The Innovators

Walter Isaacson has a knack for choosing interesting people to write about. If it's not his blockbuster on Apple's Steve Jobs, or the great smarty pants Albert Einstein, then it's intellectuals' favorite Benjamin Franklin or ex-Secretary of State Henry Kissinger.

Isaacson's latest tome spans an interesting grouping of people that, similar to the crowd from his previous books, have changed the world and will probably progressively change the world again and again. "The Innovators: How a Group of Hackers, Geniuses, and Geeks Created the Digital Revolution," in true Isaacson fashion, takes no prisoners.

Isaacson, the CEO of the Aspen Institute, has been chairman of CNN and the managing editor of Time Magazine. He started his career as a journalist, and maintains a deep-seated interest in finding answers. Combine that with the fact that he served in government as vice chairman of the Louisiana Recovery Authority, which managed the funds allocated to post-Katrina rebuilding efforts, and as chairman of the US-Palestinian Partnership, and as co-chair on Agent Orange, and, most recently, as Chairman of the Broadcasting Board of Governors, and you have an author who would, himself, be fascinating to read about. But all of that was then; now, Isaacson seems to be focused on his literary career and his seeming love for all things digital.

In "The Innovators," Isaacson delves into digital ownership and patent rights. His personal opinion of being pro-open source is not new at all, but still gladly welcomed in an era in which Microsoft has taken a backseat and Apple has stood up, primarily due to great and innovative design. But innovation -- and Isaacson brings this into his book so eloquently -- is about more than just design: It needs a pragmatic outlet.

Isaacson's biggest focus in the book is about collective ideas and how no one (and he humbly included himself here) can achieve things alone. Everyone benefits when there is a sharing, and, of course, the digital world has opened this up for everyone, from kids learning to use an iPad, to an older generation opening up their world with the Internet.

Isaacson is not a naysayer, but luckily he also is not an idiotic groupie. He has a generally positive take on the way tech has wrapped its tentacles around modern life, with plenty of success stories to draw on from the digital sphere. He includes geniuses, geeks, and even hackers, giving the book a less evangelical feel and more of a lyrical tone.

"The Innovators: How a Group of Hackers, Geniuses, and Geeks Created the Digital Revolution"
Walter Isaacson
$21.00
Simon & Schuster