The top 20 tech books of all time
There is no shortage of books about tech, from the self-absorbed CEO memoirs to code-filled instruction manuals. Here's a glimpse at 20 engaging books about tech or by leaders in the tech industry. Online reviews and feedback from 512tech readers were used in compiling this list.
(Non-fiction)
Amazon Rating: 4.5 out of 5
This is the definitive biography about Apple co-founder Steve Jobs. Written with his participation, but not control, it offers a nuanced take on Jobs and his influence on Apple.
(Non-fiction)
Amazon Rating: 4.5 out of 5
Cringely takes readers through the birth of the computer industry, from the birth of the transistor to the early 1990s. Accidental Empires focuses on the personalities driving it, such as Steve Jobs and Bill Gates.
(Non-fiction)
Amazon Rating: 4.5 out of 5
In the 1960s, computers were considered just giant calculators but J.C.R. Licklider at MIT saw them as communications devices. Hafner and Lyon tell the story of how he and other computer whizzes figured out a way to make computers talked to one another.
(Non-fiction)
Amazon Rating: 4.4 out of 5
A 50-something tech journalist goes to work for a tech start-up. This fish-out-of-water story offers insights into the pitfalls of working for a tech startup.
(Non-fiction)
Amazon rating: 4.6 out of 5
Written by the co-founder of famous VC firm Andreessen Horowitz and based on his blogs, this book offers advice on building and running a startup. The book is praised for its candor and insights into Horowitz's lessons learned.
(Non-fiction)
Amazon Rating: 4.4 out of 5
The birth of the digital age began when two men invented the microchip. This book tells the story of Jack Kilby and Robert Noyce, who discovered how to make the silicon microchip. Kilby won the Nobel Prize in physics in 2000.
(Non-fiction)
Amazon Rating: 4.5 out of 5
This book, released in 2009, has become mandatory reading for tech startups. Instead of creating elaborate business plans and pitching investors on an idea, this book teaches entrepreneurs how to get their companies up and running with little up-front cost.
(Non-fiction)
Amazon Rating: 4.3 out of 5
Written with cooperation from Google management, Levy tells the corporate history of Google. He starts with the tech giant's early days, when co-founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin were Stanford students, and takes readers through the company's explosive growth and forays into non-search businesses, such as YouTube.
(Fiction)
Amazon Rating: 3.5 out of 5
A sharp critique of the pervasive influence of technology and Silicon Valley culture, The Circle is the fictional story of a woman hired by "the world's most powerful Internet company," and what happens when her role in the company becomes increasingly public.
(Non-fiction)
Amazon Rating: 4.2 out of 5
The definitive biography of Andy Grove, the former chairman and CEO of Intel. Grove, who as born in 1936, survived Nazism in Europe and eventually escaped to America. He joined Intel at its founding in 1968.
(Non-fiction)
Amazon Rating: 4.5 out of 5
Investor and PayPal co-founder Peter Thiel wrote Zero to One as a guidebook on entrepreneurs, with a focus on how to build companies that genuinely innovate. The book was inspired by a class Thiel taught on startups at Stanford.
(Non-fiction)
Amazon Rating: 4.4 out of 5
Why do most companies miss out on new waves of innovation? Christensen explains why successful companies often get pushed aside by innovative upstarts. This book is consistently cited as one of the best books on leadership.
(Non-fiction)
Amazon Rating: 4.3 out of 5
The inside story of how Facebook was created. Kirkpatrick had the full cooperation of several Facebook executives in writing this book and he chronicles its early successes and growing influence.
(Non-fiction)
Amazon Rating: 4.4 out of 5
This book isn't a corporate history of Google, but rather seeks to be a "cultural anthropology of search." The book looks at the history of Internet search, assesses Google and its influence and speculates on the wider implications of our increasingly web-connected world.
(Non-fiction)
Amazon Rating: 4.5 out of 5
The CEO of Zappos shares business lessons. Zappos is known for its unusual corporate culture. For instance, employees are paid to quit. This book focuses on how using happiness as a business framework is beneficial.
(Non-fiction)
Amazon Rating: 4.2 out of 5
This provocative book explores whether the Internet is having long-term consequences on our ability to read and think deeply. Carr explores how recent discoveries in neuroscience indicate that our brains are changing in response to new experiences.
(Non-fiction)
Amazon Rating: 4.4 out of 5
The author of the Steve Jobs biography tells the story of the people who launched the digital revolution. From the inventor of computer programming to better-known names such as Bill Gates and Larry Page, Isaacson explores how their minds worked and their ability to collaborate.
(Fiction)
Amazon Rating: 4.6 out of 5
Soon to be made into a movie, this is a book geeks will love. It takes place in the year 2044 and tells the story of teenager Wade Watts, who spends time in a virtual utopia known as OASIS in which there are hidden clues based on pop culture of decades past that will unlock a puzzle.
(Non-fiction)
Before he wrote "Moneyball" and "The Big Short," Michael Lewis wrote about Silicon Valley at the turn of the millennium through the lens of Jim Clark, a billionaire who had founded Netscape and was focused on his next venture.
(Non-fiction)
Amazon Rating: 4.3 out of 5
An ideal read if you're looking for a new job or career transition, Hoffman, a co- founder of LinkedIn, details how job seekers must think take the best practices of Silicon Valley startups and apply it to their careers.
Though they didn't make the Top 20, there are several noteworthy books about tech or startups that were written by Austin authors or about Austin-centric topics.
(Non-fiction)
Amazon Rating: 4.9 out of 5
A guide for entrepreneurs on how to raise money. The book is especially praised for including 15 actual pitch decks used by companies that raised over $150 million.
(Non-fiction)
Amazon Rating: 4.8 out of 5
In the vein of "The Lean Start-Up," Austin resident Mayura offers advice geared toward entrepreneurs, business managers. software programmers and CEOs about how to achieve the right market fit for a new product or venture.
(Non-fiction)
Amazon Rating: 4.1 out of 5
The story of how Michael Dell went from a University of Texas college student to CEO of a Fortune 500 company.
(Non-fiction)
Amazon Rating: 5 out of 5 (but only one reviewer)
Though not based in Austin, ARM has a substantial campus here. This book tells the story of how ARM-based processors can be found inside 95 percent of the world's mobile devices today. The book especially focuses on three mobile manufacturers - Apple, Samsung and Qualcomm.
Amazon.com's book summaries and reviews were used as a resource for plot summaries.
