Ask HN: Recommendations on books and documentaries on tech companies/people? • Hacker News Board

Re: Ask HN: Recommendations on books and documentaries on tech companies/people?

#11

Post by unmole » Fri, Jun 01, 2018, 1:08 PM UTC

pomber wrote: post #5

Masters of Doom. Great book about John Carmack and id software.

I bought it after seeing it being recommend several times on HN. Personally, I found it rather disappointing. Sure, there are brilliant parts, but on the whole, it was a chore to finish.

Re: Ask HN: Recommendations on books and documentaries on tech companies/people?

#12

Post by pjmorris » Fri, Jun 01, 2018, 1:08 PM UTC

Not software books, but 'Apollo: Race to the Moon' by Murray and Cox, and 'The Making of The Atomic Bomb', Rhodes are my two favorite books about engineering projects and the people behind them.

Re: Ask HN: Recommendations on books and documentaries on tech companies/people?

#13

Post by [deleted] » Fri, Jun 01, 2018, 1:12 PM UTC

i_don_t_know wrote: post #6

"Soul of a new machine" by Tracy Kidder.

[deleted]

Re: Ask HN: Recommendations on books and documentaries on tech companies/people?

#14

Post by olavgg » Fri, Jun 01, 2018, 1:14 PM UTC

Commodore a company on the edge! Great book about the individuals involved in management and engineering creating the famous 6502 microprocessor and how they built a best selling computer company world wide. Why they struggled in the US, but dominated in Europe. That book should be converted to a short tv-series. Jack Tramiel would be an awesome character, brutal and kind!

Re: Ask HN: Recommendations on books and documentaries on tech companies/people?

#15

Post by kken » Fri, Jun 01, 2018, 1:14 PM UTC

i_don_t_know wrote: post #6

"Soul of a new machine" by Tracy Kidder.

This. Also

"Spinoff" by Charlie Sporck - early Silicon Valley history on Semi companies

"Commodore - a company on the edge" by Brian Bagnall

"Only the paranoid survive" by Andy Grove - Intels switch to Microprocessors. (Interestingly you can see in the book that he realized the power of the internet, but failed to act on it to some extend)

Re: Ask HN: Recommendations on books and documentaries on tech companies/people?

#16

Post by czardoz » Fri, Jun 01, 2018, 1:15 PM UTC

"Pirates of the Silicon Valley" and "In the realm of the Hackers"

Re: Ask HN: Recommendations on books and documentaries on tech companies/people?

#17

Post by hunterjrj » Fri, Jun 01, 2018, 1:19 PM UTC

For Red Hat, you can check out "The Open Organization" which details the culture that Red Hat espouses:

https://www.redhat.com/en/explore/the-open-organization-book

Re: Ask HN: Recommendations on books and documentaries on tech companies/people?

#18

Post by n_t » Fri, Jun 01, 2018, 1:20 PM UTC

The Supermen: The Story of Seymour Cray and the Technical Wizards Behind the Supercomputer. I found it interesting read but then could be as I was in supercomputing area and could relate to lot of things.

Re: Ask HN: Recommendations on books and documentaries on tech companies/people?

#19

Post by santix » Fri, Jun 01, 2018, 1:22 PM UTC

"The Idea Factory: Bell Labs and the Great Age of American Innovation" by Jon Gertner.

Re: Ask HN: Recommendations on books and documentaries on tech companies/people?

#20

Post by jasode » Fri, Jun 01, 2018, 1:22 PM UTC

olavgg wrote: post #14

Commodore a company on the edge! Great book about the individuals involved in management and engineering creating the famous 6502 microprocessor and how they built a best selling computer company world wide. Why they struggled in the US, but dominated in Europe. That book should be converted to a short tv-series. Jack Tramiel would be an awesome character, brutal and kind!

>That book should be converted to a short tv-series

As a substitute, there's a long documentary that has interviews with Jack Tramiel and a bunch of ex-Commodore engineers:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fvuacnjvZy4