Frank Langfitt

2019

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The taxi, while an essential part of the plot, doesn't perhaps feature quite as much as one might expect in this exploration of China and the Chinese as they start to drive the 21st century. It's a view from part way inside: not a Chinese view per se, but from a Western journalist with deep knowledge and strong sympathies for China, who manages to get a variety of people from the city and countryside to comment reasonably candidly about their experiences. It strikes me as a balanced and important contribution to understanding the nature of the emerging "Chinese century" (as it may, but will not necessarily, become), both its strengths and weaknesses.

3/5. Finished 17 December 2020.

(Originally published on Goodreads.)

John Markoff

2005

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Another history of the early days of computing. The goal is to link the rise of personal computing to the rise of the counterculture and (especially) to the psychedelics of the acid tests of the Merry Pranksters. There's some overlap in individuals, notably Stewart Brand (who makes a brief appearance in The Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test). But overall it seems something of a stretch: the most influential players at the time (Doug Engelbart, Alan Kay) weren't especially counter-cultural. But the contrast between the corporate computing world and those of Engelbart and Kay – and for all their differences they share a lot of similarities – is profound, and it's sad that in many ways the corporate side won: modern software draws on the surface aspects of Kay's work on Smalltalk, for example, but at a deeper level is more heavily influenced by corporate needs, and that's become even more pronounced in the years since this book was written.

4/5. Finished 09 December 2020.

(Originally published on Goodreads.)