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A review by ashrafulla
Broad Band by Claire L. Evans
4.0
This review has two parts: the first about the history, and the second about the society.
The history in this book is ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐. The author does an excellent job chronicling several (and definitely not all) critical junctures in the history of the Internet that were led and driven by women. The author does not just describe successes either: the last chapter is actually about the failure of Purple Moon as a demonstration of some of the flaws of the current Internet. The history is remarkable as well. Ada Lovelace and Grace Hopper are legends. But the most inspiring story for me was the Social Services Referral Directory, which is the exact lesson every engineer needs to learn. Engineers design solutions for humans. The women at Project One showed exactly how understanding a human problem leads to a massively impactful engineering solution. That ends up being true with Lovelace (on the practical use of the Difference Machine) and Hopper (with the manual for Mark I/II). That is a thread throughout the book that the author refers just to remind you of the theme. For that, and for the detailed, thought provoking, and clear anthology of women in the Internet, ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐.
The society in this book is ⭐⭐⭐⭐. The description is again excellent. The author brings you into the chaos of the evolving Internet in the late 20th century. At one point I even noted "this sounds like an article in the style of modern off-beat media." (Later I saw on the book jacket that the author is an editor at Vice.) However, I also found this society to be ... not inclusive of me. When I hear that the Internet's beginners all did drugs, lived in communes, threw crazy parties, and did all the things you'd hear in a story about a rock band, I think that that society is not for me. The book is written as if the Internet is the child of counter-culture, where all the women were successful partly due to not being traditional. I think the author is right: to be that creative, especially against systemic bias, these women had to have character traits that were beyond normal. However, that makes me think to be successful on the Internet or in any technology you have to wear an earring in the wrong place, or make LSD a thing for 6 months. That's the only way to be smart enough to make the creative leaps these pioneers made. But I don't want to try LSD, and I don't want earrings, and I don't want to experiment with my body or my mind ... does that make me too dumb to actually do anything smart and useful on the Internet?
The history in this book is ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐. The author does an excellent job chronicling several (and definitely not all) critical junctures in the history of the Internet that were led and driven by women. The author does not just describe successes either: the last chapter is actually about the failure of Purple Moon as a demonstration of some of the flaws of the current Internet. The history is remarkable as well. Ada Lovelace and Grace Hopper are legends. But the most inspiring story for me was the Social Services Referral Directory, which is the exact lesson every engineer needs to learn. Engineers design solutions for humans. The women at Project One showed exactly how understanding a human problem leads to a massively impactful engineering solution. That ends up being true with Lovelace (on the practical use of the Difference Machine) and Hopper (with the manual for Mark I/II). That is a thread throughout the book that the author refers just to remind you of the theme. For that, and for the detailed, thought provoking, and clear anthology of women in the Internet, ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐.
The society in this book is ⭐⭐⭐⭐. The description is again excellent. The author brings you into the chaos of the evolving Internet in the late 20th century. At one point I even noted "this sounds like an article in the style of modern off-beat media." (Later I saw on the book jacket that the author is an editor at Vice.) However, I also found this society to be ... not inclusive of me. When I hear that the Internet's beginners all did drugs, lived in communes, threw crazy parties, and did all the things you'd hear in a story about a rock band, I think that that society is not for me. The book is written as if the Internet is the child of counter-culture, where all the women were successful partly due to not being traditional. I think the author is right: to be that creative, especially against systemic bias, these women had to have character traits that were beyond normal. However, that makes me think to be successful on the Internet or in any technology you have to wear an earring in the wrong place, or make LSD a thing for 6 months. That's the only way to be smart enough to make the creative leaps these pioneers made. But I don't want to try LSD, and I don't want earrings, and I don't want to experiment with my body or my mind ... does that make me too dumb to actually do anything smart and useful on the Internet?