How We Got Here: A Slightly Irreverent History of Technology and Markets Paperback – 20 March 2011

extremely interesting book, absolutely loved it. It is quote technical however.

Mr. Kessler weaves a fantastic narrative describing how technology and markets grew separately and together to create the engine for the dramatic economic material advancement of the modern western world. With the way politicians talk about Wall Street today you would think exchanges and the traders are sucking all the productive capacity out of the labor force, when in fact, those exchanges provide the fuel to allow innovation to realize its massive potential by enabling many investors, small and large, to pull their resources together (and share the risk) to fund very large development and production initiatives.I highly recommend this book to anyone interested in factors that enable productivity growth at the macro level.

Good book. Easy read. A lot of facts and names but presented in a very readable format.

Another fun, fast, witty read from Andy Kessler (of Wall Street Meat fame), this time discussing mega trends in technology and the great wealth that stems from step-wise productivity improvements. He explores improvements over the centuries - from the industrial revolution to his unabashed praise of Silicon Valley as the pinnacle of society. There is a lot of overlap between this book and his latest (Eat People), but at the time of writing How We Got Here the author had not yet succumbed to full-blown megalomania, which he exhibits in Eat People.

Andy, you finally did it. In the nearly 20 years we've been friends, you finally answered my most frequent question. Find me a book that could help a business graduate better understand technology. He not only let me know, but he wrote the book. Written to help engineers better understand the economics of their wares, it helps me better understand the engineers. My first position out of business school was with Honeywell, where I was one of, if not the first, non-engineer to sell electronic components. The results were outstanding, as marketing trumped engineering skills. Andy's book now helps me with my understanding of technology again as a securities salesman.