Visionaries, Rebels and Machines

‘An entertaining romp through the history of technology.’

-Adrian Cockcroft - Former Cloud Architect at Netflix and AWS

‘Jamie Dobson has pulled off the impossible—making the history of computing feel like a heist movie.’

-Mark Coleman, Co-Founder and Chief Evangelist at NetBox Labs

‘More than just a book on tech history, this is an enjoyable journey through the failure-fueled cultures that powered innovation, ultimately leading to cloud and AI.’

-Daniel Vaughn, Director, Software Engineering, Mastercard

‘Essential reading for anyone curious about how we got here, and where we’re headed next.’

-Ian Miell - Partner at Container Solutions

‘A fascinating look back at the origins of our modern computing environment: how the technology evolved and, perhaps more importantly, how the people involved made it happen.’

-Steve Freeman, Principal Engineer, Gousto

‘A captivating tale of humanity’s tech evolution—from electrification to AI—told with brilliance and clarity.’

-Jan Wiersma, technology executive and investor.

‘An eye opening story that highlights the power of trial and error and how amazing progress can come through failure by learning from it.’

-Anne Currie, Founder of Strategically Green and author of Building Green Software

‘If you care about innovation, leadership, or the impact of technology on society, this book belongs on your shelf.’

-Jonny Williams, Chief Digital Adviser, Red Hat and Author of Delivery Management: Enabling Teams to Deliver Value

‘An insightful journey through the history of cloud and AI technologies as well as the people who made things happen.’

-Chris Swan, Co-host, Tech Debt Burndown Podcast

‘Technology’s revolutionary journey, artfully rendered.’

-Simon Wardley, Creator of Wardley Maps

‘Told with insightful storytelling, this book reveals how the pioneers of innovation have shaped not only the tools we use, but the very fabric of our society.’

-Philippe Ensarguet, VP Software Engineering, Orange

Jamie Dobson is the co-founder of Container Solutions. A first encounter with a BBC computer and BASIC at the age of nine launched his lifelong passion for programming and software development. In 2000, Jamie graduated from the University of Hull with a degree in Computer Science and in 2003 obtained a master’s degree from the University of Edinburgh were he learnt to program the supercomputers that foreshadowed the world to come. Widely recognised as a leader specialising in building high performance teams and companies, Jamie nowadays helps executive teams to succeed with the cloud. When not faffing about with computers and the people who program them, Jamie lives in Greenwich, London, where he works in peace in his writer’s studio.