The Dream Machine

I'm biased, since I played a role in helping this edition come about, but I played a role for a reason. For such an importance force, there's surprisingly little cultural understanding of how the internet came to be, and of the kind of thinking and philosophy that underpinned it. It turns out that the story is quite remarkable. The Dream Machine is a meticulously-researched investigation that captures both the institutional dynamics and personal aspirations that led to personal computers and the internet. Waldrop digs deep (acoustics, cybernetics, information theory, Radar), and the result is a work that properly situates Licklider's work in its relevant context. I unreservedly recommend it to anyone who cares about the technology industry.

Both personal computers and the internet can be traced back to one brain. A brain just like yours (sorry machines) but thinking formidable thoughts. J.C.R. Licklider (1915 - 1990) was an original thinker educated in psychology and self-educated in information technology. An outsider laying down the roadmap for the future and vigorously pushing it to become real. Dreaming about human-computer symbiosis connected together by a multi network to greatly expand our intelligence and relations. It is hard to tell if this book is about Lick’s work or it is the history of both personal computers and the internet. One cannot tell these things apart. Impressive. My favorite part is the historical account on the connection among Computation (Turing), Cybernetics (Wiener), Information Theory (Shannon) and Computers (Von Neumann). This book is full of dreams and dreamers.

This book was especially interesting to me since I knew Licklider from his days in the MIT Acoustic Lab in the early fifties where I did my graduate work. The book accurately portrays Lick as a brilliant person with a deep commitment to working with others to develop their careers and his goals for a world where computers and people work together seamlessly. Much of the book deals with the brilliant computer scientists Lick supported thru ARPA grants, and their work leading to the Arpanet which evolved into the Internet and the personal computer. The story of the Xerox PARC research lab helped me understand how so much great research could come to benefit everyone but the company that funded it. A fine well deserved tribute to Licklider, and a great book for anyone interested in the people and projects leading to the Internet and the personal computer.

I've waded through a lot of these books, Dealers in Lightning, The Soul of a new Machine; this one required a lot of wading. Thoroughly engaging with lots of interesting characters, there's a lot of history here. 4 stars, but approach with the understanding that's it's a complicated book about a complicated topic.

Brilliant find by Stripe press and a great print for book lovers. The book has a great cover and is a well-made hard bound edition you will cherish. The book clearly made an imprint on the founders of Stripe and it will make an imprint on you. It adds context to the work of Claude Shannon, Alan Turing, the exiled intellectuals of WWII, and the major milestones of the Nuclear Bomb, the Internet, and computer Science. A fascinating read by a forgotten author who is a cross between Walter Isaacson and Ron Chernow.

Though the hardcover version has some problems, such as very rare typos and a rather small font size, the book itself is fantastic, and I am very grateful to Stripe press for putting out a new edition. It is fascinating to read about the inception of technologies we are taking for granted nowadays, and what was required to make them happen. “The Dream Machine” gave me a charge of optimism and hope by showing what people could achieve. Though at the same time it is a sad book, for reading it made me see how slow the real progress in IT was since the 70s. Essential read for anyone interested in modern technologies or wishing to create something world-changing.

Very well written, at times "page-turner," like a novel. Provides just not a biography of "Lick", but is also encyclopedic in its coverage of the development of computing from the end of WW2 to the early nineties. A must read for anyone interested in the process by which great things happen to "happen" -- especially students in MBA programs who hope to manage technology development later in their careers.

The story of how computers and networks moved from the realm of machine controllers and number crunchers is complex and enthralling. Lick's story is a critical part of that, and this book does a great job of walking us through his life and his contributions.

Being a student of computer/internet history I'm surprised I hadn't heard of J. C. R. Licklider before. I recognized most of the other names in the book (Neumann, Shannon, Burke) and enjoyed how he worked to bring this together.

Strongly reccommend this book if you work in or around the technology industry. Programmer, designer, marketer— it doesn’t matter— you will benefit greatly from understanding the history of personal computing and the internet.

I'm biased, since I played a role in helping this edition come about, but I played a role for a reason. For such an importance force, there's surprisingly little cultural understanding of how the internet came to be, and of the kind of thinking and philosophy that underpinned it. It turns out that the story is quite remarkable. The Dream Machine is a meticulously-researched investigation that captures both the institutional dynamics and personal aspirations that led to personal computers and the internet. Waldrop digs deep (acoustics, cybernetics, information theory, Radar), and the result is a work that properly situates Licklider's work in its relevant context. I unreservedly recommend it to anyone who cares about the technology industry.

Both personal computers and the internet can be traced back to one brain. A brain just like yours (sorry machines) but thinking formidable thoughts. J.C.R. Licklider (1915 - 1990) was an original thinker educated in psychology and self-educated in information technology. An outsider laying down the roadmap for the future and vigorously pushing it to become real. Dreaming about human-computer symbiosis connected together by a multi network to greatly expand our intelligence and relations. It is hard to tell if this book is about Lick’s work or it is the history of both personal computers and the internet. One cannot tell these things apart. Impressive. My favorite part is the historical account on the connection among Computation (Turing), Cybernetics (Wiener), Information Theory (Shannon) and Computers (Von Neumann). This book is full of dreams and dreamers.

This book was especially interesting to me since I knew Licklider from his days in the MIT Acoustic Lab in the early fifties where I did my graduate work. The book accurately portrays Lick as a brilliant person with a deep commitment to working with others to develop their careers and his goals for a world where computers and people work together seamlessly. Much of the book deals with the brilliant computer scientists Lick supported thru ARPA grants, and their work leading to the Arpanet which evolved into the Internet and the personal computer. The story of the Xerox PARC research lab helped me understand how so much great research could come to benefit everyone but the company that funded it. A fine well deserved tribute to Licklider, and a great book for anyone interested in the people and projects leading to the Internet and the personal computer.

I've waded through a lot of these books, Dealers in Lightning, The Soul of a new Machine; this one required a lot of wading. Thoroughly engaging with lots of interesting characters, there's a lot of history here. 4 stars, but approach with the understanding that's it's a complicated book about a complicated topic.

Brilliant find by Stripe press and a great print for book lovers. The book has a great cover and is a well-made hard bound edition you will cherish. The book clearly made an imprint on the founders of Stripe and it will make an imprint on you. It adds context to the work of Claude Shannon, Alan Turing, the exiled intellectuals of WWII, and the major milestones of the Nuclear Bomb, the Internet, and computer Science. A fascinating read by a forgotten author who is a cross between Walter Isaacson and Ron Chernow.