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How the Internet happened : from Netscape to the iPhone
McCullough B., W W Norton&Co Ltd, New York, NY, 2018. 400 pp. Type: Book (978-0-316435-37-6)
Date Reviewed: Jul 5 2019

“You’ve come a long way, baby!” For those readers old enough to remember the Virginia Slims advertising campaign, which started in 1969, this phrase refers to the early days of the women’s liberation movement, highlighting momentous changes in the roles of women. However, the phrase could also be applied to the Internet, which has also undergone momentous changes since the early days. This book is based on a well-received podcast, called the Internet History Podcast, which the author has hosted since 2014. It chronicles the early history of the Internet era, from the Mosaic web browser and the Netscape initial public offering (IPO), roughly 1995, to the first iPhone that was linked to the App Store (2008). Quick summary: the book is very well written; I found myself intrigued by a number of the stories, even though in many cases I already knew how things would turn out.

Each of the book’s 17 chapters has a cute title and then a more complete explanation of what the chapter is about (for example, “The Big Bang” covers the beginning years of the Internet era, and “America, Online” covers the early dominance of AOL). There are also chapters on the creation of Amazon and eBay, the dot-com era followed by the dot-com bubble, and the ascension of Google, culminating in chapters on Facebook, mobile computing, and the iPhone, plus the development of the App Store.

The author seems to have read every book or article relevant to the events of this time period, and he seems to have interviewed most of the participants. Although this is not meant to be a scholarly history, the 300-plus pages of text are followed by almost 30 pages of notes and a 15-page index. The discussion is not overly technical, but there should be more than enough details to satisfy most readers. As events unfold, a number of major personalities are introduced, including Marc Andreessen, Sergey Brin and Larry Page, Mark Zuckerberg, and Steve Jobs. The author uses their stories, and the stories of the companies they founded, to provide a fascinating narrative. I do not recall seeing this mentioned in the book, but the author has founded a number of startups himself, so he has first-hand experience in this area.

On a personal note: 20 or so years ago, I can remember thinking it was quite a coincidence that advertising related to a website I had recently viewed started to pop up (literally “pop” up) in other places. Similarly, I was impressed by claims such as, “People who bought this item also looked at [...].” Of course, we have all learned to be more cynical about this apparent website “thoughtfulness.” In a final attempt at self-deprecation, let me also admit that I can recall thinking to myself, “How can Facebook manage to make money from this?” After reading this book, I now understand, and I am forced to laugh at my naiveté.

Even though I liked the book very much, I do have some quibbles. As noted above, many individuals are introduced, and their good decisions and bad decisions are analyzed. But some of the heroes mentioned seem to receive almost a free pass. A more serious complaint: those companies that have survived cut-throat competition, notably Amazon, Apple, Facebook, and Google, are all celebrated here, as they should be, for their successes. But these same companies are also considered by many today to be greedy, rapacious, willing to compromise the security of their users, as well as responsible in some way for election hacking, fake news, massive security breaches, abuses of facial recognition software, and other threats to individual privacy. Some of these concerns have only emerged in the past few years, well after the author’s self-imposed cutoff of 2008, and it is unfair to blame all of the issues listed above on just a few companies. Nonetheless, it seems plausible to assume that some of these trends were visible even in the time frame covered by the book; all of us should have been more critical and vigilant.

Despite these caveats, I think the book is a major contribution to the field and should be recommended reading for both those who lived through the era discussed (my generation) and younger generations who did not personally experience the events described.

More reviews about this item: Amazon, Goodreads

Reviewer:  K. Harrow Review #: CR146615 (1909-0332)
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