The Idea Factory: Bell Labs and the Great Age of American Innovation Audiobook

" Found this to be only slightly insightful. The book possibly tried to cover too much so was unable to attribute a significant level of detail any given area of the history in question. "

" A great book about a unique place in American history. Also, a warning for the future, as in "how do we pay for pure research going forward in this world of the almighty dollar?" "

" This is a wonderful book, not only reporting on the amazing accomplishments of the people at Bell Labs (the transistor, laser, fiber optics, cell phone technology, information theory, etc.) but also discussing the nature of innovation and the conditions necessary to foster it. In some sense the achievements of Bell Labs created a new environment which undermined the very foundation of its success--the Bell System monopoly. However, from the late 1930s to the early 1970s, the technological center of the American economy was in New Jersey and our world continues to benefit from the work of Bell Labs. "

" I'm a huge nerd, so this was a four-star read for me. But, I could see how others might not find it as engaging. Made me appreciate all the smart folks out there who do work that I couldn't possibly comprehend, but that is hugely important to everyday life. "

" A must read for techies. I was just blown away by all of the stuff Bell Labs was responsible for and look forward to touring their site in NJ. "

" engrossing history of the lab that spawned myriad inventions to birth the communication age "

" Need to remember your college physics to totally understand the scientific references-- or just skip the references (which would be the majority of the book). "

" I spent most of my career as a physicist working at the Kodak Research Laboratories. So for me this was a terrific book. "

" I liked learning about inventing new technologies, but it rambled too much. Lost interest and stopped reading. "

" A little dense with the technical talk. I honestly found it quite tough to keep up with the wide cast of characters (even the main ones!) But to a non-engineer, non-physicist like myself, it was a glimpse into a world I'd have never seen otherwise. Definitely worth the read, for the curious. "

" What started out as more of a story about technology ended up a story about people -- a surprisingly moving one, at that. Highly recommended. "

" Fascinating history of the Bell Labs, and just how much of our current technology came out of the fundamental research done at Bell Labs. "

" A bit dry but interesting. Especially liked the idea of how mixing scientists and engineers together allowed ideas to be born and move forward in unique ways. But some of these folks seemed toxic to me. Gives some meaning to the saying " mad scientist ". "

" Would like to know what the modern day result of this history has lead us to. In terms of ideal company structure and ecosystem. "

" Worked with some of the Labs people while @ Lucent. Knew much of the history but a great account of the institutional contribution. Sad to see it fade along with other former US. centers of innovation and excellence. "