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How We Got Here - Stuff To Read 121

Posted by Hemos from the things-for-your-brane dept.
A reader writes:"Ever wonder why Michael Faraday, steam engines, Ezra Cornell, the Van de Beurses family and the Edison Effect were so important to today's computer business. Andy Kessler has a free download of a PDF of his new book, How We Got Here: A Slightly Irreverent History of Technology and Markets. It's a James Burke-style connect-the-dots of events and people from 1642 to this morning. Kessler's site takes you through a "poor man's DRM" process to get your very own PDF." Yeah, yeah - DRM. But the PDF/book is worth reading for understanding the history to tech. Speaking of good things to read, I also read this little ditty Not Proud, which was good. It's stuff from NotProud.com collected in dead tree form.
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How We Got Here - Stuff To Read More

How We Got Here - Stuff To Read

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  • If ever there was a time to use mailinator... (Score:4, Informative)

    by Anonymous Coward on Monday May 02, 2005 @10:40AM (#12407157)

    I probably use mailinator more than my regular e-mail, great free anonymous e-mail receiving service.

    My (Anonymous Coward) copy went to slashdot@mailinator.com, if anyone is interested....

  • Fair requiest (Score:5, Interesting)

    by ctonchev ( 678043 ) on Monday May 02, 2005 @10:42AM (#12407187) Homepage
    I have to admit, I Like the idea of offering a free download of the book. For this, I have no problem providing my email, at least some company gets a clue as to how to market. If I have to clean junkmail out of my mailbox, at least give me something tangible, like a PDF :)

  • As we all know.... (Score:4, Funny)

    by notherenow ( 860367 ) on Monday May 02, 2005 @10:46AM (#12407236)
    This is a paradox we're stuck in. On one hand, we have Darwin's theory. On the other hand, we have the controvery over the Intelligent Design movement. Now you're telling me that we have to give our e-mail address, just to find out the rest??? The world is still round, right?

  • Entertaining Read (Score:5, Informative)

    by glenrm ( 640773 ) on Monday May 02, 2005 @10:48AM (#12407270) Homepage Journal
    I don't know how accurate all of the info in this PDF is, but is seems interesting and informative. It is written in a very readable style and gives you some background on the history of some tech inovation. Not bad, use an email already flodded with junk we all have those...
    • Well, I wonder how long it'll be before the rest of us can read this PDF.

      We're sorry, this item is currently unavailable. Our hosting provider, Verio.com, has disabled our fulfillment system.

    • I don't know how accurate all of the info in this PDF is

      The answer is probably not very. The problem is that it covers a vast number of topics and it's therefore hard for any one person to refute the entire document but it's very easy to spot all sorts of errors.

      For example, on page 68 it quotes an Act of Parliament that mentions a term of "one and twenty years" - which is 21 years (just like "four and twenty blackbirds" is 24) - but the pdf document goes on to describe this period as "one to twenty ye

    • it's not very accurate. I spotted three factual errors in the first few pages. (1) The Edison Effect is a diode, not a "tri-valve" which isnt a word. (2) IBM had electronic adders and multipliers going before WWII (3) Von Neumann did not design the ENIAC, and the major need was for artillery tables for North Africa sand, not Navy guns.

      And that's in just the first few pages!

  • Ditty (Score:5, Informative)

    by krygny ( 473134 ) on Monday May 02, 2005 @10:48AM (#12407273)
    A "ditty" is a short song, like a jingle.

  • From Kessler to Not Proud?! (Score:4, Insightful)

    by hoegg ( 132716 ) * <ryan.hoegg@NoSPaM.gmail.com> on Monday May 02, 2005 @10:50AM (#12407299) Journal
    How on earth does NotProud.com possibly relate to the topic of the book?!
    • It seems pretty damn tangential to me also but since I run Not Proud I'm about to complain.

      This is the second time we've received, what I like to call, a glancing blow from slashdot. Even a small mention in a comment will get you like half a million pageviews that day. I shudder to think what a direct hit from slashdot might do. Do servers feel pain?

      I downloaded the PDF and so far it's great but I would rather gargle with thumbtacks than read 200 plus pages online. The computer is much better suited t

  • But there is no DRM... (Score:5, Informative)

    by gmajor ( 514414 ) on Monday May 02, 2005 @10:52AM (#12407316) Journal
    The editor's comments imply that there is DRM on the PDF. On the contrary, there is no DRM. To quote the last pages of the book:

    your file is not crippled with any Digital Rights Management (DRM) restrictions.
    You are free to print copies of our books for yourself, copy the PDF file onto your laptop, your
    desktop, your cell phone or your PDA, and pretty much enjoy our book any way you
    likejust as you would an ordinary paperback book.

    As for the book, I just finished re-reading it about an hour ago (coincidence!). Having read his first two books, I expected much of the same from this book. Unfortunately, I found the first few chapters to read more like a history book (not terribly exciting). I did find the last chapter to be interesting.

    Also noticed a few passages cut and paste from previous books.

    That being said, the book is entirely true to its name - it tells of how we got here. For those who want to know where we are going, you might be a little disappointed.

  • Slashdotted on their own petard! (Score:4, Funny)

    by ArsenneLupin ( 766289 ) on Monday May 02, 2005 @10:52AM (#12407317)
    --we personalize the PDF with your name, and send the details to your e-mail address.) Depending on the load on our servers, this PDF may take an hour or to to generate. IMPORTANT NOTE: Due to very high demand, our servers are currently under heavy load. It might take a while to get to you, and you may experience some odd network errors due to the traffic.

    I'd say, given the circumstances, one hour is a very optimistic estimate!

    • Either I'm very dense, or there appears to no longer be a way to download the PDF (and yes I realize that both could be true).

      There is a message under Ship To that says:
      We're sorry, this item is currently unavailable. Our hosting provider, Verio.com, has disabled our fulfillment system.

  • we couldn't measure capacitance.
    Actually I'm old enough to barely remember when they were called 'condensors'.

  • There is *no* DRM (Score:4, Informative)

    by gh ( 68417 ) on Monday May 02, 2005 @10:54AM (#12407354)
    I've purchased a handful of ebooks from the Pragmatic Programmers. Their books do not employ any DRM whatsoever. Not even a so called "poor man's" DRM. When you purchase an ebook, all they do is personalize it with your information in it. That's all they're doing here.

    From their FAQ (emphasis added by me):

    Are the PDF files restricted?
    There is no copy protection or functionality restrictions in the PDF files. You may view or print them for personal use as you see fit.

    You may not give your PDF version to other people. For your protection, the PDF file you order is personalized with your name and other identifying information.

    You can buy multiple licenses of a PDF file for your team or organization, in which case the PDF will be stamped with the number of allowed licenses. We'll only send you one, so as to conserve everyone's bandwidth.

  • Poor Man's DRM? (Score:4, Insightful)

    by spiritraveller ( 641174 ) on Monday May 02, 2005 @10:54AM (#12407356)
    I don't see any DRM at all. In fact, the download site says "Order your e-Book in Unrestricted PDF Format".

    It's not DRM to ask for an email address.

    • You may not give your PDF version to other people. For your protection, the PDF file you order is personalized with your name and other identifying information.

      So they watermark it apparently. That's still not DRM. You can print the file out. You can copy it all you want, but you are not allowed to give it to other people.

      There's no technical restriction on giving it to other people. It's just made so that if you violate the copyright, they can catch you more easily.

  • Faraday (Score:5, Funny)

    by Bootle ( 816136 ) on Monday May 02, 2005 @10:59AM (#12407418)
    Do I ever wonder how electricity became so important to computers?

    NO. Honestly. Do you ever wonder how important water is for drinking?

    • Do you ever wonder how important water is for drinking?

      Well now I do.

      Thanks for giving me something else to wonder about.

  • For those who might not know... (Score:5, Informative)

    by BrokenHalo ( 565198 ) on Monday May 02, 2005 @11:00AM (#12407431)
    ...Particularly US audiences:

    James Burke presented a BBC series (and a subsequent dead-tree version which can be hard to find) back in the early '80s called "Connections" tracing the evolution of technology.

    Very well done, and definitely worth hunting out.

    • 80s and 90s, and they were on TV in the US as well.
      • I had a thought similar to the grandparent. Living in the US and having really enjoyed the "Connections" series, I was more concerned that folk born after (doing.the.math...) 1970-ish may not have heard of the James Burke stuff. Under the guise of Technical History, J. Burke presented the most interesting connect-the-inventions survey of Science & Technology that I have ever seen, including the bits we never really thought (or had to think) about. Like the guy who invented Air-Conditioning, (finding.a.l
    • If you have directv, there is an extra channel called History International (at least there was a few months ago). I don't have the dish anymore, but I bet it's still showing.

    • In the 90s, he had this column in Scientific American that was really informative and entertaining. It also sought connection between people and events that brought us what we have in terms of inventions, technology, ...etc.

      Here are previews of some examples:

      Here also has an informative web site Knowledge Web [k-web.org].

    • This is the kind of coincidence that scares the hell out of me. Earlier tonight I was watching an episode of "Connections" on Discovery Science - the first time I have come across that serial.

      Then, unable to sleep, I started reading slashdot, saw this story, downloaded and read the first few pages, though that the book resembled "Connections", then came across this comment.

      I am now going back to my bedroom. What are the chances that I'll find myself already there?

      V
    • Terrific!! I remember this show but (of course) couldn't remember the guy's name. I've wanted to rewatch that series, but for the life of me I couldn't remember the name James Burke!! I knew that if I surfed Slashdot long enough that name would pop back out! Fantastic!
    • There was another series he did called "The Day The Universe Changed", which was a more linear narrative about the development of science and technology from around the Renaissance to the present day (ie the early 80s).

      It rocked, in its own quiet way..

    • I have them at home in my (dead tree) Scientific American collection.

  • Kessler was lucky (Score:4, Interesting)

    by fist ( 178568 ) on Monday May 02, 2005 @11:05AM (#12407484)
    I read one of Kessler's previous books (Running Money) and found that he was an extremely clueless investor who just happened to get lucky. He started up a hedge fund in '95 or with a 5 year time horizon (so it closed right at the peak of the market in 2000). You could have picked practically any stock and done outstanding if you would have been in the market for those five years. He even admits one of the companies that made him the most money was out of pure luck.

    The books are fairly interesting if you want to see how people actually operate. But, if you want to learn something I'd steer clear. He's one of the many people who mistake luck for skill.
  • Gee - how did our predecessors ever accomplish anything without the magic of CMM, RUP, and/or UML.
    :-)

  • A problem with DRM (Score:2, Insightful)

    by Technician ( 215283 )
    Thanks for the DRM warning. I have dial-up at home and high speed at work. DRM simply means I can't download the book on my lunch break and take it home for later reading.

    I don't have the time to read it at work. I guess the users of sneakernet are simply locked out of this work. What's the point of offering it for free if you can't read it?
  • I love Ruby.

    Unfortunately, it appears to be falling down under /.ers getting their copies.
    • /.ers... ATTACK!!! I have felt a great disturbance in the net. It's as if a million nerds clicked a link at once and were refused. "Ship To: We're sorry, this item is currently unavailable. Our hosting provider, Verio.com, has disabled our fulfillment system. "
  • Never thought I would ever read about the van der Beurse family on a foreign site, let alone Slashdot.
    For years I lived right across from their building [belgiumview.com] in Bruges, [brugge.be] Belgium [belgium.be].
    It amazes me because when I told tourists (foreign and domestic) about them nobody had ever heard of them, while they have giving their name to the stock exchange.
    Beurs is the Dutch name for stock exchange, but also for fair,... It's the same in French and German. It all originates in the fortheenth century when Bruges was a major

  • 1st error (Score:2, Informative)

    by ch-chuck ( 9622 )
    found on p.13 - Edison did NOT invent the 'tri-valve or triode', which the brif implies.

    • Re:1st error (Score:3, Interesting)

      by wowbagger ( 69688 )
      To be even more precise:

      The "Edison Effect" upon which vacuum tubes rely was indeed discovered by Edison - he was attempting to lengthen the life of a light bulb by putting a second wire next to the filament. This did not succeed in lengthening the life of the bulb, but Edison did note there was a small current from the filament to the extra wire. He noted it, patented it, but had no idea of how to make money from it.

      It was later that Fleming then discovered the ability to rectify current via this effect.
      • To be fair, he clears the up in detail later on, crediting Fleming and DeForest.

        However, I just got to the part about Shockley and his preoccupation with the 4-layer switching diode and the author couldn't think of anything that uses them. Well, those are called SCR's (silicon controlled rectifiers) and are used in light dimmers in the form of a triac.

        All in all a pretty good read.
  • Does anyone know what Ezra Cornell did? I am curious but I really don't want to download the PDF.
  • The "Get PDF" button which was there a while ago...became a 403.

    And now the item is no longer available.

  • . . . gone.

    We're sorry, this item is currently unavailable. Our hosting provider, Verio.com, has disabled our fulfillment system.

    • Re:Going, going . . . (Score:1, Funny)

      by Anonymous Coward
      Our hosting provider, Verio.com, has disabled our fulfillment system.
      They cut off his cock!!

    • Re:Going, going -- news update (Score:4, Informative)

      by AndyHunt ( 168956 ) on Monday May 02, 2005 @12:17PM (#12408496) Homepage
      Hi folks,

      Sorry to say but due to high volume, Verio.com, the world's largest hosting provider has disabled our fulfillment system without notice.

      But don't worry, it's not gone permanently. We will be offering this PDF again as soon as we can. Keep an eye out on our website at pragmaticprogrammer.com or just sign up for our low-volume announcement newsletter and we'll let you know when and when where we can offer it again.

      thanks for your support.

      /\ndy

  • The forces that are holding us back from the next generation of technology are not (though important) our sciences, or our education level, or RnD ... IMHO the main thing holding us back are overbearing intellectual property laws, and over intrusive government in general. Our government simply hasn't caught up to the intellectual level of our sciences.

    The first theing we need to do is get rid of copyright and patent monopolies, and drasticly reduce paperwork and tax requirements for individuals and busin

  • Still available (Score:3, Informative)

    by n6kuy ( 172098 ) on Monday May 02, 2005 @01:06PM (#12409140)
    I just downloaded it here [pragprog.com]

  • How did he know what would happen this morning when he published the book?

  • Well, just read a few pages (Score:4, Informative)

    by Roberto ( 1777 ) on Monday May 02, 2005 @01:16PM (#12409292) Homepage
    And he has already made a huge mistake saying Pascal invented probability because he was a gambler.

    Pascal was almost too strongly **not** a gambler. It was a gambler's request that made him think about it, though.

    If that's the kind of fact-checking the book has, it's going to be right mostly by coincidence.

    Also, the tone of the first part (the "I have been blah blah blah" piece) is extremely annoying. Let's hope it picks up a little, at least.
  • since when has it been cool to post these in the story?

    http://service.bfast.com/bfast/click?bfmid=2181&s o urceid=39391960&isbn=0689877978 [bfast.com]
    (links to http://search.barnesandnoble.com/bookSearch/isbnIn quiry.asp?sourceid=00393919608443593340&ISBN=06898 77978&bfdate=05-02-2005+13:47:41 [barnesandnoble.com] ) ..thats going to be a fat chunk of change when the story is through.

  • Quick review (Score:3, Informative)

    by g8oz ( 144003 ) on Monday May 02, 2005 @01:58PM (#12409881)
    Written in a easy conversational style, but full of gross over simplification. .

    e.g check page 19, he makes it sound like the first methods of working iron were introduced by the British in the 15th century. Um hello, iron working techniques have been around since quite a few centuries B.C. This type of stuff makes me take this book with a grain of salt.
  • Yeah, yeah - DRM. But the PDF/book is worth reading

    Well it's easy to reject DRM when you aren't interested in the D. If you're going to take a stand against it, you have to do it even when you'd like to have what's being restricted.

    Note: I am not commenting on DRM itself. Just pointing out that "yeah yeah DRM, but it's good so who cares!" is not a consistent position.

  • The site now reads:
    VERIO has been spooked by high traffic from /. We've disabled email entry and for today only, you can download a generic PDF of the book. Enjoy.

    I knew that powers of slashdot userbase are great but to disable DRM just by clicking a link that is really neat. I only hope the link-clicking method won't be now banned under DMCA.
  • There was Dr. Jacob Bronowski
    http://www.drbronowski.com/ [drbronowski.com]

    The Ascent of Man, et al.
  • Well - due to increased load on their site, they are offering a generic (i.e. non-personalised) version of the book for today only.

    From the site "5/2/05 VERIO HAS BEEN SPOOKED BY HIGH TRAFFIC FROM /. (ISN'T THAT THEIR BUSINESS?) WE'VE DISABLED EMAIL ENTRY AND FOR TODAY ONLY, YOU CAN DOWNLOAD A GENERIC PDF OF THE BOOK. ENJOY."

    You can get to the download here [pragmaticprogrammers.com]

  • Wasn't that already covered in the "Science: The Pseudoscience of Intelligent Design" story earlier today?

    I love cross story posting ;)

  • I read the book today and thoroughly enjoyed it.

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