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precise's review against another edition
informative
reflective
medium-paced
4.0
Biography of John Ford, the first black software engineer at IBM, written by his son Clyde Ford, who also worked for a time as a SWE at IBM.
I was particularly interested in this because my own father, before "retiring" into a second career as a CS professor, worked at IBM from 3 years before I was born until I was in my senior year of college. I also interned at IBM for two summers + one fall semester of undergrad, at the same office my dad worked at. So I was really curious about whether the author's 2nd-gen IBMer experience was different from mine in important ways due to racism.
What I found was that the technical references in the book were more shaped by being significantly earlier in the history of computing than my own experience - John Ford worked on computers right when they were switching from being tabulating machines to actually being computers in a modern sense, in the 60s and overlapping his son at IBM in the 80s - and my own father worked at IBM in the 90s and we overlapped there in the 2010s. There were some parts that did feel familiar to me in the way that the parent/child dynamic played out, in particular around how the benefits of having a parent who encouraged you to work in tech play out when you are actually working in tech.
The discussion of personally experienced racism was still interesting to me, though not technical in any way and spent a bit too long on his parents' divorce imo.
Overall it was an interesting historical piece, if a bit superficial. It left me wondering if I should've read IBM and the Holocaust myself instead of just reading the chapter that cites it.
I was particularly interested in this because my own father, before "retiring" into a second career as a CS professor, worked at IBM from 3 years before I was born until I was in my senior year of college. I also interned at IBM for two summers + one fall semester of undergrad, at the same office my dad worked at. So I was really curious about whether the author's 2nd-gen IBMer experience was different from mine in important ways due to racism.
What I found was that the technical references in the book were more shaped by being significantly earlier in the history of computing than my own experience - John Ford worked on computers right when they were switching from being tabulating machines to actually being computers in a modern sense, in the 60s and overlapping his son at IBM in the 80s - and my own father worked at IBM in the 90s and we overlapped there in the 2010s. There were some parts that did feel familiar to me in the way that the parent/child dynamic played out, in particular around how the benefits of having a parent who encouraged you to work in tech play out when you are actually working in tech.
The discussion of personally experienced racism was still interesting to me, though not technical in any way and spent a bit too long on his parents' divorce imo.
Overall it was an interesting historical piece, if a bit superficial. It left me wondering if I should've read IBM and the Holocaust myself instead of just reading the chapter that cites it.
sapphire's review against another edition
hopeful
informative
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
3.75
its5oclocksomewhere's review against another edition
4.0
This book has a lot to unpack. I enjoy books where I, as the reader, decide to research a topic—a head-scratcher and sad at times. Be prepared. I will read it again.
justaguy's review against another edition
3.0
Technology and racism
The book was reasonably interesting when the author wrote two parallels of the evolution of technology and how racism stuck to it but more insidious. I did learn some information that I was unaware until now. Thanks to him and I know about it now. The history is a trove of treasure, but it might not what you want it to be...aside from that, I was bothered by a small portion by the author when he added personal lives and I wasn’t sure if it was making sense...maybe just me.
The book was reasonably interesting when the author wrote two parallels of the evolution of technology and how racism stuck to it but more insidious. I did learn some information that I was unaware until now. Thanks to him and I know about it now. The history is a trove of treasure, but it might not what you want it to be...aside from that, I was bothered by a small portion by the author when he added personal lives and I wasn’t sure if it was making sense...maybe just me.
sallyneate's review against another edition
3.0
3.5 stars. An enjoyable and informative book with an interesting perspective on a whole range of issues relating to the author and his father's experiences as Black men working for a giant technology corporation in the mid 20th century. I thought the author did a great job at contextualising his family experiences and linking to the wider civil rights movement and global events. It would have been great to go deeper into some of that context - I felt like that there was scope to explore even more.
The author explains up-front that many of the conversations and details in the book were based on suppositions and general recollections of family members, so chose to describe a lot of stuff in hypothetical terms. While it was good to be candid about that, the choice meant that sometimes the language got a bit clunky about who would have said what, and I think it would have been fine to take a more concrete approach, having already explained that everything isn't verbatim.
Overall, this was a really unique read and I would recommend to anyone with a specific interest in the history of technology and its social impact, and how two-faced corporations are when it comes to claiming to promote equality and diversity while their business practices clearly show the opposite.
The author explains up-front that many of the conversations and details in the book were based on suppositions and general recollections of family members, so chose to describe a lot of stuff in hypothetical terms. While it was good to be candid about that, the choice meant that sometimes the language got a bit clunky about who would have said what, and I think it would have been fine to take a more concrete approach, having already explained that everything isn't verbatim.
Overall, this was a really unique read and I would recommend to anyone with a specific interest in the history of technology and its social impact, and how two-faced corporations are when it comes to claiming to promote equality and diversity while their business practices clearly show the opposite.
temickey's review against another edition
5.0
I felt a personal connection to this book as I am also an engineer and my first job was at IBM. This is the story of the first black engineer, John Stanley Ford, who was hired by Watson Sr. himself. This memoir was written by and through the eyes of his son who also ended up working for IBM. This book touched on A LOT of things: misconception of diversity in the workplace, professional racism, eugenics, the "first" blacks, IBM and the Holocaust, IBM and Apartheid, and a history of technology that was supposedly for the better. I thoroughly enjoyed this book! I recommend this book to anyone who is working in the tech industry or retired from it. A lot of us go through IBM at one point of another. Or we work at corporations who have the same objectives and goals. Reading this affirmed my feelings of suspicion, naivety, and frustration while being black and employed.
applescc's review against another edition
3.0
I got this book as an arc at a library conference. It was so insightful as to the history of race and technology, especially as told through the experiences of the author and his father, who was the first Black software engineer hired at IBM back in the 1940s. I love how the author unapologetically traces IBM’s racist past, from its degradation of Black employees to its close involvement with the Nazi regime leading up to and during WWII, to its business ties to apartheid in South Africa. I also appreciate how this memoir is about more than IBM, even as much of the narrative centers on the author’s and his father’s experiences at IBM. On the whole, though, the book jumps around a bit and has a really disjointed feel as though it struggles to connect the individual stories to a broader commentary on race and technology. Still a good read, if only for the hidden history it uncovers.
inkstainedlife's review against another edition
https://bookpage.com/reviews/24427-clyde-w-ford-think-black-biography-memoir