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116th out of 261 books
—
180 voters
Copies in Seconds: How a Lone Inventor and an Unknown Company Created the Biggest Communication Breakthrough Since Gutenberg--Chester Car
by
David Owen (Goodreads Author)
The first plain-paper office copier -- which was introduced in 1960 and has been called the most successful product ever marketed in America -- is unusual among major high-technology inventions in that its central process was conceived by a single person. David Owen's fascinating narrative tells the story of the machine nobody thought we needed but now we can't live withou...more
Hardcover, 320 pages
Published
August 3rd 2004
by Simon & Schuster
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One of the great stories that is little known but has changed the world. This guy invented the copier which has fundamentally changed the world (think about how the speed of dissemination of information has changed the world; this guys the second coming of Gutenberg with less fanfare). This book explains how if he had not invented and persevered against extremely difficult circumstances invent, produce, and sell copiers no one would have invented the copier. Per the book this is due to the very...more
One of my favorite books of all time. It is a fascinating story and David is a superb writer. I laughed, I cried, I learned. If you are not willing to be interested in the history of copying and the technology behind the Xerox machine, you will probably find this book tedious at times, but if you’re willing to be interested, David does a great job of making it interesting. In fact, he has made me want to be an engineer!
I am sure many people believe in their invention as much as Carlson did and...more
I am sure many people believe in their invention as much as Carlson did and...more
It was interesting and inspirational. I liked learning and hearing about how Carlson grew up poor and worked to get his invention established and never gave up on his vision. The technical details were a little hard to wade through for a non-technical reader. Well researched and written.
Fascinating book on the life of xerography's creator Chester Carlson.
I'm biased because I worked for Xerox and can relate to this story.
Probably more than anyone would really want to know about Xerox and how it got started unless they were an engineer or connected to the company or Battelle. The book reads in a way like Tracy Kidder's Soul of a New Machine, but with a bit less technical detail. The writer, who clearly has delved deeply into his subject, digresses in places where I was left wondering why the editor didn't tighten the book up by deleting some of the extraneous details.
This is one of the very best biographies I've read. Chester Carlson was an inventor and an innovator in the best sense: the technology that he developed (which became the Xerox and fax machines) was completely isolated from any other advancements being made by his contemporaries, and revolutionized the office-supply industry. An amazing character who really embodied the American dream, Carlson is someone you will never forget after reading this book.
A really interesting history of printing, Xerox, and Chester Carlson.
Started reading it, but had to stop because it was just so relentlessly depressing.
Mar 25, 2013
Andrea
marked it as to-read
Mar 20, 2013
Sankarshan
rated it
4 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
history,
non-fiction
Mar 11, 2013
Daniel G.
marked it as to-read
Jan 18, 2013
Diana
marked it as to-read
Dec 16, 2012
Dan
marked it as to-read
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