Wireless Nation: The Frenzied Launch of the Cellular Revolution in America
Author: James B. Murray Jr., John Sidgmore
List Price: $27.50
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ISBN: B00006JO6L
Publisher: Perseus Publishing (July, 2001)
Sales Rank: 433,551
Average Customer Rating: 4.36 out of 5
Customer Reviews
Rating: 4 out of 5
GREAT book for technology / history buffs
I gave this book 4 stars because, while it was refreshing to read and I definitely learned quite a bit, it wasn't a paradigm-shifting book, which is what I am increasingly moving towards for my 5 star books.Having worked in the telecom industry and on Wall Street I can say that this book is a must read for anyone wanting to know about the cellular industry or telecom in general. I found myself having a difficult time putting the book down at various times as the insight from this insider was unbelievable. Frankly I was behind the curve in the wireless sector as far as my history went but this book did an excellent job of getting me up to speed, describing what a wild ride is was in the sector and the book did an amazing job of telling the stories of some interesting characters involved in the wireless industry during its nascent stage.
Rating: 5 out of 5
Great Background Read
This book is a must-read for anyone involved in the cellular industry, and should be very interesting (and entertaining) for anyone interested in entrepreneurialism or emerging industries. I work in the cellular industry and often hear, from those who worked in the industry in the mid-eighties, references to the "old days." While the current success of the cellular industry makes it seem as if its success was a "no-brainer," Murray makes clear that this was not the case--he does an excellent job of describing the free-wheeling, if not chaotic, beginnings of the industry, the fateful steps and mis-steps of some of the early players, and the vast uncertainty of whether the industry would ever be viable. Most memorably, he provides interesting profiles of some of the pioneers, cowboys, and charlatans that participated in the creation of America's cell-phone sector.
Rating: 3 out of 5
Spectral Analysis
For a book that calls itself wireless nation there is surprisingly little about the technology from the human aspect and how it came to be embraced by the common man. The book is informative,excrutiatingly so, about the early history of wireless spectrum distribution. The tales about the people involved and the way it changed the lives of the lucky few and the unlucky many is charming. However, the author would have done well to describe the phenomenon as it evolved into the ubiquitous tool that it is now, instead of harping on the POP (rights to spectrum in particular regions) distribution for what seems like ever (150 odd pages to be a bit more precise).
There isn't much here for the budding entrepreneur as some of the blurbs proclaim. 'Look ahead and don't give in too soon' is the simple, and only, story retold by every character in this book.
Another surprising fact is the complete lack of mention of the irridium satellite debacle that started of as a promising techno-tool for the same innate human-need, being able to talk on the phone on the move.
Overall, an informative but tedious book, the kind I wouldn't mind reading if only to fill another loophole in my knowledge of the world that surrounds us. Similar Products
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