseen in the 1800's. What a story, what a journey. I enjoyed the history, the people, the story behind the story. What more can I say, read this.
3 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Gary
- 2014-10-16
Much breadth with little depth
This book is biography for how we got to the current internet age and all the major steps that took to get there. The author starts the story with Lady Ada Loveless and Charles Babbage's analytical machine up to the development of the internet. That's the problem. There's just too many good stories to tell and the author seldom gets into the nuts and bolts of the story leading the listener wanting more.
As in any good narrative of a biography there needs to be some themes that tie the stories together. The author pretty much tries to tie his story together with a couple of themes, "execution trumps creativity" and "cooperation leads to creation".
In general, biographies don't excite me. They deal with personalities and superficiality. The author's biography on Einstein is the one exception. The author not only taught me about Einstein the man, but what his work was all about. He explained the physics (in that biography) even better than Brian Greene does when he was talking about how Brian Greene explained the physics. Unfortunately, in this book the author seldom gets into details. A couple times he did get into the weeds. His section on Lady Loveless was marvelous and she becomes a recurring character in the book. I only wish he had explained what all the other characters were creating instead of what they did.
I think there are much better books out there that cover the same kind of material better and I would recommend them instead. I would start off with the wonderful book "The Master Switch" by Tim Wu. It delves into why Google is so important and how it got that way much better than this book does.
19 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Luis De Leon
- 2014-10-08
A short history of digital technology.
This book is great, the way each biography and technical development interlaces and the insightful narrative made me feel like a witness to history.
Isaacson is a master distilling the essence of each person and the relevance of each technological achievement, putting it all in perspective in a neat well-narrated package.
24 people found this helpful