(Part 3) Best computers & technology industry books according to redditors

I think the big issue here is informed consent. Most people know these days that if you're not paying for a product then you are the product. However, most of these sites that collect information don't really go into the details of what they collect or how they collected or how securely its stored.

Sure, they have privacy policies posted stating that they collect certain personal information from you, but they don't line item everything they're getting. The Washington Post just published an article going through all 98 data points Facebook gets from its users. SOURCE. Do you think the average Facebook user would be comfortable knowing that Facebook amasses this amount of information about its users?

While right now all Facebook supposedly does with this information is using it to sell to advertisers, the scary thing is what will they do in the future? Acxiom, another big data player, has sub-categories of consumer information (i.e., people over 50 that have greater than $X in assets and don't subscribe to an internet service aka older people with lots of money that are likely more gullible and easy to part with their money) that, put in the wrong hands, could be used to have some tangible negative consequences for people.

Your argument is essentially, "I've got nothing to hide so who cares?" My answer to your question is you don't know that you've got nothing to hide. Furthermore, you say Facebook isn't that bad because they're not the government and therefore the information can't be used in court. Well, the government could subpoena Facebook to get your information. And Facebook regularly provides information to the government.

If this area interests you I highly recommend the book Future Crimes by Marc Goodman.

Adding to this:

Future Ethics by Cennydd Bowles

Technically Wrong by Sara Wachter-Boettcher

B2B v B2C is a common problem because on the one hand, it's all marketing to human beings so it should be very similar. But the channels, messages, consumer psychology and purchase decision making process are all different.

I got so frustrated with not having good B2B books with real world case studies that I wrote one http://www.amazon.com/Tickle-B2B-digital-marketing/dp/B00ECIJPSE/

But if you're a real reader then you can find every B2B marketing book I referred to in the bibliography as a reading list http://www.peterjthomson.com/2013/02/best-books-on-social-media-for-business.html

While I've worked in IT for 25 years now, I'm not sure I can quite relate as I have no military background. Instead, I my background is more like the stereotypical hacker, just one who most hackers wouldn't call a hacker. I loved computers, ever since I got one in high school. I did everything I could with them, from playing games to programming in basic, to page layout and networking. I learned a lot and learned that I don't know a whole lot more. Yet, most of my peers seem to think I'm pretty good at what I do. And for the last 15 years I've been a consultant to small and medium sized businesses and a bit of a forum addict helping others (though not on reddit).

So that said, what I've found over the years as that the guys who love technology - some aspect of it - they are the ones I would want to hire. Indeed, "what's your home network like" used to be an interview question when I would participate in the hiring process at my company before I became a consultant. If you loved tech, got excited by tech, then you would likely excel in the job.

But IT has grown. Most companies silo people. You're a Database guy ONLY, a Networking guy ONLY, a Disaster Recovery tech ONLY, an Email Admin ONLY, etc. If this suits your personality, great, but if you're someone who likes to see the big picture or to get variety in your work, then this work can be monotonous.

I'd advise you to look at what you enjoy and focus on that. Do you love programming? Networking? Finding ways to automate menial tasks? Solve problems? Create websites? Analyze data? Figure out what you enjoy about technology and then look into that aspect for a career.

I'll also add that schools (trade/college) are great. Degrees are great. Certifications are great... but most of that stuff is merely to get you past HR. Some of the most talented IT people I know don't have certifications and barely have Associates degrees... if they have a degree at all... and some of the folks I've met with the certs and the degrees have demonstrated utter incompetence with the technology. A GOOD manager will look at your skills and your aptitude and hire based on that (in my opinion). But getting past HR will be the trick.

I'd suggest checking out a book called "Coders" - https://www.amazon.com/Coders-Making-Tribe-Remaking-World/dp/B07P1DVV2L/ref=sr_1_1 - while the book focuses on programming, I found myself identifying with many (not all) points about the people in the book... and thinking about my colleagues, I could see the ones I know love tech behaving the same way - and none of us would call ourselves "programmers" or "coders". If you can read that book and say "yeah, that's me" more often than not, I think you'll do great in whatever IT field you end up in.

Good luck.

There are plenty of jobs out there with a good paycheck... but finding one you look forward to going to on a daily basis... that's the trick.

I work for a Major Financial Firm. My team is two-strong; I've found one other tech writer in the firm. It's incredibly frustrating, but it's also a huge opportunity, as you've seen.

It sounds like you've already proven yourself and established credibility. Excellent.

Push governance and CYA for regulations. In my experience, every team documents their own processes and "hides" it somewhere (network drive, SharePoint, email, etc). When the Fed comes asking questions, everyone scrambles. Make a case that you're the team for knowledge retention, a clearinghouse for regulation-based documentation, and your team should manage all those teams' content.

Feel free to message me if you have further questions.

EDIT: I also recommend Lisa Welchman's governance book, Managing Chaos

Titles from Palo Alto's Cybersecurity Canon may make for great reads in this audience. Here are some of my favorites:

• Cybersecurity and Cyberwar: What Everyone Needs to Know
  
• Future Crimes: Everything is Connected, Everyone is Vulnerable and What we can do about it
  
• Spam Nation: The Inside Story of Organized Cybercrime-from Global Epidemic to Your Front Door
  
  If you want to know where private investigation will be two or three decades from now... begin with Future Crimes.

https://www.amazon.com/Race-Perfect-Ultimate-Portable-Computer/dp/B006OI3IH4 is really good from the Lenovo side too (the design of the X300).

Really interesting to read all 3 and get the perspective from all 3 sides.

Here's a few to try:

In the Beginning...Was the Command Line: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0011GA08E/?coliid=I2AX4MNAR89GW9&colid=1J9YDKJ5WZ8PB&psc=0&ref_=lv_ov_lig_dp_it

The Friendly Orange Glow:
https://www.amazon.com/dp/1101973633/?coliid=IEUJX5OOWTAUK&colid=1J9YDKJ5WZ8PB&psc=1&ref_=lv_ov_lig_dp_it

ROLM: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00KGID6WU/?coliid=I1AQGJ83D1GS48&colid=1J9YDKJ5WZ8PB&psc=0&ref_=lv_ov_lig_dp_it

Apple: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00295MJHG/?coliid=I1Q8J5K347MYXY&colid=1J9YDKJ5WZ8PB&psc=0&ref_=lv_ov_lig_dp_it

Apple: https://www.amazon.com/dp/0986832278/?coliid=I1I3Q5B2K8YST7&colid=1J9YDKJ5WZ8PB&psc=1&ref_=lv_ov_lig_dp_it

Apple: https://www.amazon.com/dp/0393330435/?coliid=I3IE3KZUF3E6WN&colid=1J9YDKJ5WZ8PB&psc=1&ref_=lv_ov_lig_dp_it

TRS 80: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B004P8JNIS/?coliid=IUCSUMJN8ZWU8&colid=1J9YDKJ5WZ8PB&psc=0&ref_=lv_ov_lig_dp_it

Compaq: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00DTEZ56I/?coliid=I259B8WXOE9LHT&colid=1J9YDKJ5WZ8PB&psc=0&ref_=lv_ov_lig_dp_it

Where Wizards Stay Up Late: The Origins Of The Internet : https://www.amazon.com/dp/B000FC0WP6/?coliid=I28FZRAZ0WF3CA&colid=1J9YDKJ5WZ8PB&psc=0&ref_=lv_ov_lig_dp_it

I understand your thought, but my list is nowhere near comprehensive. My underlying assumption is that a "great" engineer would be able to write good, well-tested code that meets product requirements. That doesn't change the fact that there will always be fires.

Someone could write good code in isolation, but not take the time to understand the system architecture and how all of the pieces fit together. That means when a fire happens, they won't be any better equipped to handle it than another engineer.

>I think the issue is that management does not acknowledge it as a bottleneck.

That is a very real issue that a lot of team's face. The book I mentioned, Accelerate, has some data behind how things like improving CD pipelines or DevOps principles have directly correlated (through analyzing a lot of software development teams) to productivity and developer happiness.

I would recommend that approach if you have management/product teams that don't want to invest time in technical debt. If you can phrase it (with evidence) in a way that shows it will not just be time "wasted" not building things, but actually time invested for a more productive and happy team, then you might have a better shot at convincing them of the need to work on bottlenecks.

This is from the cover of The Devouring Fungus. I don't know why the colors were changed.

Haha no, check it out: http://www.amazon.com/Future-Crimes-Everything-Connected-Vulnerable/dp/0385539002/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1427481064&sr=8-1&keywords=Future+Crimes+marc+goodman

He also has an awesome TEDtalk: http://www.ted.com/talks/marc_goodman_a_vision_of_crimes_in_the_future

And thanks for your answer!

iPod touch and iPhone we're developed simultaneously.
"... the embryo of the iPhone was basically a prototyped research project for a long, long time. (Jobs was concerned) with whether entering the market at all was worth the risk. When it became clear enough that smartphones would become competitors to the iPod, it added some pressure and forced his hand a bit." -Motherboard senior editor Brian Merchant's "The One Device: The Secret History of the iPhone."

https://www.amazon.com/dp/031654616X/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_dp_T1_AxerzbRMW7AKW

All that came before fed into the development of the iPhone because no invention springs fully formed from the aether or leaps Athena-like from one man's head.

Here are all the local Amazon links I could find:


amazon.com

amazon.co.uk

amazon.ca

amazon.com.au

amazon.in

amazon.com.mx

amazon.de

amazon.it

amazon.es

amazon.com.br

amazon.nl

amazon.co.jp

amazon.fr

Beep bloop. I'm a bot to convert Amazon ebook links to local Amazon sites.
I currently look here: amazon.com, amazon.co.uk, amazon.ca, amazon.com.au, amazon.in, amazon.com.mx, amazon.de, amazon.it, amazon.es, amazon.com.br, amazon.nl, amazon.co.jp, amazon.fr, if you would like your local version of Amazon adding please contact my creator.

There is an article written about it here and this book is all about the first iPhone.

I recommend reading this book: https://www.amazon.com/Accelerate-Building-Performing-Technology-Organizations/dp/B07BMBYHXL

It tries to reflect on multiple aspects affecting software teams. Unlike many other books, it is based on knowledge coming from studies and not the usual opinion from an author.

Additionally, i recommend watching Robert C. Martin - The Land that Scrum Forgot. Uncle Bob is one of the guys visible in the background picture of the agile manifesto. He explains little bit of the history of agile/scrum. Afterwards he explains, why he thinks that they have failed with their intent.

As a short-term goal, I would say creating AGI, which should lead to the technological singularity. I like to believe that once that happens, what we have created (and has self-improved) will be "smart enough" to solve things that will (at that point, not now) be "trivial" for it: climate change, poverty, war, free energy, etc

I started reading Life 3.0 14 months ago (switched from reading the book to listening to the audiobook a couple months in). I'm deliberately reading it slowly (and often going back to re-read slightly before where I left off) so I can savor it

I would love if everything turned out as awesome as that book paints a picture of humanity's future

Post-singularity, the possibilities are (nearly) endless: colonize Mars and several moons, maybe a few O'Neill cylinders and then spread throughout the galaxy (either in person or sending out robot ships while we all relax in our own VR worlds)

Sorry, I'm an Audible member and I didn't realize it was including my member's discount in the price on Amazon. But even when logged out I see $21.95 here:

https://www.amazon.com/Blood-Sweat-Pixels-Triumphant-Turbulent/dp/B0731MCF1R/

The Closed World - Paul Edwards

Just to build on this:

I couldn't make up my mind either, so I searched for these on the Amazon US site since I don't use Goodreads to see how reviews looked, etc. The resulting links, with the smile. prefix for charity aspect in case you make a purchase, are below. YMMV.


The Other F Word: 3.4

Business Development for Dummies: 3.5

Startup Mixology: 4.27

Starting a Tech Business: 2.67

The 4 Lenses of Innovation: 3.62

StartupLand: 4.01

All in Startup: 4.18

The Customer Funded Business: 3.73

Trend Driven Innovation: 4.38

Monetizing Innovation: 4.20

The Ways to New: 3.84

Startup Checklist: 4.10

The Art of Startup Fundraising: 4.11

Disciplined Entrepreneurship: 4.26

.

Not in the original list:

The Art of Opportunity: How to Build Growth and Ventures Through Strategic Innovation and Visual Thinking

I certainly hope you are going to be reading Brian Arthur's Nature of Technology What it is and How it evolves http://www.amazon.com/Nature-Technology-What-How-Evolves/dp/B00381B7YG/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1330588980&sr=8-1

I was not able to finish Kelly's book because it was so fantastical and unrealistic. Arthur's book does a much better job at just about everything than Kelly's.

> Economics is not a science and it never will be. By any chance, do you know of/about Richard Wolff? He's the first economist whose opinion I somewhat respect (and he backs it up with statistics, and historical analysis).
>
> I don't know much about economics, but I know they're trying to keep that shit a secret. - Lewis Black
>
> The kleptocracy is running rampant, and economists and VC swine are more to blame than most. I personally don't bet on races unless I have fixed the race myself, or know and trust who has. It's basically the fortune 500 / circle of kevin bacon investment strategy. The SEC calls it "insider trading".

I remember the "Is economics a science?" debate from the last day of class. The "for" side emphasizes how prices are observables and the point of science is to explain and predict observations, a box economics definitely checks.

I refer to "professional" economists as "paid court wizards". The only joke was if you put three economists in a room together, FOUR theories are going to come out of the room.

If you're looking for a decent economist to check out, try W. Brian Arthur and The Nature of Technology.

> Bayesian logic, or prognostication/prophecy/prediction as it is also known is not something humans do well. As a finance guy, you ought to know that prior performance is NOT an indicator of future returns! I do appreciate that you may have more depth to your individual posits than you made clear in your original post, for the purposes of brevity to increase the chance someone might ACTUALLY read what you wrote.

Actually, past performance is indeed an INDICATOR of future returns, it's just not a GUARANTEE.

I'm already well into my second draft incorporating the input I've received from this one. I'm already 4 times the length. Do you have any thoughts on how to dispense that at the end of the weekend?

> The Overton Window, if actual/real, would be a manifestation of a high level conspiracy designed to manipulate the public. I don't disagree that there is such a conspiracy, and the evidence for it is everywhere. But that is a tough sell to most people (because it is outside of that "overton window", lol).

Other than convinced the Overton Window is real, I agree with you again. That's why I'm not trying to sell anyone on it, but rather present my ideas and see what they think.

> For all either of us knows you could be completely right about everything that you posited that cannot be verified (which is the vast majority of it, as far as I can see), it is just preposterously unlikely unless you have god's direct help (depending on who you ask, this is not outside the realm of possibility either).

I totally agree. It's a good thing I don't necessarily go by "likelihood", but rather "best fit for the evidence". It's all a question of fitting the curve to the evidence.

> In general, I believe it is majorly your approach that must be modified, as it is what is leading you to untestable and unverifiable hypothesis that you are attempting to formalize and solidify into "fact" and "history". Bible code / mathematical analysis of text is equivalent to your approach and we humans are ridiculously good at finding what we are looking for and our biases indicate/suggest (perhaps especially when it isn't there to find). A good scientist posits, and then tests and verifies. If asked if their shoes are tied, they look down before answering.

> Good luck refining your ideas and TESTING them!

We agree again.

I see an important part of the testing is to see if the theory explains the already existing data. I do that by looking for the anomalous items which cannot be explained well. When I run this test on homo deus, it is EASILY the best fit I've found for the data set yet.

Thanks for reading and your great replies. They very much help me.

This is from an old book about computers and computer nerdiness in general. It's funny, and was a great read in 1990, but I don't know how relevant it is today. It was full of anecdotes and jokes and stories and other things. "The Devouring Fungus":

http://www.amazon.com/Devouring-Fungus-Jennings-Karla/dp/0393307328

Autogenerated.

It’s the 10th anniversary of the iPhone—I interviewed its inventors, snuck into the factory where it’s made, and melted one down to its core elements. AMA.

I'm the author of a new book, The One Device: The Secret History of the iPhone, in which I interviewed its creators, traced its history, and traveled around the world to reveal the inside story of the invention that changed everything—and became the most profitable product in the world. Ask me anything!

Proof: https://twitter.com/bcmerchant/status/880810340291813378

Book details: https://www.amazon.com/One-Device-Secret-History-iPhone/dp/031654616X


-----------------------------------------------------------


thepropotatoface :



How exactly did you sneak into the factory?



: merbrian :

:

: Honestly? We told a bored-looking security guard I had to take a leak. I

: really did; we'd been trying to get through the gates all day, through

: different entrances, and I hadn't had a bathroom break for hours. We saw one

: through the gates, and recognized a weird, potentially useful set of

: circumstances. My translator was so persistent, and made this poor guy feel

: so uncomfortable, he finally just waved us through and said, 'Come right

: back, I'm watching'. And then we didn't.

:


-----------------------------------------------------------


Chtorrr :



What is the very best cheese?



: merbrian :

:

: Manchego.

:


-----------------------------------------------------------


Chtorrr :



How did you first become interested in iphones?



: merbrian :

:

: When I finally lost one—I somehow went years without breaking or losing or

: otherwise being away from my phone, and when I finally left my iPhone 6 in

: the back of a cab, it was like this weird, itchy wakeup call: This thing owns

: us. And I thought it'd be worth investigating why. Then, when I saw the

: insides of a phone at iFixit, and the teardown experts were telling me about

: each of the components, I knew there had to be a host of stories behind the

: hood that were worth telling.

:


-----------------------------------------------------------


Litpunk :



Did the idea of it really start before the ipod?



: merbrian :

:

: The iPod was out the door as a product first, but the touch-screen based

: experiments undertaken by the core group of designers and engineers that

: would evolve into the iPhone began not too long after, in 2002 and 2003.

:


-----------------------------------------------------------


doray :



Why was the motivation to lock user customization for the first iPhones? I

remember my friends couldn't change their background or ringtone



: merbrian :

:

: The motivation was pretty simple: Steve Jobs. He originally conceived of the

: iPhone as more an immaculately built cell phone, or an accessory, than a

: mobile computer (his engineering team, on the other hand, knew its power from

: the beginning). Furthermore, he had a predilection for sealed, tightly

: controlled products—he wanted Apple to be able to control every facet of the

: experience, to prevent bugs or glitches like dropped calls. It was a

: herculean effort just to talk him into allowing an App Store, allowing

: developers to make third party apps. Finally, there was the issue of timeline

: in play; when the iPhone hit stores, the Apple developers didn't have time to

: finish all the functions they knew they'd eventually want to roll out. A

: confluence of those three reasons is why the phone was so locked up when it

: first launched.

:


-----------------------------------------------------------


moparhippy420 :



Oh yeah? Well im taking a shit right now. Ask ME anything.



: merbrian :

:

: Are you using an iPhone while you do?

:

:: moparhippy420 :

::

:: I am not. Android all the way. Takin that open source poo

::

::: merbrian :

:::

::: Don't forget to wipe your system when you're done.

:::


-----------------------------------------------------------

IamAbot_v01. Alpha version. Under care of /u/oppon.
Comment 1 of 1
Updated at 2017-07-01 13:09:18.550596

This is the final update to this thread

Here's a good article on cybernetic theory and the origins of the internet. Should be useful for the new conspiratorial/paranoid style you've got going. A great book about the whole story is Paul Edwards's The Closed World: Computers and the Politics of Discourse in Cold War America.