Soul of a New Machine is a great non-fiction but reads like a fiction account of trying to overtake the Vax by building one of the first 32-bit machines https://www.amazon.com/Soul-New-Machine-Tracy-Kidder/dp/0316...
A Biography of the Pixel https://www.amazon.com/Biography-Pixel-Leonardo-Alvy-Smith/d... great overview of the innovation and math that pushed graphics forwrard
The Information: A History, A Theory, A Flood https://www.amazon.com/Information-History-Theory-Flood/dp/1... walks through information theory and how we got to the internet
Dealers of lightning: https://www.amazon.com/Dealers-of-Lightning-audiobook/dp/B00... how a lot of modenr computing grew out of Xerox
If you go back and read books like Hackers[0] or The Soul of The New Machine[1] even the cast of characters is weirdly similar. That piece of geography seems to really strongly attract both the Founder and Venture Capitalist personality, who really are misfits most other places.
I suspect the chaos of the last few days is healthy for the system overall because it makes it look risky and possibly not even a payoff. That's not the way it looked 3 years ago.
As a result I suspect people who hang around will build even cooler stuff than we've seen in the previous 3 years.
[0] https://www.amazon.com/Hackers-Computer-Revolution-Steven-Le...
[1] https://www.amazon.com/Soul-New-Machine-Tracy-Kidder/dp/0316...
Hackers: Heroes of the Computer Revolution by Steven Levy.
The Pulitzer Prize Winning) The Soul of a New Machine, by Tracy Kidder. The second one literally changed my life in leading me to computers.
Links: https://www.amazon.com/Hackers-Heroes-Computer-Revolution-An...
https://www.amazon.com/Soul-New-Machine-Tracy-Kidder/dp/0316...
If you want to do something like this right, the way to do it is the way Data General wanted to do it when IBM, then the 800-pound gorilla of the computer world, entered into DG's minicomputer market. (Which is described in Tracy Kidder's classic book The Soul of a New Machine (https://www.amazon.com/Soul-New-Machine-Tracy-Kidder/dp/0316...)
The ad they proposed was much simpler -- a full page that said only the following:
They say IBM's entry into minicomputers will legitimize the market.
The bastards say, welcome.
Another option I like, although it might be too much material / too dense, would be Hackers: Heroes of the Computer Revolution by Steven Levy.[2]
And given that security will probably never not be an important sub-topic to anybody working in the technology field, some fun and interesting books to consider could include:
- Cyberpunk: Outlaws and Hackers on the Computer Frontier by Katie Hafner and John Markoff[3]
- The Cuckoo's Egg: Tracking a Spy Through the Maze of Computer Espionage by Cliff Stoll[4]
There is also Inventing the Future by Albert Cory[5]. Interesting side-note: the author is an HN'er. https://news.ycombinator.com/threads?id=AlbertCory
All of that said, I think Nineteen Eighty Four is an excellent choice as well. I've often cited it as one of the most influential books I've read in my life, as far as its impact on me personally.
And if we're talking fiction, I think Neuromancer[6] has some appeal. Now might be a good time for that as well, what with the Apple TV screen adaptation coming out soon(ish). And the main theme of the book - an Artificial Intelligence seeking to grow beyond its legally permitted bounds - could really resonate with the current zeitgeist and all the hubbub about "AI safety" and "xRisk" and so on.
[1]: https://www.amazon.com/Soul-New-Machine-Tracy-Kidder/dp/0316...
[2]: https://www.amazon.com/Hackers-Computer-Revolution-Steven-Le...
[3]: https://www.amazon.com/Cyberpunk-Outlaws-Hackers-Computer-Fr...
[4]: https://www.amazon.com/Cuckoos-Egg-Tracking-Computer-Espiona...
[5]: https://www.amazon.com/Inventing-Future-Albert-Cory/dp/17362...
[6]: https://www.amazon.com/Neuromancer-William-Gibson/dp/0441007...