Ask HN: What are some great posts or articles about history of computing? • Hacker News Board

Re: Ask HN: What are some great posts or articles about history of computing?

#51

Post by sbmthakur » Sat, Apr 18, 2020, 4:37 PM UTC

I highly recommend Secret history of Silicon Valley series by Steve Blank:

https://steveblank.com/2009/03/23/if-i-told-you-i%e2%80%99d-...

Steve has written in detail about how early signal intelligence came to be, how eventually they shaped the Silicon valley and modern tech.

Other posts on Steve's blog are interesting too.

Re: Ask HN: What are some great posts or articles about history of computing?

#52

Post by hypertexthero » Sat, Apr 18, 2020, 4:38 PM UTC

What Is Code: https://www.bloomberg.com/graphics/2015-paul-ford-what-is-co...

Re: Ask HN: What are some great posts or articles about history of computing?

#53

Post by pfarrell » Sat, Apr 18, 2020, 4:38 PM UTC

cschmidt wrote: post #30

The Soul of A New Machine by Tracy Kidder is fantastic. The story of developing a Data General mini-computer. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Soul_of_a_New_Machine

The tech is dated, but the story, timeless.

Re: Ask HN: What are some great posts or articles about history of computing?

#54

Post by gstipi » Sat, Apr 18, 2020, 4:42 PM UTC

I highly recommend "The Dream Machine" by Mitchell Waldrop (https://www.goodreads.com/en/book/show/722412.The_Dream_Mach...), without a doubt the best non-fiction book I've ever read and a fascinating insight into the history of computing and most of all the visionary people involved in this endeavor.

Re: Ask HN: What are some great posts or articles about history of computing?

#55

Post by edge17 » Sat, Apr 18, 2020, 4:48 PM UTC

Steve Blank's Secret History of Silicon Valley talk is very interesting - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZTC_RxWN_xo

Re: Ask HN: What are some great posts or articles about history of computing?

#56

Post by city41 » Sat, Apr 18, 2020, 4:51 PM UTC

Linus Torvald’s biography, Just For Fun, is a great read. I liked that it’s both the history of Linux and also showcases his personality and how he thinks.

Re: Ask HN: What are some great posts or articles about history of computing?

#57

Post by sbuk » Sat, Apr 18, 2020, 4:52 PM UTC

Saw this on YouTube last night;

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2XLZ4Z8LpEE

A facinating video that is part of a series going into the restoration of a 1930 Model 15 Teletype. In this video, they use it as a terminal for Linux.

Re: Ask HN: What are some great posts or articles about history of computing?

#58

Post by kfirstri » Sat, Apr 18, 2020, 4:58 PM UTC

For the past few years I've been reading https://thehistoryoftheweb.com/timeline/ Really cool to see different groups and technologies and how they moved the web!

Re: Ask HN: What are some great posts or articles about history of computing?

#59

Post by fhars » Sat, Apr 18, 2020, 4:59 PM UTC

I found this quite interesting:

https://www.researchgate.net/publication/283709219_Beards_Sa...

Re: Ask HN: What are some great posts or articles about history of computing?

#60

Post by fatso784 » Sat, Apr 18, 2020, 4:59 PM UTC

I wrote a paper about the earliest history of programming notation that was recently published in ACM CHI and received an award: “To Write Code: The Cultural Fabrication of Programming Notation and Practice” http://ianarawjo.therottingcartridge.com/docs/To_Write_Code_...

It speaks to the cultural influences at play in the early history of programming, and how situated the designs were. A visit to Von Neumann and Backus archives at the Library of Congress informed the work (an experience I would highly recommend!).

I hope to make a blog post about the paper soon if there’s interest.