Spirit of America Bookstore
Inventions of America
• Computers •
Should computers really be termed an Invention of America? Well, why not? While much early work was accomplished
by the Brits, from Babbage to Turing, and by others, the modern electronic computer arose with EDVAC & ENIAC and I.B.M. and
Sperry-Rand and Honeywell and Burroughs and COBOL and Microsoft and Apple. So there!
"The real question is not whether machines think but whether men do."
— American psychologist B.F. Skinner [1904-90]
On the contrary, the problems she describes between humans and speaking computers are directly parallel to lousy human relationships. No computer has ever forced me into anything; no computer has ever hit me or bit me; and in my 17 years of working with I.B.M. mainframes, no computer has ever lied to me. We can all learn a great deal about proper and positive working relationships from this new servant that mankind has created and is now bringing into daily life. Societies and individuals that continue to foster manipulative one-upmanship roles (power over the computer or a human) are destined to fail; societies of rational interchange of ideas (power from the computer and from other humans) are destined to succeed. G.E. Nordell, West Los Angeles, California View Section / Letters [page VIII-18], Los Angeles Times for Sunday 19 September 1982 |
General Books
 | "Digerati: Encounters With The Cyber Elite" [1996] by science writer John Brockman
TEXERE Publng 8½x6 pb [3/98] out of print/used Hardwired 9½x6½ hardcover [10/96] out of print/used online etext available free at Edge.org website conversations with 33 of the most important architects and developers of today's cyberspace as recorded by John Brockman from August 1995 thru April 1996: Stewart Alsop, John Perry Barlow, Stewart Brand, David Bunnell, Doug Carlston, Denise Caruso, Steve Case, John C. Dvorak, Esther Dyson, Bill Gates, David Gelernter, Mike Godwin, W. Daniel Hillis, David R. Johnson, Brewster Kahle, Kevin Kelly, Jaron Lanier, Ted Leonsis, John Markoff, John McCrea, Scott McNealy, Jane Metcalfe, Kip Parent, Howard Rheingold, Louis Rossetto, Paul Saffo, Bob Stein, Cliff Stoll, Linda Stone, Lew Tucker, Sherry Turkle, Dave Winer, Richard Saul Wurman |
 | "Close To The Machine: Technophilia and Its Discontents" [1997 & 2012] by Ellen Ullman, 2012 Introduction by Jaron Lanier, new 2022 Introduction by Anna Wiener Memoir of the author's life as a software engineer when it was spinning out of control . . . Kindle Edition from Picador [2/2012] for $11.99 Picador Paper 8¼x5½ pb [12/2022] for $11.31 Picador 8½x5½ pb [2/2012] for $9.46 City Lights Publrs 8½x5½ hardcover [2001] out of print/used |
Lester Lawrence Lessig III
https://www.amazon.com/stores/Lawrence-Lessig/author/B001HCW3ZK? browse
http://www.lessig.org/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lawrence_Lessig
  | "Code: And Other Laws of Cyberspace" [1999] by Lawrence Lessig
Widely regarded as one of the foundational texts of internet law • Under the influence of commerce, cyberpsace is becoming a highly regulable space, where our behavior is much more tightly controlled than in real space; we can - we must - choose what kind of cyberspace we want and what freedoms we will guarantee Basic Books 8x5½ pb [7/2000] out of print/50+ used Basic Books 9½x6½ hardcover [11/99] out of print/used Japanese-language Shoeisha hardcover [2007] out of print/50+ used Japanese-language Shoeisha hardcover [2007] out of print/used "Code und Andere Gesetze des Cyberspace" [] German-language Berlin Verlag hardcover [date unknown] out of print/used | |
  | "Code: And Other Laws of Cyberspace, Version 2.0" [2006] by Lawrence Lessig
Kindle Edition from Amazon Digital Services [2/2011] - not available in USA} Kindle Edition from Amazon Digital Services [7/2008] for $12.99 Basic Books 9¼x6 pb [12/2006] for $22.23 CreateSpace 10x7 pb [12/2009] out of print/used Japanese-language Shoeisha .PDF file [3/2016] homepage |
"Ten Years of Code: A Reassessment of Lawrence Lessig's Code and Other Laws of Cyberspace" [2009]
by Declan McCullagh, Lawrence Lessig, Jonathan Zittrain, Adam Thierer
Kindle Edition from Cato Unbound [5/2009] for 99˘
http://www.cato-unbound.org/issues/may-2009/ten-years-code-reasessment-lawrence-lessigs-code-other-laws-cyberspace/
 | "The History of the Computer (Inventions That Changed The World)" [ages 6-8; 2007] by Elizabeth Raum 32-page Heinemann 8¾x8 pb [9/2007] for $8.29 32-page Heinemann 8¾x8 library hardcover [9/2007] for $23.77 | |
 | "D.K. Eyewitness Books: Computer" [ages 8-12; 2011]
D.K. Children 11x8½ pb [7/2011] out of print/used D.K. Children 11½x8¾ library hardcover [6/2011] out of print/used D.K. Children 11¼x8¾ hardcover with clip-art CD [6/2011] out of print/used D.K. Children 11¼x8¾ hardcover with clip-art CD [6/2011] out of print/used | |
 | "The Computer: An Illustrated History From Its Origins To The Present Day" [2013] by Mark Frauenfelder Carlton Books 8½x8½ hardcover [3/2013] for $17.97 | |
 | "The Efficiency Paradox: What Big Data Can't Do" [2018] by Edward Tenner Algorithms, multitasking, the sharing economy, life hacks: there is no doubt that we're performing at higher levels and moving at unprecedented speed, but what if we're headed in the wrong direction? Kindle Edition from Knopf/Random House [4/2018] for $14.99 Vintage 8x5¼ pb [DUE March 2019] for $11.91 Knopf 9½x6½ deckle-edge hardcover [4/2018] for $16.44 | |
 | "A People’s History of Computing In The United States" [2018] by Joy Lisi Rankin Kindle Edition from Harvard Univ Press [10/2018] for $16.17 Harvard Univ Press 9½x6½ hardcover [10/2018] for $20.04 | |
 | "What Would The Father of Cybernetics Think About A.I. Today?: Looking Back On Norbert Wiener’s Seminal 1950 Book, The Human Use of Human Beings" [2019] article by Seth Lloyd published on the Slate website in February 2019 and on The Edge website and included as Chapter 1 of the book "Possible Minds: Twenty-Five Ways of Looking At A.I." [2/2019] edited by science writer John Brockman • available as free online etext at Slate website see also the Norbert Wiener [1894-1964] Page at Maison d'Ętre Philosophy Bookstore |
Fiction
"The Machine Stops" [Nov 1909] by E.M. Forster [1879-1970]
 | A mother and her son live far apart in a world controlled by The Machine, which begins to fail . . . • After initial publication in The Oxford & Cambridge Review, the story was republished in Forster's "The Eternal Moment and Other Stories" in 1928 • 'Everybody should read it, and consider how far we ourselves have gone down the road of technological 'advancement', forgetting what it means to truly be alive' • story entry at Wikipedia
original story is available as 39-page free online flip-book at Internet Archive Kindle Edition from Halcyon Press [10/2010] for $1.99 André Deutsch/Abinger 8¾x5½ hardcover [9/1997] out of print/used "TMS: The Machine Stops" 3-part graphic novel [2014] written by Michael Lent with art by Marc Rene Kindle Edition from Alterna Comics [12/2014] not available in USA | |
 | "The Machine Stops" [BBC2-TV Oct 1966] episode of the British science-fiction anthology TV series "Out of The Unknown" [1965-71] Season 2, Episode 1; this is one of only four episodes known to exist from the show's second season Produced by Irene Shubik; directed by Philip Saville; adapted by Kenneth Cavander & Clive Donner from the 1909 E.M. Forster short story; hosted by Terence Morgan; starring Yvonne Mitchell, Michael Gothard, Nike Arrighi, Jonathan Hansen, Jane Jordan Rogers, Lucy Hill, Paul Phillips episode credits at IMDb • series credits at IMDb not available on Region 1 DVD • watch 11/2014 official promo for B.F.I. Region 2 DVD [1:49] online at YouTube watch episode on TRAKT.TV - requires signup |
"The Machine Stops" radio play [BBC Radio 4 2001] by Gregory Norminton
"The Machine Stops" stage adaptation [2004 ] by playwright Eric Coble
broadcast in 11/2007 on WCPN 90.3 FM in Cleveland, Ohio
"The Machine Stops" concept album [2016] by space rock band Hawkwind [est. 1969]
Cherry Red Records audio CD [2/2016] 14 tracks for $16.55
Cherry Red Records MP-3 album [4/2016] 14 tracks for $7.99
"The Machine Stops" stage adaptation [2016] by playwright Neil Duffield
was performed May-June 2016 at York Theatre Royal [est. 1744] in U.K.
"The Machine Stops" radio play [BBC Radio 4 June 2022] by Philip Franks
Computers of Ancient Times
A 2,000-year-old shipwreck discovered in April 1900 off the coast of Greece yielded scores of broken pieces of marble & bronze statuary and amphorae and an encrusted brass
mechanism; years of detective work replicated the Antikythera device, which appears to be an astonishingly-sophisticated astronomical calculator and eclipse predictor,
probably designed by Archimedes [287-212 BCE] and built around 100 BCE.
The Antikythera Mechanism Research Project [est. 2005] at Cardiff University in Wales, UK
Antikythera celestial mechanism entry at Wikipedia
 | "Ancient Discoveries" TV mini-series [Sky Vision Dec 2003] Six episodes about ancient clocks thru the Antikythera Mechanism used to predict astronomical events. Co-produced & co-directed by Stuart Clarke & Ali McGrath; narrated by Sean Barrett, featuring Ian Mullins, Dimitri Tchamouroff, Dr. Christopher Kelly, Allan Mills & Michael T. Wright Koch Vision widescreen color DVD [7/2007] 2 disks - out of prodn/scarce full credits at IMDb watch Episode 1: 'Antikythera' [50:30] online at YouTube |
 | "Decoding The Heavens: A 2,000-Year-Old Computer - and The Century-Long Search To Discover Its Secrets" [2009] by Jo Marchant
Kindle Edition from Da Capo Press [2/2009] for $9.99 Da Capo Press 8¼x5½ pb [3/2010] for $13.68 Da Capo Press 8¼x5¾ hardcover [2/2009] out of print/60+ used |
 | "The 2,000-Year-Old Computer: Decoding The Antikythera Mechanism" [P.B.S. 2012] A team of modern scientists in Athens, London, and Canada decipher the design of the Antikythera Mechanism combining individual and team insights with newly-available technologies to build a working replica. Co-produced, written & directed by Michael Beckham; narrated by Dilly Barlow (female voice) VHS/DVD/Blu-ray not available • full credits at IMDb watch full episode [58:46] online at YouTube second version [1:21:39, repeats at 49:30] online at YouTube |
 | "Nova: Ancient Computer (Season 40, Episode 14)" TV documentary [P.B.S. 2013] A team of modern scientists in Athens, London, and Canada decipher the design of the Antikythera Mechanism combining individual and team insights with newly-available technologies to build a working replica. Co-produced & directed by Michael Beckham; narrated by Jay O. Sanders full credits at IMDb hour-long P.B.S. Direct color DVD [1/2013] for $14.95 watch full episode [58:20] online at YouTube |
The Historical Computer
American Computer & Robotics Museum [est. 1990] in Bozeman, Montana
The Compuseum - A Modern Look At Computing's Past [est. 11/2013] in Exton, PA
Computer History Museum [est. 1979], 1401 No. Shoreline Blvd. in Mountain View, CA
Gerhard Kreuzer's Computermuseum [est. 2008] in Austria
 | "On The Principles and Development of The Calculator and Other Seminal Writings" [1961] by Charles Babbage [1791-1871], Edited & with Introduction by Philip & Emily Morrison Kindle Edition from Dover Publns [9/2013] for $9.99 Dover Publns 8½x5¼ pb [11/2012] for $20.31 |
 | "Computing Before Computers" [1990] by W. Aspray, A.G. Bromley, M. Campbell-Kelly, P.E. Ceruzzi & M.R. Williams Iowa State Press 10¼x7¼ hardcover [5/90] out of print/used |
 | "Computer: A History of The Information Machine" [1996] by Martin Campbell-Kelly, William Aspray, Nathan Ensmenger & Jeffrey R. Yost From Babbage and Hollerith to the rise of the World Wide Web. Kindle Edition from Westview Press [7/2013] for $25.49 {sic} Westview Press 3rd edition 9x6 pb [7/2013] for $39.90 Basic Books 9¾x6½ hardcover [7/96] out of print/40+ used |
 | "Modern Marvels: Thinking Machines - The Creation of The Computer" [History Channel Nov 1996] Begins with Charles Babbage's mechanical Difference Engine in the 1820s; Herman Hollerith's punch-card tabulating machines of the 1890s; through the first vacuum-tube machines in World War II (Colossus and ENIAC); miniaturization enabled by the transistor, integrated circuit & microprocessor; to the beginnings of the personal computer revolution led by Steve Wozniak, Steve Jobs, and Bill Gates. Season 4, Episode 5 aired November 1996; written by Donald Sellers; narrated by Earl Boen A&E Home Video b&w/color DVD [12/2005] out of prodn/scarce credits at IMDb |
 | "The Difference Engine: Charles Babbage & The Quest To Build The First Computer" [2001] by Doron Swade Viking 8x5¼ hardcover [9/2001] for $17.46 |
 | "Punched-Card Systems and The Early Information Explosion, 1880-1945" [2009] by Lars Heide Kindle Edition from Johns Hopkins Univ Press [3/2009] for $64.60 {sic} Johns Hopkins Univ Press 9x6 hardcover [3/2009] for $68.00 |
 | "It Began With Babbage: The Genesis of Computer Science" [2014] by Subrata Dasgupta Traces development from Babbage in 1819 thru Ada Lovelace, Turing, von Neumann, Shannon, and Chomsky to the end of the 1960s and the new academic discipline named 'computer science' Kindle Edition from Oxford Univ Press [1/2014] for $14.39 Oxford Univ Press 9¼x6½ hardcover [2/2014] for $33.20 |
 | "The Thrilling Adventures of Lovelace and Babbage: The (Mostly) True Story of The First Computer" [2015 novel] by Sydney Padua Ada Lovelace [1815-52], daughter of Lord Byron, translated a Charles Babbage [1791-1871] manuscript about the design of a mathematical 'difference engine' and added annotations amounting to three times the original document. She died ten years later of cancer, and none of Babbage's devices were completed in his lifetime. This book is an alternate reality wherein Ada and Charles do complete an analytical engine and use it to solve problems in science and in crime. (With b&w illustrations throughout.) Kindle Edition from Pantheon/Random House [4/2015] for $14.99 Pantheon 10¼x7¼ hardcover [4/2015] for $19.61 |
The Mainframe Computer
'computer' entry at Wikipedia
The Zuse Z4 computer (1945) is considered the oldest preserved digital computer in the world. The computer’s inventor, Konrad Zuse, first began building it for the Nazis in 1942, then refused its use in the V1 and V2 rocket program. Instead, he fled to a small town in Bavaria and stowed the computer in a barn until the end of the war. It wouldn’t see operation until 1950. The Z4 proved to be 'a very reliable and impressive computer for its time'; it is one of those machines that takes up a whole room, runs on magnetic tapes, and needs multiple people to operate. Completed in 1945 and overhauled & expanded in 1949-50, the relay machine was in operation on loan at the ETH Zurich from 1950 to 1955 - the only university in continental Europe with a functioning tape-controlled computer. Today the original Zuse Z4 sits in the Deutsches Museum in Munich, Germany - unused. Historians and curators only had a limited knowledge of its secrets because the manual was lost long ago - until a paper copy was recently discovered.
From the 1940s, only one other computer survives: the Csirac vacuum tube computer (1949); it is in the Melbourne Museum, Carlton, Victoria, Australia.
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 | "The Computer: From Pascal To von Neumann" [1972] by Herman H. Goldstine Goldstine claims to have designed and built the ENIAC and EDVAC prototype computers under supervision of von Neumann - book blurbs make no mention of Eckert and Mauchly! Wikipedia says that he and his wife were in charge of the creation of programs for the new EDVAC machine. Kindle Edition from Princeton Univ Press [9/2008] for $40.49 {sic} Princeton Univ Press 9x6 pb [10/80] for $62.63 Princeton Univ Press 9x6 pb [10/80] out of print/used Princeton Univ Press 9¾x6¼ hardcover [10/72] out of print/50+ used |
 | "Atanasoff: Forgotten Father of The Computer" [1988] by Clark R. Mollenhoff Iowa State Press 10¾x8¾ hardcover [4/1988] out of print/50+ used |
 | "The First Electronic Computer: The Atanasoff Story" [1988] by Alice R. & Arthur W. Burks Univ Michigan Press pb [11/89] for $43.50 Univ Michigan Press 10¼x7¼ hardcover [7/88] out of print/used |
 | "A History of Modern Computing" [1998] by Paul E. Ceruzzi Focuses on four major events: the transformation of mainframe computers from scientific to commercial use; the emergence of small systems in the 1960s; the invention of the personal computer in the 1970s; and the spread of networking after 1985; second edition adds developments from 1995-2001: the Microsoft antitrust suit, the rise & fall of the dot-coms, and open source software such as Linux. Kindle Edition from M.I.T. Press [2003 edition] for $16.54 M.I.T. Press 2nd edition 9x6 pb [4/2003] for $17.41 M.I.T. Press 9¼x6¼ hardcover [10/98] out of print/used |
 | "ENIAC: The Triumphs and Tragedies of The World's First Computer" [1999] by Scott McCartney John von Neumann [1903-57] is wrongly credited as the inventor of the modern computer as a result of a draft report (June 1945) by him that was prematurely distributed without including the names of John Mauchly [1907-80] and J. Presper Eckert [1919-95], the creator-builders of the EDVAC computer. This book tells two stories: the struggles of Eckert and Mauchly in creating ENIAC (February 1946) and EDVAC (August 1949) and the later struggle to receive proper credit for their historic work. Berkley Trade 7½x5¾ pb [2/2001] out of print/50+ used Walker & Co. hardcover [6/99] out of print/60+ used |
 | "Modern Marvels: Computers" [History Channel April 2001]
Season 8, Episode 11 aired April 2001 • bare credits at IMDb A&E Home Video b&w/color DVD [12/2005] out of prodn/used A&E Home Video b&w/color VHS [6/2001] out of prodn/used "Modern Marvels: The Computer" [History Channel Dec 2004] |
 | "Who Invented The Computer? The Legal Battle That Changed Computing History" [2003] by Alice Rowe Burks, Foreword by Douglas R. Hofstadter Kindle Edition from Prometheus Books [2003 edition] for $12.99 Prometheus Books 97Frac14x6¼ hardcover [2003] out of print/used |
 | "Bright Boys: The Making of Information Technology" [2010] by Tom Green, Special Foreword by {project leader} Jay W. Forrester Postwar fears of the Soviets, then absorbing countries in East Europe, led to an operation as secret as the Manhattan Project: Americans were sent to Germany to find and bring back any and all new or potential technologies before the Soviets found them, and to import any scientist or technician involved. The result gathered at the low-tech Barta Building at M.I.T. and the result was Information Technology. Kindle Edition from C.R.C. Press [3/2010] for $43.95 {sic} A.K. Peters/C.R.C. Press 9¼x6¼ hardcover [3/2010] for $31.35 |
 | "Grace Hopper and The Invention of The Information Age" [2009] by Kurt W. Beyer Kindle Edition from BookBaby [2/2015] for $11.99 M.I.T. Press 8x5½ pb [2/2012] for $18.60 M.I.T. Press 8x5½ hardcover [7/2009] out of print/many used |
 | "The Man Who Invented the Computer: The Biography of John Atanasoff, Digital Pioneer" [2010] by Jane Smiley The story of John Vincent Atanasoff [1903-95], who built a working digital computer at Iowa State College in November 1939 but never filed a patent, and was named the first inventor of the computer in the 1973 Honeywell v. Sperry Rand decision. Kindle Edition from Doubleday [10/2010] for $11.99 Doubleday 9½x6½ hardcover [10/2010] for $25.95 |
The Personal Computer
'personal computer' entry at Wikipedia
 |
The Olivetti Programma 101, also known as Perottina or P101 [1965]
one of the first 'all in one' commercial desktop programmable calculators entry at Wikipedia |
 | Hewlett-Packard 9100A calculator [1968]
semi-joke ad on April Fools Day 2021 entry at Wikipedia • click here for larger view (in a new window) |
 | "Fire In The Valley: The Making of The Personal Computer" [1984] by Paul Freiberger & Michael Swaine McGraw-Hill 2nd edition 9x7¼ pb [11/2000] out of print/many used McGraw-Hill 9¾x7½ hardcover with CD-ROM [12/99] out of print/used "Pirates of Silicon Valley" [Haft/T.N.T. June 1999] Semi-humorous TV docudrama about the origins of Microsoft, Inc. and of Apple, Inc. Written & directed by Martyn Burke, based on the book by Paul Freiberger & Michael Swaine; starring Noah Wyle {as Steve Jobs}, Anthony Michael Hall {as Bill Gates}, Joey Slotnick {as Steve Wozniak}, John Di Maggio {as Steve Ballmer} & Josh Hopkins {as Paul Allen}; won ACE Award, nominated for DGA Award, PGA Award, and 7 Emmy Awards Turner Home Ent. color DVD [8/2005] for $15.99 Turner Home Ent. color VHS [5/2000] for $14.44 full credits at IMDb • official movie site |
 | "Fumbling The Future: How Xerox Invented, Then Ignored, The First Personal Computer" [1988] by Douglas K. Smith & Robert C. Alexander
Kindle Edition from iUniverse/toExcel [1999 edition] for $3.03 }sic} iUniverse 9x6 pb [6/99] for $17.95 William Morrow & Co. 9½x6 hardcover [9/88] out of print/40+ used |
 | "Dealers of Lightning: Xerox PARC and The Dawn of The Computer Age" [1999] by Michael A. Hiltzik Kindle Edition from HarperCollins e-books [5/2009] for $9.99 HarperBusiness 8x5¼ pb [4/2000] for $16.06 HarperBusiness pb [4/2000] out of print/used HarperBusiness pb [4/2000] out of print/many used HarperBusiness 9¼x6 hardcover [3/99] out of print/50+ used |
 | "When Computing Got Personal: A History of The Desktop Computer" [2014] by Matt Nicholson Kindle Edition from Matt Publng [2/2014] for $7.79 Matt Publng 9x6 pb [2/2014] for $20.71 Matt Publng 9x6 pb [2/2014] out of print/used |
Other Platforms
 | "Console Wars: Sega, Nintendo, and The Battle That Defined A Generation" [2014] by Blake J. Harris, Foreword by Seth Rogen & Evan Goldberg Kindle Edition from Dey Street/HarperCollins [5/2014] for $9.24 Dey Street Books 9x6 pb [6/2015] for $8.98 It Books 9x6 hardcover [5/2014] for $16.00 |
 | "Blood, Sweat, and Pixels: The Triumphant, Turbulent Stories Behind How Video Games Are Made" [2017] national bestseller by Jason Schreier
Kindle Edition from HarperCollins Publrs [9/2017] for $10.99 Harper Paperbacks 8x5¼ pb [9/2017] for $9.59 |
The Internet
• 1969 Sept 2: First activity occured on the internet as two computers at U.C.L.A
connected by a 15-foot cable passed test data back and forth
• 1983: A functional internet was created.
• 1990 Feb: The actual internet was in place (and ARPAnet hardware was removed).
• 1990 Dec 25: Birth of the World Wide Web as computer scientists Tim Berners-Lee and Robert Cailliau created
the world's first hyperlinked webpage / browser at C.E.R.N. in Geneva, Switzerland.
 | "The GigaLaw Guide To Internet Law: The One-Stop Legal Resource For Conducting Business Online" [2002] by Doug Isenberg, Internet Lawyer early expert on internet legal matters, works for major providers and small websites; law firm is based in Atlanta, Georgia Kindle Edition from Random House [10/2002] for $13.99 Random House Publng Group 8½x5½ pb [10/2002] for $6.99 | |
 | "The Future of The Internet and How To Stop It" [2008] by Harvard professor Jonathan Zittrain 'Tethered appliances' – IPods, iPhones, Xboxes, and TiVos – cannot be easily modified by anyone except their vendors or selected partners. New Web 2.0 platforms like Google mash-ups and Facebook are rightly touted - but their applications can be similarly monitored and eliminated from a central source. As tethered appliances and applications eclipse the P.C., the very nature of the Internet – its 'genera-tivity', or innovative character – is at risk. Kindle Edition from Yale Univ Press [10/2022] for $7.99 Yale Univ Press 9¼x6½ pb [3/2009] for $17.00 Penguin Books 7¾x5 pb [3/2009] out of print/used Yale Univ Press 9¼x6 hardcover [4/2008] for $15.99 | |
 | "Digital Wars: Apple, Google, Microsoft, and The Battle For The Internet" [2012] by Charles Arthur Apple, Google, and Microsoft are radically different companies that fought a series of pitched battles for control of different parts of the digital landscape; the new edition looks at each of these battles in turn and analyses the very different cultures of the three companies and assesses exactly who are the victors on each front. Second Edition: Kindle Edition from Kogan Page [5/2014] for $19.99 Second Edition: Kogan Page 8½x5½ pb [5/2014] for $20.99 Kogan Page mass pb [4/2012] out of print/used | |
 | "Windows 10 For Seniors: In Easy Steps - For PCs, Laptops, and Touch Devices" [2018] by Michael Price covers the April 2018 Windows Update; best-selling guide uses larger type for easy reading; book takes you through the essentials one step at a time, and is filled with tips and shortcuts to help you get the most out of Windows 10 3rd edition Kindle Edition from Easy Steps, Ltd. [7/2018] for $8.79 Easy Steps, Ltd. 8¾x7¼ 3rd edition pb [8/2018] for $8.79 | |
 | "Chrome For Seniors: A Beginners Guide To Surfing The Internet With Google Chrome" [2020] by Scott La Counte Google Chrome is used by an estimated 300 million people (in 2020), and has about 40% of the browser market, which makes it the most popular internet browser out there. 174-page Kindle Edition from self-publd [2/2020] for $4.99 196-page self-publd 8½x5½ pb [2/2020] for $12.99 | |
 | "Windows 10 For Seniors For Dummies" [2020] by Peter Weverka Easy-to-use guide specifically designed to help new Windows 10 users who just need the essentials, offering clear language, large-print text, and a wealth of helpful images & illustrations - accessible, user-friendly guidance that will get you up and running with Windows 10 in no time! Kindle Edition from For Dummies [7/2020] for $15.00 For Dummies 9x7¼ 4th edition pb [8/2020] for $15.69 | |
 | "Windows 11 For Seniors: The Most Complete Easy-To-Follow Guide To Master Your New PC - Unlock All Their Features With Step-By-Step Illustrated Instructions and Useful Tips and Tricks" [2022] by Gary Watts
226-page Kindle Edition from self-publd [7/2022] for $9.88 161-page self-publd 11x8½ pb [7/2022] for $17.95 | |
 | "Windows 11 For Seniors In Easy Steps - For PCs, Laptops, and Touch Devices" [2022] by Michael Price covers the 22H2 Windows Update Kindle Edition from Easy Steps, Ltd. [11/2022] for $9.99 Easy Steps, Ltd. 9x7¼ pb [12/2022] for $15.73 | |
 | "Windows 11 For Beginners: The Complete Step-By-Step User Guide To Learn and Take Full Use of Windows 11 - A Windows 11 Manual With Useful Tips & Tricks" [2023] by Kyle A. Veltri 'the solutions needed for optimizing your Windows 11 in one simple-to-use and inexpensive guidebook' 122-page Kindle Edition from self-publd [2/2023] for $3.99 132-page self-publd 9x6 pb [2/2023] for $11.24 132-page self-publd 9x6 hardcover [2/2023] for $20.24 |
Working Minds / Things To Worry About / Internet Freedom Page
Battle For The Net - Support Net Neutrality
Fight For The Future [est. 2011]
Fight for the Future Education Fund [est. 2014]
Software Companies
entries for social media websites were cut to Page 3 in March 2023
![logo for Adobe Flash Player [2005-2020]](images2/AdobeFlashPlayer-logo.jpg "logo for Adobe Flash Player [2005-2020]"){kind=logo}
![logo for Adobe Acrobat [released 1993]](images2/AdobeAcrobat-logo.png "logo for Adobe Acrobat [released 1993]"){kind=logo}
![logo for Adobe Photoshop [released 1990]](images2/AdobePhotoshop-logo.jpg "logo for Adobe Photoshop [released 1990]"){kind=logo}
Adobe Systems, Inc. was founded in December 1982 by John Warnock and Charles Geschke [1939-2021]
official company website •
company entry at Wikipedia
list & history of Adobe-branded software at Wikipedia
Adobe acquired Macromedia in 2005, which purchase included Adobe Flash & Adobe Flash Player + Shockwave
In 2011, Adobe ended support for Flash on Android; in July 2017, Adobe deprecated Flash, and announced its End-Of-Life to be scheduled for the end of 2020; by January 2021, all major browsers were blocking all Flash content unconditionally; also in January 2021, Microsoft released an optional update KB4577586 which removed Flash Player from Windows; in July 2021, this update was 'pushed out' as a security update and applied automatically to all remaining users.
Adobe Flash [2005-2015]
Adobe Acrobat entry at Wikipedia
Adobe Photoshop [released 2/1990] entry at Wikipedia
Adobe Photoshop Lightroom [released 9/2017] entry at Wikipedia
Macromedia, a company that Adobe acquired in 2005
which included Adobe Flash; video editing and compositing software Adobe Premiere; low-code web development software Adobe Muse;
and a suite of software for digital marketing management
Macromedia entry at Wikipedia
Apple, Inc. [est. April 1976]
Apple, Inc. is the world's largest technology company by revenue (totaling $274.5B in 2020); Apple develops, and currently uses only, its own operating systems to run
on its devices; for iOS, iPadOS, and macOS, Apple's iWork productivity suite includes Pages for writing, Numbers for spreadsheets, and Keynote for presentations;
for macOS, Apple also offers iMovie and Final Cut Pro X for video editing, and GarageBand and Logic Pro X for music creation.
12/2022: Introducing the all-new HomePod from Apple
ByteDance, Ltd. is a Chinese internet technology company headquartered in Beijing and incorporated in the Cayman Islands.
2023 Oct 14: ByteDance revenue grew to $29 billion in the second quarter, putting the Chinese owner of TikTok within striking distance of Meta.
Toutiao is one of China's largest mobile platforms of content creation, aggregation, and distribution underpinned by machine learning techniques,
with 120 million daily active users as of September 2017
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Toutiao
GeoCities / Yahoo! GeoCities [est. 11/1994, acquired by Yahoo! 1/1999, shut down 10/2009]
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/GeoCities
http://www.alternativeto.net/software/geocities-archive/
![Google search engine behemoth [est. 1998]](images/google.jpg "Google search engine behemoth [est. 1998]"){kind=small}
Google, Inc. [est. 1996]
Founded in 1996; incorporated 1998; stock I.P.O. in 2004; reorganized as Alphabet, Inc. in October 2015.
Google Chrome is used by an estimated 300 million people (in 2020), and has about 40% of the browser market, which makes it the most popular internet browser out there.
main Google website •
company entry at Wikipedia
Alphabet Inc. Class C Capital Stock Quote & Summary Data at NASDAQ
Spirit of America Bookstore's Google, Inc. Page
![YouTube video-sharing website [est. 2005], sold to Google in 2006](images/YouTube-logo.jpg "YouTube video-sharing website [est. 2005], sold to Google in 2006"){kind=logo}
YouTube, LLC was founded by three former PayPal employees in February 2005; Google Inc. paid
$1.65 billion for the company in November 2006; based in San Bruno, California.
official website •
entry at Wikipedia
YouTube TV is a for-fee live-streaming broadcast TV service that was launched in February 2017 in five metro areas: Los Angeles, San Francisoc Bay, Chicago, New York City, and Philadelphia ('with more areas soon'). Cost is $35/month, for six accounts per household; contents derived from ABC, CBS, The CW, Fox, and NBC – as well as 40 cable channels.
official website •
entry at Wikipedia
![logo for Linux operating system [released 9/1991] with mascot penguin 'Tux'](images2/linux-mascotlogo.jpg "logo for Linux operating system [released 9/1991] with mascot penguin 'Tux'")
Linux operating system [released 9/1991]
The Linux operating system was originally developed by Linus Torvalds of Finland for personal computers based on the Intel x86 architecture, but has since been ported
to more platforms than any other operating system. The penguin mascot 'Tux' was created in 1996 and is shown differently for each version of Linux.
Match, Inc. [est. 1995]
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Match.com
 | "The Players Ball: A Genius, A Con Man, and The Secret History of The Internet's Rise" [2019] by David Kushner In 1994, visionary entrepreneur Gary Kremen used a $2,500 loan to create online dating service match.com. Only five percent of Americans were using the internet at the time, and even fewer were looking online for love. He quickly bought the sex.com domain too, betting that the combination of love & sex would help propel the internet into the mainstream. Imagine Kremen’s surprise when he learned that someone had stolen the rights to the sex.com domain name and was already making millions of dollars that Kremen would never see. Thus follows the true story of Kremen’s wild decade-long battle with Stephen Michael Cohen for control . . . Kindle Edition from Simon & Schuster [4/2019] for $13.99 Simon & Schuster 8½x5½ pb [4/2020] for $12.35 Simon & Schuster 8½x5½ hardcover [4/2019] for $21.85 |
Matchmaker.com, Inc. [1986-2016] was the first online dating service
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Matchmaker.com
Microsoft, Inc. [est. April 1975]
The world's largest software maker by revenue as-of 2016; in its 2021 financial year, Microsoft generated $53.9B from its productivity and business processes segment and a further $60B through its intelligent cloud segment, with the total figure reaching over $168 billion. Major software brands include Windows and Microsoft Office.
Microsoft Word was introduced as Word 95, as an element of Windows 95 and Microsoft Office 95
Spirit of America Bookstore's Microsoft, Inc. Page
PayPal Holdings, Inc. [est. 1998]
launched in 1998 as Confinity; PayPal went public through an IPO in 2002
2018 May: PayPal signed an agreement to acquire iZettle, the leading small business commerce platform
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paypal
Red Hat Software, Inc. open-source software platform [est. 1993] is based in Raleigh, North Carolina
I.B.M. announced in October 2018 its intention to acquire Red Hat for $34 billion; the acquisition closed in July 2019; Red Hat now operates as an independent subsidiary.
Red Hat and partner Intel provide 'innovative & more secure enterprise-level solutions, including a collaborative community of experts & technologies to help clients enable a broad set of AI models'.
http://www.redhat.com/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Red_Hat
Resound Networks [est. 2015] is based in Pampa, TX
Semrush Holdings, Inc. [est. 2008] is based in Boston, MA
company studies how companies & people use Google & other search sites
http://www.semrush.com/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Semrush
Kyle Byers, Director of Organic Search (hired 3/2022)
Shopify Canadian multinational e-commerce platform [est. 2006]
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shopify
Squarespace, Inc. [est. 1/2004, IPO 5/2021, going private 5/2024] - based in New York City
website builder & hosting service being taken private 5/2024 in a $6.9 billion deal with private equity firm Permira
http://www.squarespace.com/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Squarespace
what is Stripe? It’s a Silicon Valley payments giant run by billionaire entrepreneur Patrick Collison. And in a sea of unicorns in 2021, Stripe’s horn shined the brightest. It rode the Covid fintech wave to a $95 billion valuation that March, making it the most valuable startup in the US. Stripe lays off 14% of its workforce.
![old logo for Unix operating system [released 10/1973]](images2/unix-oldlogo.jpg "old logo for Unix operating system [released 10/1973]")
![current logo for Unix operating system [released 10/1973]](images2/unix-logo.jpg "current logo for Unix operating system [released 10/1973]"){kind=logo}
Unix operating system [released 10/1973]
Unix describes itself as the first portable operating system, since it is coded almost entirely in the C programming language. Developed at AT&T's Bell Labs 1969-71; available to outsiders since October 1973; rights sold by AT&T in the 1990s to Novell, which then sold the Unix business to Santa Cruz Operation in 1995 (Novell continues to own the Unix copyrights).
Wikimedia and online encyclopedia Wikipedia
"Imagine a world in which every single person on the planet is given free access to the sum of all human knowledge. That's what we're doing."
— Wikimedia co-founder Jimmy Wales, in July 2004
Wikipedia [est. 2001]: official company website •
entry at Wikipedia
Wikimedia Foundation [est. 2003]: official website •
entry at Wikipedia
Wikimedia co-founder Jimmy Wales [b. 1966]
Wikipedia co-founder Lawrence Mark 'Larry' Sanger [b. 1968] - left Wikipedia in 2002, later citing its takeover by “trolls”
 | "The Wikipedia Revolution: How A Bunch of Nobodies Created The World's Greatest Encyclopedia" [2009] by Andrew Lih, Foreword by Jimmy Wales
Kindle Edition from Hachette Book Group [3/2009] for $13.99 Hyperion 9¼x6 hardcover [3/2009] for $21.86 |
WordPerfect [est. 1979, sold to Novell 1994, sold to Corel 1996]
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/WordPerfect
http://www.wordperfect.com/
Yahoo!, Inc. [est. 1994]
Founded by Jerry Yang and David Filo in January 1994; incorporated in March 1995; Yahoo! hired Marissa Mayer (ex-Google) as president & CEO in July 2012;
in July 2016, Verizon Communications agreed to purchase Yahoo's internet business for $4.8 billion.
official company website •
entry at Wikipedia
Marissa Mayer, president/CEO at Yahoo!
listed on TIME Magazine World 100, April 2013
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marissa_Mayer
 | "Marissa Mayer and The Fight To Save Yahoo!" [2015] by Nicholas Carlson Kindle Edition from Twelve/Hachette [1/2015] for $14.99 Twelve/Hachette pb [1/2016] for $13.21 Twelve/Hachette 9½x6½ hardcover [1/2015] for $18.42 |
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_mergers_and_acquisitions_by_Yahoo!
Yahoo! owns GeoCities [est. 1999, US closed 2009]
Yahoo! owns 24% of Chinese firm Alibaba (IPO soon?)
purchased 3/2005: Yahoo! bot Ludicorp/Flickr online photo management [est. 2002] for $40M
announced 4/2013: Yahoo! bot news aggregation app Summly of U.K. for $30M
announced 5/2013: Yahoo! buying photo blog Tumblr for $1.1B, deal expected to close late 2013
announced 5/2013: Yahoo! also buying PlayerScale, a cross-platform game infrastructure startup that provides tools for games
announced 7/2013: Yahoo! bot Ztelic Chinese social media data analysis startup for undisclosed figure
announced 7/2013: Yahoo! paid $70M for Xobni email & contact mgt startup
announced 7/2014: Yahoo! shutting down Yahoo! Shine women's site at end of July
announced 7/2014: Yahoo! closed Xobni after one year - cost not wasted, since the technology is now incorporated into Yahoo! Mail
announced 7/2014: Yahoo! People Search shut down in July, that technology now part of basic Yahoo! Search
Zoom Video Communications, Inc. [est. 2011] videoconferencing software
Founded in 2011 by former Cisco engineer & executive Eric Yuan; the software launched in January 2013 and by May had one million users. The free version allows 100 participants
and a 40-minute time limit; paid subscriptions geared towards business conferences are available, where up to 49 people can be seen on a desktop or laptop screen at the same time.
official company website •
company entry at Wikipedia •
software entry at Wikipedia
2023 Feb 8: Zoom announced that it will lay off 1,300 employees, or about 15% of its staff. During pandemic lockdowns, Zoom reported skyrocketing revenue when people relied on it to chat with coworkers and friends; now, there's no longer such a huge demand for Zoom's services as more people are returning to office life and in-person interactions.
2023 March 2: Zoom Video Communications abruptly fired President Greg Tomb, a former Google executive who joined the video conferencing company in June 2022 after remote work and education made Zoom a household name; a spokesperson said that the company wasn't seeking a replacement. Tomb had a high-profile role on earnings calls and other events in his short tenure. He told Bloomberg at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland in January that Zoom had a bright future despite mounting competition; weeks later, the company announced that it was laying off 15 percent of its workforce.
RAW DATA FROM WIKIPEDIA :: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Social_networking_service
Personal 23snaps Amikumu aNobii Are.na Ask.fm Badoo BeReal Bluesky Bondee Bumble Clubhouse Cohost Convoz Cyworld Diaspora display Douban Draugiem.lv ~~Facebook Foursquare City Guide Foursquare Swarm Friendica Gab Gapo Gas Gettr GNU social Hi5 Hive Social Huddles Idka Instagram (IGTV) IRC-Galleria Kumu Letterboxd LiveJournal Likee Marco Polo Mastodon The Meet Group Meetup ~~MeWe Miaopai micro.blog Minds Mixi MX TakaTak Myspace MyWorld Nextdoor Odnoklassniki ~~Parler Peach ~~Pinterest Pixnet Plurk Promo.com Qzone Readgeek Renren ShareChat ~~Snapchat SNOW Spaces Tagged Tal Canal Taringa! Threads ~~TikTok Tinder Triller ~~Truth Social Tuenti TV Time Tumblr Untappd Vero VK ~~Weibo Whisper ~~X/twitter Xiaohongshu Yik Yak Professional Academia.edu Brainly HCL Connections ~~LinkedIn Moodle ResearchGate Solaborate Viadeo XING Yammer Defunct App.net AsianAve Avatars United Bebo Bolt BranchOut Capazoo Cloob eConozco Edmodo Ello Emojli eWorld Eyegroove FitFinder FriendFeed Friends Reunited Friendster Grono.net Google+ Google Buzz Google Currents Hello Heello Highlight Houseparty Hyves IdeaPlane iTunes Ping iWiW Jaiku Keek Lifeknot LunarStorm Me2day Meerkat Miiverse MixBit Mobli Mugshot Multiply Musical.ly Natter Netlog NK.pl Orkut Path Periscope Pheed Piczo PlanetAll Posterous Pownce Qaiku Sciencescape (Meta?) SixDegrees.com Skyrock So.cl Spotify Live Spring.me Streetlife StudiVZ Surfbook Talkbits tbh Tea Party Community Third Voice tribe.net Tout tvtag Vine Windows Live Spaces Wretch Xanga Yahoo! 360° Yahoo! Kickstart Yahoo! Mash Yahoo! MemeYo
Cybersecurity
cybersecurity firms surged in Spring 2022 in anticipation of further cyberattacks from Russia
cybersecurity firm BleepingComputer
Cisco Talos, a threat intelligence research team + Nick Biasini, head of outreach
CrowdStrike
Cyber Security Hub per LinkedIn
cybersecurity alert site Have I Been Pwned [] Troy Hunt, creator
https://www.docusign.com/
Israeli cybersecurity firm Hudson Rock + Alon Gal, co-founder
LeakIX, a site that detects and indexes exposed databases online
McAfee
Norton
http://www.proofpoint.com/us/products/email-security-and-protection/email-protection
http://www.protectconnect.com/en/index.html cyber security
Shadowbyte, dark web intelligence firm + Vinny Troia, a cybersecurity researcher and founder
In 2018 Shadowbyte discovered that a Florida-based marketing firm exposed close to 2 TB of data that appeared to
include personal information on hundreds of millions of American adults on a publicly accessible server
Splunk’s Unified Security and Observability platform
keeps your mission-critical digital systems secure and reliable
http://www.splunk.com/en_us/
Surfshark [est. 2018] is based in the Netherlands
They streamlined their renowned online security products in September 2023 to create an all-in-one privacy solution: meet Surfshark ONE, a snazzy suite that includes all the tools your business needs to keep devices secure, protect your online privacy & personal data, and block against viruses & malware. You can even utilize a search engine that displays entirely organic results. Other best-in-class features include: a blocker of targeted ads & malware; a generated alternative ID for anonymity + data security; encrypted browsing with private, secure internet access anywhere; and a breach detection system that notifies of personal/corporate data leaks.
http://www.surfshark.com/blog/surfshark-one-explained
Verisign, Inc. [est. 4/1995]
an American company based in Reston, Virginia + Founder James Bidzos + www.verisign.com
L i n k s
'computer' entry at Wikipedia
'personal computer' entry at Wikipedia
Charles Babbage Institute at the University of Minnesota
The Computer Museum [1979-1999] in Boston, MA
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Computer_Museum,_Boston + http://tcm.computerhistory.org/
American Computer Museum [est. 5/1990] in Bozeman, Montana
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_Computer_Museum + http://www.compustory.com/
Computer History Museum [est. 1996] in Mountain View, California
http://www.computerhistory.org/ + http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Computer_History_Museum
http://www.youtube.com/user/computerhistory
 |
Major League Hacking [est. 2013]
entry at Wikipedia worldwide Local Hack Day is on December Third |
Personal Computers & Accessories Dept. at Amazon
here on 'The Computer' Pages at Spirit of America Bookstore
top of Page 1 • general books • ancient times • historical computers • mainframe computers • personal computers • software • cybersecurity • links
top of Page 2 • a few important people • a few important dates • movies & TV, other media • image gallery
top of Page 3: Social Media • books • companies ••• Page 4: Artificial Intelligence
Cyber Film Festival at Magic Lantern Video & Book Store
Working Minds / Things To Worry About / Internet Freedom Page
: :
Inventors of America Pages at Spirit of America Bookstore
top of Page 1 • short history • general links • general books • inventors, A-Z • Afro-American inventors
top of Page 2 • teams & other inventions • Kindle Editions • other media
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