On How the Internet Happened

This is a really neat book, focusing just as much on the business/economic aspects as the software and hardware ends of it. In many ways, it feels like it was designed specifically for me. I began actively engaging with the internet (or, at least, the World Wide Web) through the development of AIM and a number of web forums (mostly programmed by VBulletin) back in 2006. I went on to turn 13 and register for my Facebook account in 2008, the year the book’s history ends. As such, the book ends exactly when my first experiences of the internet began, filling in all the gaps prior to my own experiences. I would have liked less emphasis on the financial aspects of the web, but I think McCullough is right to focus on them, as the infrastructure we see today would not have survived if it couldn’t be properly monetized.