[2025-02-10]

Oh, it’s not the book of the story but an incredible rhyme about current Tech innovation.

This is the development story of the original super-scale research laboratory of AT&T, a legalized monopoly at the time, which gave birth to the series of foundational science supporting our digital world.

And its modern counterpart, while unmentioned in the book - I’d say unmistakably rhymes with Google.

Where the robust business rather invented forward, boosted/expanded/accelerated all things internet and information, all built on the shoulder of giants from the 20th century.

I wonder now if the same could’ve/should’ve been said about an earlier version of Microsoft of the early 90s - I’m not at all sure though.

Don’t get me wrong, it’s quite a fascinating story on its own - the whole story of 20th-century innovation milestones:

1. Earliest comms (wooden poles and manual routing)
2. Foundational science (Shannon’s information theory)
3. Hardware breakthroughs (Radar, Transistor)
4. Infrastructure (Wireless connection, satellites, Intercontinental calls)
5. Up to the internet

The story is intriguing on many levels: as a managerial case study, glimpses of the scientists’ biographies, and technical project details history.

The thing is - the AT&T was communication, as Google was/is the internet for many people. For both companies - the mission somehow included certain ‘openness’ which allowed its people to pursue research rather freely.