Computing Across America: The Bicycle Odyssey of a High-Tech Nomad [Paperback]

Steven K. Roberts (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0938734180 | ISBN-13: 978-0938734185 | Publication Date: January 1988 | Edition: 1st

In his book, Steve Roberts describes the wild results of his drastic break with suburban life. It was a 10,000 mile odyssey.

Product Details

• Paperback: 347 pages
• Publisher: Information Today Inc; 1st edition (January 1988)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0938734180
• ISBN-13: 978-0938734185
• Product Dimensions: 8.4 x 5.3 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,556,425 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Find a copy and buy it, July 21, 2001

By 

MotherLodeBeth "MotherLodeBeth" (Sierras of California) - See all my reviews
(HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)    (TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: Computing Across America: The Bicycle Odyssey of a High-Tech Nomad (Paperback)

It was after his Phil Donahue Show back in 1988 that we started to write back and forth. Those were the days before most Americans even knew how to program a VCR and here was Steve on his high tech bike with the bells and whistles and ability to do email and even receive messages at the end of the day, etc., and all powered by solar panels. His story begins in Telluride, CO and he sets out to ride this bike across America to Ohio then PA then Maryland and Virginia and North Carolina Florida west to Louisiana and Texas New Mexico and Utah and California. In the Epilogue he writes:

Two years have passed .....A lot has changed....and then he met Maggie. In a jazz bar in Columbus Ohio and he challenged her to learn ham radio, get in shape and leave with him in August. And she did and they were well into the 4k of their first date.

The reason I love this book and buy up copies is the same reason I loved and bought and but Bill Gates book The Road Ahead. Because they speak volumes of the history of the computer tech world and serve as a reminder of just how damn far we have come.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars The year-long oddysey of commitment to personal technology., November 29, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: Computing Across America: The Bicycle Odyssey of a High-Tech Nomad (Paperback)

Tired and desperate behind a boring desk job, Steven K. Roberts breaks free with a recumbent bicycle of his own design, trekking cross country while writing the book via mobile computing technology. His adventures are entertaining and written in a candid, personal style that makes you appreciate his quest for romance while proving definitively the value of mobile telecommuting--even from the wilds of rural Colorado. His mission is to make location irrelevant while remaining connected, and this ace of technomadness is pure inspiration. Highly readable and recommended for those adventure seekers with a mind to wander, but a heart in community.

3 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Truly Amazing, July 8, 1999

By 

Jayson (Rancho Santa Margarita, ca, United States) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Computing Across America: The Bicycle Odyssey of a High-Tech Nomad (Paperback)

Imagine being so fed up with the day to day activities of a ho-hum suburban life, a typical job, a typical car, etc. that one day you decide to cash it all in......for a bike!! And dump your fiance while you're at it.

Steven Roberts did just this. Sold the house, cars, quit his job to begin his long (and true) trek across the United States. Armed with a CB, a sattelite uplink, a laptop computer, and other high tech gadgets (circa late 1980's) he writes about his journeys in a fascinating manner. This is what MTV's Road Rules is....for adults. What is amazing is the people he meets along the way, the sites he sees, the trials and tribulation of finding water and getting a flat tire. I can't give enough praise for this book, and would love to read anotehr one if he has one.