--- product_id: 12951813 title: "A History of Modern Computing, second edition (History of Computing)" brand: "paul e. ceruzziwilliam aspray" price: "฿3884" currency: THB in_stock: true reviews_count: 13 url: https://www.desertcart.co.th/products/12951813-a-history-of-modern-computing-second-edition-history-of-computing store_origin: TH region: Thailand --- # A History of Modern Computing, second edition (History of Computing) **Brand:** paul e. ceruzziwilliam aspray **Price:** ฿3884 **Availability:** ✅ In Stock ## Quick Answers - **What is this?** A History of Modern Computing, second edition (History of Computing) by paul e. ceruzziwilliam aspray - **How much does it cost?** ฿3884 with free shipping - **Is it available?** Yes, in stock and ready to ship - **Where can I buy it?** [www.desertcart.co.th](https://www.desertcart.co.th/products/12951813-a-history-of-modern-computing-second-edition-history-of-computing) ## Best For - paul e. ceruzziwilliam aspray enthusiasts ## Why This Product - Trusted paul e. ceruzziwilliam aspray brand quality - Free international shipping included - Worldwide delivery with tracking - 15-day hassle-free returns ## Description A History of Modern Computing, second edition (History of Computing) ## Images ![A History of Modern Computing, second edition (History of Computing) - Image 1](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/71Fq2tynraL.jpg) ## Customer Reviews ### ⭐⭐⭐⭐ 4.0 out of 5 stars A history of modern computing *by P***S on Reviewed in the United States on May 7, 2016* Review of Ceruzzi’s "A history of modern computing" by Paul F. Ross Paul Ceruzzi, working from his position as Curator of Aerospace Electronics and Computing at the National Air and Space Museum in Washington DC, writes a history of “the computer” as it is known today. He points to five “transitions” … … late 1940s, transition from specialized scientific instrument to commercialized product … late 1960s emergence of small systems … early 1970s arrival of personal computing … 1985 spread of networking … 1995 rise of the dot-coms and open-source softwareThe read is interesting and straightforward. It details “computers” as machinery, mechanical and electronic, covering the last seven decades or so. Ceruzzi understands correctly that the history of a____________________________________________________________________________________Ceruzzi, Paul E. "A history of modern computing" 2003, Second Edition, MIT Press, Cambridge MA, xiii + 445 pages____________________________________________________________________________________technology is not simply a listing of the technological details. It also is a report of the social and economic elements that influenced those details. Ceruzzi quotes Mark Twain (p 207) who said: “Very few things happen at the right time, and the rest do not happen at all. The conscientious historian will correct these defects.” This reader does not find Ceruzzi adding things that “did not happen at all” and applauds Ceruzzi for helping the reader see the connection between things that “did not happen at the right time.” This reader – :: – having used IBM punched cards and accounting machinery as a graduate student in the early 1950s to generate matrices of sums of squares and cross products on the way to calculating correlation matrices, reducing those sums to the correlation matrix using a Friden desk calculator … having declared in 1955 that he could not work far from a mainframe computer and a major university library … having carried punched cards to the computer room for processing by the IBM 702 at Prudential Insurance Company the following year … having supervised the development of software to generate statistics from responses to questionnaire items at Exxon in 1959 … having assisted a university in considering use of its newly purchased IBM 360 for budgeting and financial management in 1964 … having purchased his first IBM-clone personal computer (made by Olivetti for AT&T) in the 1980s … having programmed using the C language in the 1980s … having participated in computer-linked working teams at Digital Equipment Corporation in the late 1980s … having participated in widely dispersed (geographically speaking) professional teams at Texas Instruments in the 1990s … having joined the internet world from his desk at home in the 1990s … having purchased the computer being used to write this review by asking a computer vendor to assemble components (motherboard, CPU, power supply, disk storage, memory, optical drive, operating system, software features, I/O features, etc.) to my specifications – :: – feels like he’s lived the history Ceruzzi is describing. This reader lived in a Boston, Massachusetts suburb from 1965 to 1998 amidst people and places where important computing events were popping. Even in retirement, he finds himself living in a computing hotbed, his 1955 declaration having indeed been a course-setter for his career. This reader does very little work or participates in very little interaction with others in which his computer is not part of the action. Since IBM “big iron” dominated computing from the 1950s into the 1980s, I expected Ceruzzi’s history to be “all IBM.” Happily, it is not. He follows other developments in appropriate detail. It is a delightful read. Ceruzzi’s history has its missing elements. Living, computing, and reading in 2016, Ceruzzi’s history’s “closing date” of 2003 seems to be a long time ago. This reader having viewed the growth of the integrated circuit through reading a biography of Gordon Moore (Thackray et al, 2015) recently, the impact of the circuit printed on silicon seems almost to have been bypassed by Ceruzzi. “Bad guys” have learned to use computers and attack individual and organizational vulnerabilities with the necessary sprouting of countermeasures, and this part of computing history is missing. “Communicating,” “doing work,” and “having fun” are at the core of today’s computer applications and these central uses do not emerge from Ceruzzi’s history of manufacturers and model numbers. The important, almost dominating, role of software houses and their effects upon hardware architecture are not touched. Use of files accessible by internet as the world’s online library is not touched. Communicating is as much a part of using computers today as what happens within arm’s reach at one’s desk or on one’s portable device yet the impact of these demands upon the at-one’s-hand technology and telecommunicating technology and business is not touched. Digital photography came into being in the time period covered by this history and its effects upon “computer use” and communication content has been real. Ceruzzi does not include this facet of the new century’s use of computing technology. We learn almost nothing about Apple, Dell, Compaq, Hewlett Packard, AMD, Lenovo, Samsung, and the like. Reading Ceruzzi’s history is, indeed, satisfying. But it also leaves one with a hunger requiring much more before even for-the-time-being satisfaction is accomplished. I have several other histories in my “to be read” stack including Campbell-Kelly et al’s Computer: A history of the information machine (2014). See the list of references. Some of the references are in my “already read” stack.Bellevue, Washington7 May 2016Copyright © 2016 by Paul F. Ross All rights reserved.ReferencesCampbell-Kelly, Martin, Aspray, William, Ensmenger, Nathan, and Yost, Jeffrey R. Computer: A history of the information machine 2014, Westview Press, Boulder COCeruzzi, Paul E. A history of modern computing 2003, Second Edition, MIT Press, Cambridge MAColwell, Robert P. The Ptentium chronicles: The people, passion, and politics behind Intel’s landmark chips 2006, Wiley-Interscience, Hoboken NJGates, Bill The road ahead 1996, The Penguin Group, New York NYMalone, Michael S. The Intel trinity: How Robert Noyce, Gordon Moore, and Andy Grove built the world’s most important company 2014, HarperCollins Publishers, New York NYReid, T. R. The chip: How two Americans invented the microchip and launched a revolution Second edition. 2001, Random House Trade Paperbacks, New York NYRifkin, Glenn and Harrar, George The ultimate entrepreneur: The story of Ken Olsen and Digital Equipment Corporation 1988, Contemporary Books, Chicago ILSchein, Edgar H. DEC is dead; Long live DEC: Lessons on innovation, technology, and the business gene – The lasting legacy of Digital Equipment Corporation 2003, Berrett-Koehler Publishers Inc., San Francisco CASegaller, Stephen Nerds 2.0.1: A brief history of the internet 1999, TV Books, New York, NYThackray, Arnold, Brock, David C., and Jones, Rachel Moore’s Law: The life of Gordon Moore, Sillicon Valley’s quiet revolutionary 2015, Basic Books, New York NY ### ⭐⭐⭐⭐ 4.0 out of 5 stars Fascinating, but Incomplete *by J***N on Reviewed in the United States on December 25, 2012* I really enjoyed this history of the computer industry - it provides insight into how programmers from previous eras would have perceived their tasks - running around with punch cards between different card readers, batch processing & sequential file access, the advent of time switching, the flicking of switches on the front of an Altair to set the register contents, & why a BIOS & a Disk Operating System were such a breakthrough.Some glaring omissions include leaving out the computer game industry and evolution of software engineering paradigms - not much on C++, OOP, components, SOA, etc - for this, Wikipedia is still the most useful source of info.One takeaway from this book is how rapidly a vendor can go from hero to zero - the recent upheaval of the emergence of tablets & smartphones and the decline of the desktop comes to mind.Your modern programmer is largely shielded from the intricacies of memory management and low level programming. In a way it documents the success of a bygone era: Computation has been commoditized for content consumption - the next generation will not have the concept exposure for DIY garage-style engineering.All in all, a good read. ### ⭐⭐⭐⭐ 4.0 out of 5 stars The long, but complete, story of computing *by Z***N on Reviewed in the United States on October 8, 2015* I can't imagine how difficult it is to write a book on the history of computers. It is a history filled with filing cabinets and pocket protectors, pasty old white men and insurmountable bureaucracies, cantankerous spinning memory devices and giant cabinets of wires, and out of all that has come the digitally connected, globalized world in which we all reside. I came to this book looking for the A to B linear path from the invention of the transistor to my cell-phone, and although that isn't really what I found I can't say I was dissapointed. This book covers every step and deviation along the path of digital computing from the late 40's onward, and although it's a tough read at times, the picture it paints of the slow and steady acceleration of excitement and innovation in the design and implementation of computing devices is worth it. --- ## Why Shop on Desertcart? - 🛒 **Trusted by 1.3+ Million Shoppers** — Serving international shoppers since 2016 - 🌍 **Shop Globally** — Access 737+ million products across 21 categories - 💰 **No Hidden Fees** — All customs, duties, and taxes included in the price - 🔄 **15-Day Free Returns** — Hassle-free returns (30 days for PRO members) - 🔒 **Secure Payments** — Trusted payment options with buyer protection - ⭐ **TrustPilot Rated 4.5/5** — Based on 8,000+ happy customer reviews **Shop now:** [https://www.desertcart.co.th/products/12951813-a-history-of-modern-computing-second-edition-history-of-computing](https://www.desertcart.co.th/products/12951813-a-history-of-modern-computing-second-edition-history-of-computing) --- *Product available on Desertcart Thailand* *Store origin: TH* *Last updated: 2026-05-16*