Computer History

Rating:
Summary: Falsehoods
Review: Do not read this book -- unless you want to fill your head with Falsehoods! Blatant errors throughout the entire book!

Rating:
Summary: Very poor book
Review: History just as it didn't quite happen. This book is full of historical errors, easy shortcuts and misses the interesting details. The pictures, which should be its main strength, are of poor quality, low resolution and blogged with jpeg artefacts.

Rating:
Summary: Entertaining book on a usually dry topic, great photos!
Review: Most books on the history of computing are dry treatises without a lot of good illustrations, but this one is different. More of an art book than serious history (see the other reviews) it presents the history of computing with a wonderful collection of large color illustrations, such as fantastic close-up shots of Engelbart's original mouse from 1968, hilariously weird UNIVAC ads from the '50s, rare & hard to find screen shots of early applications, as well as images from popular culture that reflected the computing mentality of the era. There are better books for the facts, but not many in league with this one for pure style.

Rating:
Summary: Necessary
Review: TASCHEN, the master of pictoral publishing, proves that the picture is worth a thousand words. "Computers" shows just how big these machines, only ten, twenty years ago, were. Never again will I take that pocket-sized Palm Pilot for granted! Thank you, TASCHEN.

Rating:
Summary: Poorly Researched, but pretty
Review: The book itself is pretty, but poorly researched, with errors a plenty and a style that doesn't work with the topic.
The works of Paul Cerruzzi, Michael Williams or Bill Asprey are much better as an introduction to the concepts, and have at least a bit of accuracy when it comes to the material.

Rating:
Summary: wonderful images, don't worry about the text
Review: This is absolutely not a book to buy for a thorough written history of computers. It's a book to leaf through for a different sort of understanding - there are *so* many wonderful photos here, from Babbage through all of the twentieth century. It's wonderfully laid out and presented. The perfect book for a computerlover's coffeetable, or just for someone who likes retro photos.