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The Innovators
- How a Group of Hackers, Geniuses, and Geeks Created the Digital Revolution
- Narrated by: Dennis Boutsikaris
- Length: 17 hrs and 28 mins
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Elon Musk
- Written by: Walter Isaacson
- Narrated by: Jeremy Bobb, Walter Isaacson
- Length: 20 hrs and 27 mins
- Unabridged
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From the author of Steve Jobs and other bestselling biographies, this is the astonishingly intimate story of the most fascinating and controversial innovator of our era—a rule-breaking visionary who helped to lead the world into the era of electric vehicles, private space exploration, and artificial intelligence. Oh, and took over Twitter.
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Future King of Mars, Inventor of Car Farts!
- By michael smith on 2023-09-12
Written by: Walter Isaacson
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Kissinger
- A Biography
- Written by: Walter Isaacson
- Narrated by: Malcolm Hillgartner
- Length: 34 hrs and 30 mins
- Unabridged
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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.
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Five stars
- By Anonymous User on 2019-01-01
Written by: Walter Isaacson
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Einstein
- His Life and Universe
- Written by: Walter Isaacson
- Narrated by: Edward Herrmann
- Length: 21 hrs and 30 mins
- Unabridged
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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.
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enlightening
- By Jacques Huot on 2018-08-15
Written by: Walter Isaacson
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Leonardo da Vinci
- Written by: Walter Isaacson
- Narrated by: Alfred Molina
- Length: 17 hrs and 1 min
- Unabridged
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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.
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Incredible way to learn about history science and art
- By Kate's Creative Kitchen on 2018-03-20
Written by: Walter Isaacson
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Benjamin Franklin: An American Life
- Written by: Walter Isaacson
- Narrated by: Nelson Runger
- Length: 24 hrs and 40 mins
- Unabridged
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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.
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Audio engineers need to be fired - buy the book
- By Ashton on 2020-04-14
Written by: Walter Isaacson
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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
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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.
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Not Historical or Balanced
- By Wandering on 2021-04-03
Written by: Walter Isaacson
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Elon Musk
- Written by: Walter Isaacson
- Narrated by: Jeremy Bobb, Walter Isaacson
- Length: 20 hrs and 27 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall
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From the author of Steve Jobs and other bestselling biographies, this is the astonishingly intimate story of the most fascinating and controversial innovator of our era—a rule-breaking visionary who helped to lead the world into the era of electric vehicles, private space exploration, and artificial intelligence. Oh, and took over Twitter.
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Future King of Mars, Inventor of Car Farts!
- By michael smith on 2023-09-12
Written by: Walter Isaacson
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Kissinger
- A Biography
- Written by: Walter Isaacson
- Narrated by: Malcolm Hillgartner
- Length: 34 hrs and 30 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
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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.
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Five stars
- By Anonymous User on 2019-01-01
Written by: Walter Isaacson
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Einstein
- His Life and Universe
- Written by: Walter Isaacson
- Narrated by: Edward Herrmann
- Length: 21 hrs and 30 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall
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Performance
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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.
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enlightening
- By Jacques Huot on 2018-08-15
Written by: Walter Isaacson
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Leonardo da Vinci
- Written by: Walter Isaacson
- Narrated by: Alfred Molina
- Length: 17 hrs and 1 min
- Unabridged
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Overall
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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.
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Incredible way to learn about history science and art
- By Kate's Creative Kitchen on 2018-03-20
Written by: Walter Isaacson
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Benjamin Franklin: An American Life
- Written by: Walter Isaacson
- Narrated by: Nelson Runger
- Length: 24 hrs and 40 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall
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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.
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Audio engineers need to be fired - buy the book
- By Ashton on 2020-04-14
Written by: Walter Isaacson
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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
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Overall
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Performance
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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.
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Not Historical or Balanced
- By Wandering on 2021-04-03
Written by: Walter Isaacson
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Steve Jobs
- Written by: Walter Isaacson
- Narrated by: Dylan Baker
- Length: 25 hrs and 18 mins
- Unabridged
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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.
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don't hold this one off
- By Alex on 2020-06-17
Written by: Walter Isaacson
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Titan
- The Life of John D. Rockefeller, Sr.
- Written by: Ron Chernow
- Narrated by: Grover Gardner
- Length: 35 hrs and 3 mins
- Unabridged
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Titan is the first full-length biography based on unrestricted access to Rockefeller’s exceptionally rich trove of papers. A landmark publication full of startling revelations, the book indelibly alters our image of this most enigmatic capitalist. Born the son of a flamboyant, bigamous snake-oil salesman and a pious, straitlaced mother, Rockefeller rose from rustic origins to become the world’s richest man by creating America’s most powerful and feared monopoly, Standard Oil. Branded "the Octopus" by legions of muckrakers, the trust refined and marketed nearly 90 percent of the oil produced in America.
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Thouroughly enjoyed every minute!!
- By Andrea on 2020-01-30
Written by: Ron Chernow
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iWoz
- How I Invented the Personal Computer and Had Fun Along the Way
- Written by: Steve Wozniak, Gina Smith
- Narrated by: Patrick Lawlor
- Length: 9 hrs and 13 mins
- Unabridged
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Before cell phones that fit in the palm of your hand and slim laptops that fit snugly into briefcases, computers were like strange, alien vending machines. They had cryptic switches, punch cards, and pages of encoded output. But in 1975, a young engineering wizard named Steve Wozniak had an idea: What if you combined computer circuitry with a regular typewriter keyboard and a video screen?
Written by: Steve Wozniak, and others
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The Man from the Future
- The Visionary Life of John von Neumann
- Written by: Ananyo Bhattacharya
- Narrated by: Nicholas Camm
- Length: 11 hrs and 56 mins
- Unabridged
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The smartphones in our pockets and computers like brains. The vagaries of game theory and evolutionary biology. Nuclear weapons and self-replicating spacecrafts. All bear the fingerprints of one remarkable, yet largely overlooked, man: John von Neumann.
Written by: Ananyo Bhattacharya
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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
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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.
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Not recommended. Too many repetitive parts.
- By AHMAD on 2023-02-27
Written by: Jeff Bezos, and others
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University of Berkshire Hathaway
- 30 Years of Lessons Learned from Warren Buffett & Charlie Munger at the Annual Shareholders Meeting
- Written by: Daniel Pecaut, Corey Wrenn - contributor
- Narrated by: Tom Parks
- Length: 12 hrs and 21 mins
- Unabridged
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University of Berkshire Hathaway is a remarkable retelling of the lessons, wisdom, and investment strategies handed down personally from Warren Buffett and Charlie Munger to shareholders during 30 years of their closed-door annual meetings. From this front row seat, you'll see one of the greatest wealth-building records in history unfold, year by year. If you're looking for dusty old investment theory, there are hundreds of other books waiting to cure you of insomnia. However, if you're looking for an investing book that's as personal as it is revelatory, look no further.
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Repetitive
- By JJJ-----JJJ on 2021-09-26
Written by: Daniel Pecaut, and others
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An Ugly Truth
- Inside Facebook’s Battle for Domination
- Written by: Sheera Frenkel, Cecilia Kang
- Narrated by: Sheera Frenkel, Cecilia Kang, Holter Graham
- Length: 10 hrs and 31 mins
- Unabridged
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Once one of Silicon Valley’s greatest success stories, Facebook has been under constant fire for the past five years, roiled by controversies and crises. It turns out that while the tech giant was connecting the world, they were also mishandling users’ data, spreading fake news, and amplifying dangerous, polarizing hate speech.
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A lot of info proven now to be false
- By Jamie on 2022-12-05
Written by: Sheera Frenkel, and others
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Finding My Virginity
- The New Autobiography
- Written by: Richard Branson
- Narrated by: Steve West
- Length: 17 hrs and 55 mins
- Unabridged
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Richard Branson’s Losing My Virginity shared the outrageous tale of how he built Virgin from a student magazine into one of the greatest brands in history. No challenge was too daunting, no opportunity too outlandish to pursue. And each new adventure started with five simple words: “Screw it, let’s do it.” Now, 50 years after starting his first business, Branson shares the candid details of a lifetime of triumphs and failures and what he really thinks about his unique life and career.
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Boring book
- By csco on 2018-01-11
Written by: Richard Branson
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The House of Morgan
- An American Banking Dynasty and the Rise of Modern Finance
- Written by: Ron Chernow
- Narrated by: Robertson Dean
- Length: 34 hrs and 37 mins
- Unabridged
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A gripping history of banking and the booms and busts that shaped the world on both sides of the Atlantic, The House of Morgan traces the trajectory of the J. P.Morgan empire from its obscure beginnings in Victorian London to the crash of 1987. Ron Chernow paints a fascinating portrait of the private saga of the Morgans and the rarefied world of the American and British elite in which they moved. Based on extensive interviews and access to the family and business archives, The House of Morgan is an investigative masterpiece.
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legendary book does not disappoint
- By Amazon Customer on 2018-03-28
Written by: Ron Chernow
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Power Play
- Tesla, Elon Musk, and the Bet of the Century
- Written by: Tim Higgins
- Narrated by: Will Damron
- Length: 13 hrs and 56 mins
- Unabridged
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Tesla is the envy of the automotive world. Born at the start of the millennium, it was the first car company to be valued at $1 trillion. Its CEO, the mercurial, charismatic Elon Musk has become not just a celebrity but the richest man in the world. But Tesla’s success was far from guaranteed. Founded in the 2000s, the company was built on an audacious vision. Musk and a small band of Silicon Valley engineers set out to make a car that was quicker, sexier, smoother, and cleaner than any gas-guzzler on the road.
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In-depth coverage of the Tesla story
- By frederic on 2021-12-09
Written by: Tim Higgins
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The Science of Storytelling
- Written by: Will Storr
- Narrated by: James Clamp
- Length: 6 hrs and 51 mins
- Unabridged
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How do master storytellers compel us? There have been many attempts to understand what makes a good story, but few have used a scientific approach. In The Science of Storytelling, Will Storr applies dazzling psychological research and cutting-edge neuroscience to our myths and archetypes to show how we can tell better stories, revealing, among other things, how storytellers - and also our brains - create worlds by being attuned to moments of unexpected change.
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Confusing at first, but brings it together
- By Monica B on 2023-01-08
Written by: Will Storr
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Hit Refresh
- The Quest to Rediscover Microsoft's Soul and Imagine a Better Future for Everyone
- Written by: Satya Nadella, Greg Shaw, Bill Gates - foreword
- Narrated by: Shridhar Solanki, Satya Nadella
- Length: 7 hrs and 24 mins
- Unabridged
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Microsoft's CEO tells the inside story of the company's continuing transformation, tracing his own personal journey from a childhood in India to leading some of the most significant technological changes in the digital era. As much a humanist as engineer and executive, Nadella concludes with his vision for the coming wave of intelligent technologies and a distinct call to action for leaders everywhere.
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Good book overall
- By Vivek Sharma on 2020-04-13
Written by: Satya Nadella, and others
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.
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What listeners say about The Innovators
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- 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.
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- Gavin
- 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!
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- 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!
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- Sahil
- 2018-09-26
just perfect
perfect book for innovators and curious minded people. a must read. highly recommended. loved it #Audible1
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- 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.
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- 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.
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- 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.
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55 people found this helpful
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- 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.
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51 people found this helpful
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- 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.
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44 people found this helpful
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- 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.
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28 people found this helpful
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- 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.
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25 people found this helpful
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- 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.
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24 people found this helpful
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- 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.
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19 people found this helpful
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- 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.
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15 people found this helpful
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- Elaine D. Kirchen
- 2014-10-20
Wonderful Biographer Writes Boring Book
What disappointed you about The Innovators?
Mr. Issacson's talent is wasted on a rambling historical account of computers, software, etc. He drones on about early innovators when he could have focused on the interesting people in the business today. He wasted his time.
What do you think your next listen will be?
Biography of Nelson Rockefeller.
Have you listened to any of Dennis Boutsikaris’s other performances before? How does this one compare?
Dennis Boutsikaris performed miracles with nothing to work with. I would absolutely listen to him again.
What character would you cut from The Innovators?
The entire book.
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7 people found this helpful
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- Rodney
- 2018-02-12
Mostly good, at times annoying
I really enjoyed the Isaacson bio of Jobs and Franklin, and while this book was different, I still looked forward to listening to it.
First let me say if I was scoring it, it'd be more like 3.5 stars - but that's not an option and based on the hyperbole of the other scores I rounded down. I don't by any means dislike the book, it's just written in an obnoxious annoying style where the author continually shoe horns in his politics all while trying to impress his fellow writers with long passages that attempt to sound poetic, but instead come off as pompous and a waste of time. Also the author is completely obsessed with gays, everytime someone who is gay comes up in the story the author feels the need to stop the story to tell you about how gay they are - completely unnecessary and it slows the pace of everything to a crawl all so he can show everyone how progressive he is. However if he was truly progressive he wouldn't be hung up on people's sexuality.
Also the book misses one HUGE part of the story that got us to where we are today. Obviously in a book of this scope you can't touch on everything, but to completely leave out Jack Tramiel, the head of Commodore, it's pretty remarkable. Tramiel and Commodore did more than anyone else (including Apple) to bring the personal computer into peoples home by waging a huge price cutting war with everyone. It's a massive oversight and would be slightly more forgivable if he didn't spend the first hour of the book on a completely worthless, pompous and boring subject.
With that said I know it sounds like I hated the book, but I really didn't. When the author stuck to telling the story instead of preaching his leftist politics, the book is very interesting and well written. It covers a lot of content, some of which is new to me, and that's a big to me since I'm extremely well read in the subject of computer history and the origins of the internet and I've been working in the field for 25 years so I've seen the rise of the internet and how it came to be. Even knowing most of the content already when the author sticks to the narrative it's still interesting in how he brings things together.
The authors politics however definitely bring the book down a notch for the reason above, it's not so much that it's unlistenable, it's just obnoxious he feels the need to stop the flow to lecture to you on things that are his opinion and not part of the story. The best analogy I can give you is that he comes off like Bob Costas, so take that as you wish.
Overall I'd give it 3.5 stars as stated above. If you're a left winger you'll love it even more.
The reader does a very good professional job - and as a heads up you can easily listen to this book at 1.25x speed and it sounds greats, just a little tidbit if you want to shave a few hours off the total listening time (I like long books, but have found listening a bit faster than normal helps hold my interest as my mind doesn't wander as often).
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