This is the rare computer-history book that takes a truly critical look at its subjects. It is not your average chronicle of successes and it's not telling us about how its subject is going to save the world. Rather, it takes a look at how networking (as in LinkedIn, not as in Internet) expert Stewart Brand managed to ride the technology rocket to the moon, and shape the discourse around technology into something palatable to his once-commune-dwelling world. It really does what [b:What the Dormouse Said: How the Sixties Counterculture Shaped the Personal Computer Industry|725789|What the Dormouse Said How the Sixties Counterculture Shaped the Personal Computer Industry|John Markoff|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1442903066l/725789.SY75.jpg|712005] promises on its cover - explores the vaunted connection between Silicon Valley and what he calls the Whole Earth Network, but what is often taken in other accounts to represent a monolithic "counterculture." All of the big names are here: PARC, Homebrew Computer Club, People's Computer Company, but he does not dwell on them, but explains their actual connection to Brand/Whole Earth (if you want those histories, you're better off with [b:Fire in the Valley: The Making of the Personal Computer|1427580|Fire in the Valley The Making of the Personal Computer|Paul Freiberger|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1387733026l/1427580.SX50.jpg|1418070] or [b:Dealers of Lightning: Xerox PARC and the Dawn of the Computer Age|1101290|Dealers of Lightning Xerox PARC and the Dawn of the Computer Age|Michael A. Hiltzik|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1349086333l/1101290.SX50.jpg|1088176].) Really opens your eyes to the idea of legitimacy transfer-a great example of this is where Brand organizes a conference (en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Hackers_Conference) that serves not only to get everyone in [b:Hackers: Heroes of the Computer Revolution|56829|Hackers Heroes of the Computer Revolution|Steven Levy|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1435697935l/56829.SY75.jpg|1407224] into a single building, but also to bring legitimacy and cred to himself and his collaborators.