How the Internet Happened

Brian McCullough vividly recounts the brilliant hunches, happy accidents, and fortuitous timing that converged to create the first 25 years of the internet era. Even for those of us who lived through it, it's astonishing to step back and realize the scale of the changes in human habits, communication, and society as a whole that have occurred in just one generation.--Chris Anderson, head of TED Along with profiling the internet's key players, from Bill Gates to Mark Zuckerberg, McCullough provides an entertaining and informative technological history which computer geeks and readers interested in everything from sociology to business and media will relish.--Carl Hays, Booklist The internet was not meant for the likes of us--and yet we have it, through means that tech historian McCullough capably recounts in this wide-ranging history of the internet era. . . . Most of the individual components of McCullough's story, which closes with the arrival of the "completely, conceptually perfect" iPhone in 2007, are well-documented, but few other histories of modern technology connect them so fluently. In this, the narrative resembles Steven Levy's by now ancient Hackers (1984) and John Markoff's more recent What the Dormouse Said (2005); it compares favorably to both. A tasty, educational treat for tech heads and other web denizens. A detailed and highly insightful overview of the influencers and ideas that have shaped the everyday technologies we take for granted, showing how the Internet has infiltrated our homes and lives to the degree it is today. . . . Tech enthusiasts and students of business, marketing, and ecommerce will benefit from the detailed chronicling of the early Internet days. Readers will delight in being reminded of long-forgotten platforms and in understanding how Internet evangelists, Wall Street, and the moneyed elite have shaped our online lives. Mr. McCullough takes a broader view, showing how a handful of powerful companies--all of them American, in his telling--came to dominate web technology. In his story, the internet didn't happen only because of wizardly coding and cheaper computers. It also happened because of serendipity, failure, friendships and blood feuds.... Such historical tidbits help us see that today's tech titans didn't arrive on the scene as superhuman.--Jon Gertner, Wall Street Journal How the Internet Happened is destined to become the definitive text on how the web became big business--and came to dominate every facet of our lives, from communication to commerce. Painstakingly researched and deftly written, McCullough gives us a comprehensive guide to the startups and CEOs who ushered in the internet age.--Brian Merchant, author of The One Device: The Secret History of the iPhone

Brian McCullough is a two-decade veteran of the internet industry and the founder of various web-based startups. Host of the Internet History Podcast, he was named a 2016 TED Resident. He lives in Brooklyn, New York.