Kara Swisher

This book traces AOL and its predecessors from crisis to crisis over the course of about fifteen years. Things just never settled down for those folks, though many of their troubles could be considered self-inflicted. The story's told entirely from a management perspective and ends in 1997. We all know--as does the book, actually--that the story didn't end where the book ends, but for the period it covers it seems pretty reliable. And despite Steve Case's name in the stupid subtitle, he's not always central to the story.

Swisher clearly had excellent access to the senior staff at AOL and some access to its partners' and rivals' management teams. That makes the book valuable as a secondary source, which is sort of how I encountered it (it's mentioned in Kevin Dricoll's notes to Modem World). Mostly it was an interesting read, though I'd not call it fun. Each chapter's thematic, so there's some backtracking in time and some events are reported more than once. And: the chapter divisions have delightful titles, often drawn from popular songs.

At a personal level, the book kept bringing back thirty to forty year old memories. I first came online using (and sysoping) BBSs in the early 80s. I had an AOL membership for a while, though I was more a CompuServe client. I was aware of some, though hardly all, of the events described, and I was very aware of the context. I think she covered it well.… (mais)