Technology history blog tracing the transistor, Arpanet, telegraph and telephone networks, and the breakup of AT&T in long multi-part series.
HN commenters call it a great read, point newcomers to the start of its series, and compare it to The Victorian Internet.
The sequel, https://technicshistory.wordpress.com/2018/09/19/the-unraveling-part-1/, is pretty interesting too.
I wonder to what extent the U.S. dominance of information technology is a result of the fact that even when we had a monopoly telecommunications provider, it was a private — rather than a state — monopoly, and how much is the result of us breaking the monopoly fairly early compared to other states.
Great read. For those who want to start at Part 1:
https://technicshistory.wordpress.com/2018/01/20/the-transistor-part-1-groping-in-the-dark/
Related: a modern day teen who makes low transistor count ICs in his garage: https://interestingengineering.com/this-teen-is-building-diy-integrated-circuits-in-his-garage
AmpHour Podcast episode on the teen: https://theamphour.com/390-an-interview-with-sam-zeloof/
Start from the beginning of the story to get all the context. It's an interesting read:
https://technicshistory.wordpress.com/2016/11/25/an-expeditious-method-of-conveying-intelligence/
And if you like this, I recommend The Victorian Internet:
https://tomstandage.wordpress.com/books/the-victorian-internet/
https://www.amazon.com/dp/162040592X
This is by the author of "The Switch"[0], a history of the electronic switch. I found the series fascinating and am looking forward to this new series on the Internet.
[0] https://technicshistory.wordpress.com/2018/05/06/the-switch-introduction/
Here's the start of the series: https://technicshistory.wordpress.com/2018/01/20/the-transistor-part-1-groping-in-the-dark/
Or, part 3:Endless Reinvention
https://technicshistory.wordpress.com/2018/03/31/the-transistor-part-3-endless-reinvention/