From Airline Reservations to Sonic the Hedgehog: A History of the Software Industry
(Paperback)
Publishing Details
From Airline Reservations to Sonic the Hedgehog: A History of the Software Industry
By (Author) Martin Campbell-Kelly
MIT Press Ltd
MIT Press
27th February 2004
United States
Classifications
Professional and Scholarly
Non Fiction
History: specific events and topics
Computing and Information Technology
338.470053
Winner of Awarded the 2003 American Association for History and Computing Book Prize presented by the American Association for History and Computing (AAHC). 2003
Physical Properties
Paperback
388
Width 152mm, Height 229mm, Spine 20mm
522g
Description
From its first glimmerings in the 1950s, the software industry has evolved to become the fourth largest industrial sector of the US economy. Starting with a handful of software contractors who produced specialised programs for the few existing machines, the industry grew to include producers of corporate software packages and then makers of mass-market products and recreational software. This book tells the story of each of these types of firm, focusing on the products they developed, the business models they followed and the markets they served. By describing the breadth of this industry, Martin Campbell-Kelly corrects the popular misconception that one firm is at the centre of the software universe. He also tells the story of lucrative software products such as IBM's CICS and SAP's R/3, which, though little known to the general public, lie at the heart of today's information infrastructure. With its wealth of industry data and its thoughtful judgements, this book will become a starting point for all future investigations of this fundamental component of computer history.
Reviews
"History may provide no sure guide to the future, but it does offer context and insight for the present. And, given the proper twist, history glimmers with a certain knowing humor. In his incisive, panoramic book, From Airline Reservations to Sonic the Hedgehog, Martin Campbell-Kelly delivers all three - context, insight, even occasional humor." - Steve Lohr, The New York Times; "Compelling reading.... From Airline Reservations to Sonic the Hedgehog should command a wide audience: participants in the industry, both programmers and managers, students of economics and business, and the interested general public." - Danny Yee, Slashdot; "A well-rounded look at the software industry from a business perspective." - Library Journal; "A good read." - New Scientist"
Author Bio
Martin Campbell-Kelly is Reader in Computer Science at the University of Warwick.
