Customer Reviews

The History of Wireless: How Creative Minds Produced Technology for the Masses

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Brodsky offers a wonderful history of wireless in terms of who and why, something that has been lacking in a wireless history book until this publication. Those interested in understanding the personal connections of the individuals involved through the development of this industry will want to read it. Those who are working in the industry or desire to break in as entrepreneurs need to read it. His last section on creativity is wonderfully useful. If you have the guts to truly innovate, or are doing so now in any industry I highly recommend this book. It was obvious the material was well researched (due to the limited information available on some of the individuals involved from a historic perspective, Brodsky did provide sufficient information to get his many points across, somewhat rare in a book that covers 130+ years through the development of an industry). There was only one element that I would have liked to see him expand on a bit more, and that was in the area of convergence. I think a few more pages devoted to the cable and telephone networks along with wireless would have rounded out this section perfectly; but then maybe not, as it potentially could have risked loosing the true focus of wireless.

Wireless is an amazing field. How many other products do you own today that you rely on more than wireless? A decade ago you likely didn't mind leaving home sans wireless; now, most of us feel naked unless our mobile (or handy or cellphone) is with us.

As an industry, the statistics are astounding: it's grown from a blip to one trillion dollars annually in wireless service revenue in 2 decades; 1.3 BILLION devices were shipped in 2007; and in 2008, it's the first year in human history when more people on Earth have a cell phone than do not; and would you dream of buying a laptop without wireless connectivity?

Unless you've been in the industry since the 1980's (as I have), it may be hard to fathom how the wireless industry came to be. Ira Brodsky successfully tackles the breadth and depth of wireless to create a readable and enjoyable understanding of the technology, the industry, and the pioneers who've created what none of us can live without.

I would recommend this book to all who enjoy reading the thread of history, or want a better understanding of what the future of OFDMA, WiMAX, LTE & 4G holds.

The book is a brief and concise history of the persons involved in the creation of "wireless" as we know it today. There is some technical detail, enough to associate a person with a patent or concept, but the book is more about the people, not the wires. (Or the lack thereof.)
Especially satisfying was that the book did not waste any ink on the show-business aspects of early broadcast radio, nor the gory details of patent disputes.
The technical detail thickened up as the discussion got to cell-phone technology, but then modern radio has gotten vastly more complex.
The book is a good summary. I recommend it.