Martin Campbell-Kelly

This is an excellent book on the history of the software industry, of value now even though it only just covers up to the opening years of the 21st Century. For anyone whose perspective on software has been through the eye of a consumer, or the production of software in a research context, it is likely to be an eye-opener. Campell-Kelly's work really brings to life the dominance of the commercial market for accountancy systems, inventory control and the like in the history of software show more revenue and development. He tracks the shift from a diverse world of standalone applications to the increased dominance of integrated software systems, and the extent to which those systems affected how businesses worked. He doesn't ignore the growth of the personal computer market, but sets it in the wider context which it deserves.

This is well-researched, with notes for each chapter which provide evidence, further reading and links to alternative views. Highly recommended. show less

Well written and organized covering the development of the software industry in a logical process - especially if you are already familiar with the underlying hardware from the 50's thru the early 90's. The books largest flaw is how it totally ignores Microsoft's marketing practices to control the PC hardware manufacturers. MS used DOS as a lever to dictate software bundling on new machines. On server software, MS used bundling with low prices to beat down the competition on products like show more Office.
In fairness the book stops in the early 90's and thus does not consider the impact of the Internet even though the publication date is 2003. show less

This clear and engaging book traces the history of the computer as far back as its 19th-century conceptual origins. By devoting so much space to the connections between digital computers and related technology, the authors manage to situate the computer within a clearly defined social and scientific context. The book loses some of its focus as it reaches the Internet era, which is probably harder to examine from a historical perspective. But overall, it is an excellent introduction to the show more subject by two scholars who successfully cater to the general reader. show less

The history of computers as driven by business and information processing needs. Many great examples of how computers changed things like airline reservations, inventory control, check clearing, etc. The description of nineteenth century check clearing was fascinating. Published in 1996, the WWW is mentioned, but not browsers. The Internet's utility was debated since it wasn't clear then there would ever be a useful way to find anything. Much of the book is really a history of IBM, since IBM show more dominated computing services for decades. show less