Where Wizards Stay Up Late cover art

Where Wizards Stay Up Late

The Origins of the Internet

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About this listen

Twenty-five years ago, it didn't exist. Today, 20 million people worldwide are surfing the Net. Where Wizards Stay Up Late is the exciting story of the pioneers responsible for creating the most talked about, most influential, and most far-reaching communications breakthrough since the invention of the telephone.

In the 1960s, when computers where regarded as mere giant calculators, J.C.R. Licklider at MIT saw them as the ultimate communications devices. With Defense Department funds, he and a band of visionary computer whizzes began work on a nationwide, interlocking network of computers. Taking listeners behind the scenes, Where Wizards Stay Up Late captures the hard work, genius, and happy accidents of their daring, stunningly successful venture.

©1996 Katie Hafner (P)2012 Katie Hafner Americas United States

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All stars
Most relevant  
I suppose that it's not bad if you've never heard of the ARPANET, have little knowledge of early protocols for networking, but as someone who had to study some of the early protocols in high school I found it a bit tedious and boring. The narration is a bit meandering, introducing characters and telling us the life stories for some but not for other participants in this story, and more often than not going on a tangent that seems to go nowhere or has little to do with the story of ARPANET.
I suggest reading the wikipedia article on the ARPANET to be honest, and maybe reading the bios of the people involved.

Reads like a long wikipedia article

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A great look at how it all got started, it's hard to believe how basic the Internet was in its earlier years.

Fantastic

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Your in for a treat, this book is well written and well narrated. Fully enjoyed.

Great book

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A good retelling of the history of arpanet. But not much discussion of the later transfer into the internet and the impact of non US involvement.

An American history of the Arpanet

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What did you like most about Where Wizards Stay Up Late?

The depth of the information.

What did you like best about this story?

The long and interesting history of packet switching and the origins of today's Internet.

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

Yes

Any additional comments?

Highly recommended for anyone wanting an in-depth and very detailed history of the origins of modern communication technology (e.g. packet switching) from which the Internet came to be. However, if you just want a light history of the Internet, this is probably a bit too detailed.

Interesting and informative

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Absolutely loved this story. Well read and very well presented. What an amazing journey they went on.

Great!

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In the latter half of the 1980s, I purchased a second hand book mistakenly thinking, from the title and futuristic cover that it was science fiction. It wasn't, though it easily could have been. It was the magnificent Tracey Kidder book, The Soul of a New Machine. With little knowledge of computers then, I read it and loved it, drawn in from the very beginning, full of character, excitement and energy.
I had hoped that Where Wizards Stay Up Late night be similar. Sadly, it wasn't.I
Lacking vibrancy but with too many names and some repetition, it is rather tedious to anyone lacking the technical understanding of the movement of packages.
Good narration, though, from Mark Douglas Nelson

Guess you had to be there ...

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The book mixes social, personal and technical aspects of the early days of computer networking - the people and the personalities behind it all really shine out. Whilst the subject is matter is technical the book should be accessible to non technical readers as it doesn't go too heavily into the technical aspects, a basic understanding of networking would help you get more out of the book though.

Absolutely fascinating.

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Knowing about the origins of computing and the internet is something that hasn't been made that we'll known, even to people with an interest in technology.

I found the story fascinating, and often listened to bits of the story a couple times just to get the facts right.

Loved it!

interesting

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wonderful peek into a collaborative and open effort to build the foundation of the internet and modern networking. not too heavy in technical details it does a good job of covering the technical steps involved in such a large multi decade project

Excellent Insight

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