I'm interested in tech books that are aimed at a more general, non-technical audience. Which book would you recommend to, say, a curious friend?
MurrayVarey @murrayvarey
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Can you Recommend a Good Pop-Tech Book?
Publish Date: Dec 5 '19
11 7Comments 7 total
Alex LabDec 5, 2019I would recommend Kevin Mitnick Ghost in the wires. More about the starts of cyberhacking and his story but really great to read something a little bit less technically. And I recommend also Permanent Record from Edward Snowden !
- MurrayVareyDec 6, 2019
Ghost in the wires
Sounds really fun, like an updated Catch Me If You Can. Tech + true crime always make for a great story (as the writers at Wired would no doubt testify).
Thank you, Alex!
- Alex LabDec 6, 2019
Exactly ! There is a movie adaptation of the book but I will recommend to read it instead. Yes Wired has some really great articles !
Jason C. McDonaldDec 6, 2019Dreaming in Code by Scott Rosenberg is excellent, both for programmers (every coder alike should read it!) and non-programmers. It really helps explain why software is what it is: the nature of bugs, shifting production schedules, general weirdness, and all!
- MurrayVareyDec 6, 2019
This has me at the author's note:
So while I hope that programmers will enjoy this work, it is meant equally or more for the rest of us. It poses a question and tells a tale. Why is good software so hard to make?
Sounds fantastic -- exactly what I'm looking for. Thanks for the recommendation, Jason!
My current recommendation is Algorithms to Live By, by Brian Christian and Tom Griffiths. It's a light-hearted (and also informative) look at how computer science has solved all of life's problems. Spoiler: it hasn't really ... but the book is still good fun.