The Dream Machine

It's an extremely well written book, starting from the very beginning at the time of WWII, tracing people, ideas, struggles, and achievements of great milestones in computer history. It's not your typical dry historical material, but somehow the author made it personal through the eyes of key people that influenced important computer science progresses, and in particular J.C.R. Licklider (Lick), who galvanized a lot efforts across the U.S. in the sixties that resulted in making computing interactive and ultimately personal, rather than batch and business-focused.

on HN, 2020

Charles is great at explaining how computers actually work with circuit diagrams from the ground up in a way that's articulate, clear, and engaging. I think I learned more from this book than I did in my CS architecture class.

on HN, 2020

"The Dream Machine: J.C.R. Licklider and the Revolution That Made Computing Personal." Especially if you're into UI and unsung heroes.

on HN, 2009

Others have already suggested The Dream Machine which was a book that once started I couldn't stop reading and finished it in about a week.

on HN, 2025

This is by far the best book about how the major research funding and community happened in the 60s (Parc was one of the outgrowths). I would say that our "age" (or any age) could be enriched by understanding this book.

on HN, 2016

The Dream Machine is a fantastic and thorough history of the early days of computing, woven together as a partial autobiography of J. C. R. Licklider, though the scope of the book is substantially grander.

on HN, 2020

One of the best books on the history of interactive computing, human-computer interaction, and networking, which are all connected in surprising and fascinating ways.

on HN, 2022

It's a very fun, easy, and interesting read of the origins of modern computing, the people who worked day and night to make their vision a reality, and the passion that carried their dreams to reality (the book, besides mentioning Joseph Carl Robnett Licklider, also names people from Grace Hopper to Steve Jobs and Bill Gates).

on HN, 2009

"the dream machine" is an fascinating, joyful account of jr licklider's work in interactive computing

on HN, 2019