The Innovators is a historical portrayal of the digital revolution. It starts at Ada Lovelace the daughter of Lord Byron who is credited with the first concept of a computer programme and goes all the way up to 2014. The book details the first computers including the one at Bletchley Park which is significant to me because it’s only half hours drive away. The birth of silicon valley and the explosion of the world wide web in the nineties.
I really liked this book because I found it inspirational and while I wouldn’t want to live in any age other than the one I’m in now it gives an insight into the excitement of being on the cutting edge when all this was happening. My family first purchased a PC in 1995 and I used to have to put a pound in a pot every time I wanted to use an hours internet. Within a couple of years I found a way to hack into 0800 freephone modem lines and get unlimited free internet, still at dial up speeds. Instead of getting a paper round I started designing websites and marketed my first business to local companies. This book kind of takes me back to that awe inspiring time when I was a teenager shell shocked by the volume of information and possibilities awaiting on the world wide web.
