Agent Palmer

I always take notes when I read a book. Part of it comes from wanting the ability to add quotes to the reviews I write, but the bigger picture reason is because sometimes I like to go back to those notes and see them at a later date. By actually being able to read through a small document with all the quotes I pulled, I’ll find the one I remember, and it’s easier than paging through and rereading a whole page.

I bring this up because the notes I collected from reading The Innovators by Walter Isaacson are more than a lot of the other books I have recently read, even some on the same subject.

“From the emergence of the first browser through the boom of social media, this fascinating history reveals how the internet changed everything we thought we knew about technologies–and ourselves.”

That first sentence from the inside cover flap explains in broad strokes what How The Internet Happened: From Netscape to the iPhone is. But it is more than that.

Consider this a love letter to lazy Saturday mornings, sugary breakfast cereals, and a production company whose hits knew no bounds.

Those of us fortunate to have been raised in the 1980s and 1990s fondly recall great Saturday morning cartoons by the handful. This, of course, was long before the ill-fated fall of that blessed Saturday morning programming block forever changed in September 2014. While it’s easy to look back now with fond memories, you might be surprised to learn that many of Saturday morning’s greatest hits were maintained by a single production house.

“The New New Thing” by Michael Lewis is a fantastic trip through the history of Silicon Valley, and beyond that it’s the story of Jim Clark.

He starts by stating that “this book is about a search that occurs on the frontiers of economic life.” But it is also about the history of economics and the technological advancement that brings about growth and change, not just for economics and the market but for everyone.

Looking back at 2015, it’s safe to say that another banner geek year has passed. So let’s take a look into what made this one so special.

Starting at the movies, the record for box office opening was broken twice this year, and almost three times, all with geek movies. First, in May, Avengers: Age of Ultron fell just shy ($191,271,109) of its predecessor, Marvel’s The Avengers ($207,438,708). Then in July, Jurassic World took over the top spot ($208,806,270), and lastly the current record holder from earlier this month, Star Wars: The Force Awakens ($247,966,675).