Customer Reviews

Architects of the Information Society: Thirty-Five Years of the Laboratory for Computer Science at MIT

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This book was an excellent read. Garfinkel was able to write about some of the most interesting developments in network technology. This book is great for people who dont have a complete understanding of what the internet is all about and where it came from. Garfinkel draws a lot of attention and gives a lot of much needed credit to academic research labs for their impact on computer technology. The book's three main parts take the reader on a journey from the development of project MAC (short for multiple access computer and machine aided cognition) in the Laboratory for Computer Science (LCS) in MIT to the growth of large computer networks to the impact these networks and systems will have on our society and economy in the future. The book gave me a great history lesson on some of the lesser known aspects of computer network development. I'd recommend this book to anyone who doesnt understand how many years and how long the road has been to developing the computer systems of today.

It is a pleasure for me to write a review on "Architects of the Information Society ", because I have so much things to say. I have been telling to my friends about this book since I finished first ten pages. I am not talking only with computer scientists about the things I have learned. My mother even loved the stories in it, although she had never used a computer or never logged in Internet. Simson L. Garfinkel has been very successful in choosing the right words, which will make the story interesting for everyone. It is written for everyone who knows what computers and Internet are. It starts fascinating the reader by telling stories about people who think that Internet was invented by some companies connecting the local area networks (LANs) in their office and about two business men praising Microsoft founder Bill Gates for having the vision to invent Windows being unaware of nearly all of the "breakthrough" technologies in Windows had actually been invented more than thirty years before, at MIT just a few miles away from the coffee shop they were in. I think everyone who uses Internet must read this book to have an idea what and who was behind it and to love to use Internet more. It has been written for the celebration of 35th anniversary of the foundation of Laboratory for Computer Science (LCS) at MIT. Project MAC (short for Multiple Access Computer and Machine-Aided Cognition) was started in 1963. It was renamed as MIT Laboratory for Computer Science in 1975. Being MIT alumni Garfinkel was lucky in following the tracks of best stories to tell what has been done in LCS. It was Prof. Hal Abelson's idea to make Garfinkel write such a book; he is also the editor of the book. In the preface Garfinkel says that "This book as much his as mine." meaning Abelson. There are three essays in the book. While deciding the themes of the essays, they planned to mention the themes that have been fundamental to the work at LCS. First essay is about the building of "multiple-access computer" by "time-sharing". Second essay is about the growth of computer networks. Third essay is about how networks computer systems have influenced and will continue to influence U.S. economy and society. Garfinkel defines this economy as the economy based on the "exchange of information". The best sentence to show the importance of this book is written by Garfinkel "The step from information systems to information societies was first achieved at MIT in project MAC".