Hi Paul, I again recommend as an accessible and still mostly timely book documenting the history of usenet and the internet, Netizens: On the History and Impact of Usenet and the Internet, by Michael Hauben and Ronda Hauben. In addition to the print edition distributed by Wiley and Sons, there is the online edition at http://www.columbia.edu/~rh120/. The book is still being read especially as netizens exercise their voice and power in countries like China, S. Korea, Egypt, and Indonesia. Good luck with your history course. Take care. Jay On Wed, 6 May 2009, Paul Edwards wrote:
All -
I'm getting ready to teach an undergrad course (juniors and seniors) on "History of Computers and the Internet" for the first time in 7 years.
I'm looking for suggestions on three things:
1) A recent book on the history of personal computers that's well-written and exciting for undergrads. I used to use Fire in the Valley, but that's very dated now.
2) On history of the Internet, I've been using Janet Abbate's Inventing the Internet for years. It's a great book but somewhat inaccessible for undergrads, and now a bit dated.
3) Books or articles -- again, exciting for undergrads -- on history of the WWW. Please, not Tim Berners-Lee's awesomely self-centered memoir.
Thanks for any and all.
- Paul ����������������� Paul N. Edwards, Assoc. Professor of Information
School of Information 3078 West Hall University of Michigan 1085 South University Ave. Ann Arbor, MI 48109-1107 (734) 764-2617 (office) (206) 337-1523 (fax) http://www.si.umich.edu/~pne/