-
Shareware Heroes
- The Renegades Who Redefined Gaming at the Dawn of the Internet
- Narrated by: Richard Moss
- Length: 9 hrs and 12 mins
Failed to add items
Add to Cart failed.
Add to Wish List failed.
Remove from wishlist failed.
Adding to library failed
Follow podcast failed
Unfollow podcast failed
Prime members: New to Audible?Get 2 free audiobooks during trial.
Shareware Heroes
Buy for $17.19
No default payment method selected.
We are sorry. We are not allowed to sell this product with the selected payment method
Listeners also enjoyed...
-
Doom Guy
- Life in First Person
- By: John Romero
- Narrated by: John Romero
- Length: 17 hrs and 4 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall5 out of 5 stars 221
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars 185
-
Story5 out of 5 stars 185
Doom Guy: Life in First Person is the long-awaited autobiography of gaming’s original rock star and the cocreator of DOOM, Quake, and Wolfenstein—some of the most recognizable and important titles in video game history. Credited with the invention of the first-person shooter, a genre that continues to dominate the market today, he is gaming royalty. Told in remarkable detail, a byproduct of his hyperthymesia, Romero recounts his storied career.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Intimate stories of gaming history in First Person
- By Emyli on 07-28-23
By: John Romero
-
Once upon Atari
- How I Made History by Killing an Industry
- By: Howard Scott Warshaw
- Narrated by: Howard Scott Warshaw
- Length: 11 hrs and 17 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 56
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 51
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 51
Once upon Atari is an intimate view into the dramatic rise and fall of the early video game industry, and how it shaped the life of one of its key players. This book offers eye-opening details and insights delivered in a creative style that mirrors the industry it reveals. An innovative work from one of the industry’s original innovators.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Awesome
- By Aaron Valdes on 07-22-23
-
Making It So
- A Memoir
- By: Patrick Stewart
- Narrated by: Patrick Stewart
- Length: 18 hrs and 50 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall5 out of 5 stars 1,613
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars 1,482
-
Story5 out of 5 stars 1,482
From his acclaimed stage triumphs to his legendary onscreen work in the Star Trek and X-Men franchises, Sir Patrick Stewart has captivated audiences around the world and across multiple generations with his indelible command of stage and screen. Now, he presents his long-awaited memoir, Making It So, a revealing portrait of an artist whose astonishing life—from his humble beginnings in Yorkshire, England, to the heights of Hollywood and worldwide acclaim—proves a story as exuberant, definitive, and enduring as the author himself.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Incredible! So much more than a memoir
- By Jason on 10-04-23
By: Patrick Stewart
-
Control Freak
- My Epic Adventure Making Video Games
- By: Cliff Bleszinski
- Narrated by: Kurt Kanazawa
- Length: 9 hrs and 24 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 157
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 137
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 136
Video games are dominating the planet. In 2020, they brought in $180 billion dollars globally—nearly $34 billion in the United States alone. So who are the brilliant designers who create these stunning virtual worlds? Cliff Bleszinski—or CliffyB as he is known to gamers—is one of the few who’ve reached mythical, rock-star status. In Control Freak, he gives an unvarnished, all-access tour of the business.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
CliffyB is a Legend as is his Tome
- By J. Beard on 06-17-23
By: Cliff Bleszinski
-
Going Infinite
- The Rise and Fall of a New Tycoon
- By: Michael Lewis
- Narrated by: Michael Lewis
- Length: 8 hrs and 56 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 1,768
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 1,606
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 1,604
When Michael Lewis first met him, Sam Bankman-Fried was the world’s youngest billionaire and crypto’s Gatsby. CEOs, celebrities, and leaders of small countries all vied for his time and cash after he catapulted, practically overnight, onto the Forbes billionaire list. Who was this rumpled guy in cargo shorts and limp white socks, whose eyes twitched across Zoom meetings as he played video games on the side? In Going Infinite Lewis sets out to answer this question, taking listeners into the mind of Bankman-Fried.
-
1 out of 5 stars
-
really expected more rigor from Michael Lewis
- By Wowhello on 10-04-23
By: Michael Lewis
-
Sid Meier's Memoir!
- A Life in Computer Games
- By: Sid Meier, Jennifer Lee Noonan - contributor
- Narrated by: Charles Constant
- Length: 8 hrs and 32 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 468
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 379
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 376
Over his four-decade career, Sid Meier has produced some of the world's most popular video games, including Sid Meier's Civilization, which has sold more than 51 million units worldwide and accumulated more than one billion hours of play. Sid Meier's Memoir! is the story of an obsessive young computer enthusiast who helped launch a multibillion-dollar industry.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Only the Interesting Stuff
- By R. Squyres on 10-05-21
By: Sid Meier, and others
-
Doom Guy
- Life in First Person
- By: John Romero
- Narrated by: John Romero
- Length: 17 hrs and 4 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall5 out of 5 stars 221
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars 185
-
Story5 out of 5 stars 185
Doom Guy: Life in First Person is the long-awaited autobiography of gaming’s original rock star and the cocreator of DOOM, Quake, and Wolfenstein—some of the most recognizable and important titles in video game history. Credited with the invention of the first-person shooter, a genre that continues to dominate the market today, he is gaming royalty. Told in remarkable detail, a byproduct of his hyperthymesia, Romero recounts his storied career.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Intimate stories of gaming history in First Person
- By Emyli on 07-28-23
By: John Romero
-
Once upon Atari
- How I Made History by Killing an Industry
- By: Howard Scott Warshaw
- Narrated by: Howard Scott Warshaw
- Length: 11 hrs and 17 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 56
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 51
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 51
Once upon Atari is an intimate view into the dramatic rise and fall of the early video game industry, and how it shaped the life of one of its key players. This book offers eye-opening details and insights delivered in a creative style that mirrors the industry it reveals. An innovative work from one of the industry’s original innovators.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Awesome
- By Aaron Valdes on 07-22-23
-
Making It So
- A Memoir
- By: Patrick Stewart
- Narrated by: Patrick Stewart
- Length: 18 hrs and 50 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall5 out of 5 stars 1,613
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars 1,482
-
Story5 out of 5 stars 1,482
From his acclaimed stage triumphs to his legendary onscreen work in the Star Trek and X-Men franchises, Sir Patrick Stewart has captivated audiences around the world and across multiple generations with his indelible command of stage and screen. Now, he presents his long-awaited memoir, Making It So, a revealing portrait of an artist whose astonishing life—from his humble beginnings in Yorkshire, England, to the heights of Hollywood and worldwide acclaim—proves a story as exuberant, definitive, and enduring as the author himself.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Incredible! So much more than a memoir
- By Jason on 10-04-23
By: Patrick Stewart
-
Control Freak
- My Epic Adventure Making Video Games
- By: Cliff Bleszinski
- Narrated by: Kurt Kanazawa
- Length: 9 hrs and 24 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 157
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 137
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 136
Video games are dominating the planet. In 2020, they brought in $180 billion dollars globally—nearly $34 billion in the United States alone. So who are the brilliant designers who create these stunning virtual worlds? Cliff Bleszinski—or CliffyB as he is known to gamers—is one of the few who’ve reached mythical, rock-star status. In Control Freak, he gives an unvarnished, all-access tour of the business.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
CliffyB is a Legend as is his Tome
- By J. Beard on 06-17-23
By: Cliff Bleszinski
-
Going Infinite
- The Rise and Fall of a New Tycoon
- By: Michael Lewis
- Narrated by: Michael Lewis
- Length: 8 hrs and 56 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 1,768
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 1,606
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 1,604
When Michael Lewis first met him, Sam Bankman-Fried was the world’s youngest billionaire and crypto’s Gatsby. CEOs, celebrities, and leaders of small countries all vied for his time and cash after he catapulted, practically overnight, onto the Forbes billionaire list. Who was this rumpled guy in cargo shorts and limp white socks, whose eyes twitched across Zoom meetings as he played video games on the side? In Going Infinite Lewis sets out to answer this question, taking listeners into the mind of Bankman-Fried.
-
1 out of 5 stars
-
really expected more rigor from Michael Lewis
- By Wowhello on 10-04-23
By: Michael Lewis
-
Sid Meier's Memoir!
- A Life in Computer Games
- By: Sid Meier, Jennifer Lee Noonan - contributor
- Narrated by: Charles Constant
- Length: 8 hrs and 32 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 468
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 379
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 376
Over his four-decade career, Sid Meier has produced some of the world's most popular video games, including Sid Meier's Civilization, which has sold more than 51 million units worldwide and accumulated more than one billion hours of play. Sid Meier's Memoir! is the story of an obsessive young computer enthusiast who helped launch a multibillion-dollar industry.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Only the Interesting Stuff
- By R. Squyres on 10-05-21
By: Sid Meier, and others
-
Long Live Mortal Kombat, Round 1
- The Fatalities and Fandom of the Arcade Era
- By: David L. Craddock, John Tobias - foreword, James Rolfe - foreword
- Narrated by: Andy Ingalls
- Length: 21 hrs and 32 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 36
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars 34
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 34
To politicians and parents, Mortal Kombat was a menace to society. To gamers, it was a way of life. From dedicated hustlers who put thousands of miles on their odometers driving coast to coast to challenge the top players in arcades, to fans who devote their free time to collecting action figures, setting world records, and plumbing the depths of its lore, the Mortal Kombat franchise has topped sales charts for thirty years, and its popularity shows no signs of waning. But before Mortal Kombat offended politicians and sold over 12 million units, executives at Midway saw it as filler.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
As comprehensive as it is enthralling
- By Patrick P. on 02-25-24
By: David L. Craddock, and others
-
The Demon-Haunted World
- Science as a Candle in the Dark
- By: Carl Sagan
- Narrated by: Cary Elwes, Seth MacFarlane
- Length: 17 hrs and 23 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 5,219
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 4,589
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 4,558
How can we make intelligent decisions about our increasingly technology-driven lives if we don’t understand the difference between the myths of pseudoscience and the testable hypotheses of science? Pulitzer Prize-winning author and distinguished astronomer Carl Sagan argues that scientific thinking is critical not only to the pursuit of truth but to the very well-being of our democratic institutions.
-
3 out of 5 stars
-
Some good points, but not a great book
- By William Jenks on 07-25-19
By: Carl Sagan
-
What's Our Problem?
- A Self-Help Book for Societies
- By: Tim Urban
- Narrated by: Tim Urban
- Length: 13 hrs and 58 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 431
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars 379
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 376
From the creator of the wildly popular blog Wait but Why, a fun and fascinating deep dive into what the hell is going on in our strange, unprecedented modern times.
-
2 out of 5 stars
-
Good for a while but then goes hard off the rails
- By g27c on 04-20-23
By: Tim Urban
-
The Soul of a New Machine
- By: Tracy Kidder
- Narrated by: Ben Sullivan
- Length: 9 hrs and 3 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 647
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 559
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 558
Computers have changed since 1981, when Tracy Kidder memorably recorded the drama, comedy, and excitement of one company's efforts to bring a new microcomputer to market. What has not changed is the feverish pace of the high-tech industry, the go-for-broke approach to business that has caused so many computer companies to win big (or go belly up), and the cult of pursuing mind-bending technological innovations.
-
4 out of 5 stars
-
Reading this book changed my life
- By Timothy Knox on 08-12-16
By: Tracy Kidder
-
Fancy Bear Goes Phishing
- The Dark History of the Information Age, in Five Extraordinary Hacks
- By: Scott J. Shapiro
- Narrated by: Jonathan Todd Ross
- Length: 15 hrs and 9 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 65
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 60
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 60
It’s a signal paradox of our times that we live in an information society but do not know how it works. And without understanding how our information is stored, used, and protected, we are vulnerable to having it exploited. In Fancy Bear Goes Phishing, Scott J. Shapiro draws on his popular Yale University class about hacking to expose the secrets of the digital age. With lucidity and wit, he establishes that cybercrime has less to do with defective programming than with the faulty wiring of our psyches and society.
-
2 out of 5 stars
-
I can't seem to like this book...
- By Ken Vanden branden on 07-23-23
By: Scott J. Shapiro
-
The Steal Like an Artist Audio Trilogy
- How to Be Creative, Show Your Work, and Keep Going
- By: Austin Kleon
- Narrated by: Austin Kleon
- Length: 4 hrs and 32 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall5 out of 5 stars 1,513
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars 1,242
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 1,232
Read by then author, this is an audio compilation of Steal Like an Artist, Show Your Work and Keep Going, the bestselling and transformative series on how to unlock your creativity, find community and an audience in the digital age, and stay focused, creative and true to yourself—for life. Includes full text from Steal Like an Artist, on the ten things nobody ever told you about being creative; Show Your Work, on how to take that critical next step on a creative journey; and Keep Going, for anyone trying to sustain a productive life.
-
1 out of 5 stars
-
A boring non focus ramble
- By Kenneth Noel on 06-07-21
By: Austin Kleon
-
Not All Fairy Tales Have Happy Endings
- The Rise and Fall of Sierra On-Line
- By: Ken Williams
- Narrated by: Josh Horowitz
- Length: 10 hrs and 25 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 254
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 213
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 213
Sierra On-Line was one of the very first computer game companies and at one time dominated the industry. The author, Ken Williams, founded Sierra On-Line with his wife Roberta who went on to create many of the company's best-selling games. Sierra grew from just Ken and Roberta to over 1,000 employees and a fan base that still exists today, despite the fact that the company was torn apart by criminal activities, scandal, and corruption that resulted in jail sentences and the collapse of Sierra.
-
4 out of 5 stars
-
a fitting ending to Sierra
- By Darrell on 05-10-21
By: Ken Williams
-
Stay Awhile and Listen
- How Two Blizzards Unleashed Diablo and Forged a Video-Game Empire, Book 1
- By: David L. Craddock
- Narrated by: Mike Rylander
- Length: 8 hrs and 55 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 198
-
Performance4 out of 5 stars 184
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 184
Composed from exhaustive research and hundreds of personal interviews, the Stay Awhile and Listen series divulges the fated meeting that brought the two Blizzards together, the clashes that tore them apart, and their transformation from grassroots democracy to corporate empire. At the center of it all - Diablo, a hack-and-slash adventure through the darkest recesses of Hell that changed online gaming forever.
-
4 out of 5 stars
-
Interesting look into the history of Blizzard
- By Matt C on 09-06-17
-
The Song of Significance
- A New Manifesto for Teams
- By: Seth Godin
- Narrated by: Seth Godin
- Length: 4 hrs and 21 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 76
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 67
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 67
The Song of Significance is a rousing contemplation on work: why it is the way it is, why it’s gotten so bad, what all of us–especially leaders–can do to make it better.
-
3 out of 5 stars
-
A Word on the Work
- By Allan on 06-01-23
By: Seth Godin
-
The Second Coming of Steve Jobs
- By: Alan Deutschman
- Narrated by: Charles Stransky
- Length: 7 hrs and 53 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 1,295
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 216
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 215
From the acclaimed Vanity Fair and GQ journalist–an unprecedented, in-depth portrait of the man whose return to Apple precipitated one of the biggest turnarounds in business history. With a new epilogue on Apple’s future survival in today’s roller-coaster economy, here is the revealing biography that blew away the critics and stirred controversy within industry and media circles around the country.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
The Magic and Mayhem Behind the Icon
- By Adam on 01-06-03
By: Alan Deutschman
-
Disrupting the Game
- From the Bronx to the Top of Nintendo
- By: Reggie Fils-Aimé
- Narrated by: Reggie Fils-Aimé
- Length: 8 hrs and 17 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 765
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars 666
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 663
Reggie Fils-Aimé, retired President and Chief Operating Officer of Nintendo of America Inc., shares leadership lessons and inspiring stories from his unlikely rise to the top. Learn from Reggie how to leverage disruptive thinking to pinpoint the life choices that will make you truly happy, conquer negative perceptions from those who underestimate or outright dismiss you, and master the grit, perseverance, and resilience it takes to dominate in the business world and to reach your professional dreams.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Engaging Autobiography
- By Ryan on 12-07-22
By: Reggie Fils-Aimé
-
Valley of Genius
- By: Adam Fisher
- Narrated by: Pete Larkin
- Length: 18 hrs and 53 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 323
-
Performance4 out of 5 stars 282
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 280
A candid, colorful, and comprehensive oral history that reveals the secrets of Silicon Valley - from the origins of Apple and Atari to the present day clashes of Google and Facebook, and all the start-ups and disruptions that happened along the way. Drawing on over 200 in-depth interviews, Valley of Genius takes listeners from the dawn of the personal computer and the Internet, through the heyday of the web, up to the very moment when our current technological reality was invented.
-
2 out of 5 stars
-
Difficult
- By ElJaws on 07-27-18
By: Adam Fisher
Publisher's summary
Shareware Heroes is a comprehensive, meticulously researched exploration of an important and too-long overlooked chapter in video game history
Shareware Heroes: The renegades who redefined gaming at the dawn of the internet takes listeners on a journey, from the beginnings of the shareware model in the early 1980s, the origins of the concept, even the name itself, and the rise of shareware's major players—the likes of id Software, Apogee, and Epic MegaGames—through to the significance of shareware for the "forgotten" systems—the Mac, Atari ST, Amiga—when commercial game publishers turned away from them.
This book also charts the emergence of commercial shareware distributors like Educorp and the BBS/newsgroup sharing culture. And it explores how shareware developers plugged gaps in the video gaming market by creating games in niche and neglected genres like vertically-scrolling shoot-'em-ups (e.g. Raptor and Tyrian), or racing games (e.g. Wacky Wheels and Skunny Kart), or RPGs (God of Thunder and Realmz), until finally, as the video game market again grew and shifted, and major publishers took control, how the shareware system faded into the background and fell from memory.
More from the same
Narrator
Related to this topic
-
Electronic Dreams
- How 1980s Britain Learned to Love the Computer
- By: Tom Lean
- Narrated by: Mark Meadows
- Length: 10 hrs
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 22
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars 20
-
Story5 out of 5 stars 20
In Electronic Dreams, Tom Lean tells the story of how computers invaded British homes for the first time, as people set aside their worries of electronic brains and Big Brother and embraced the wonder technology of the 1980s. This book charts the history of the rise and fall of the home computer, the family of futuristic and quirky machines that took computing from the realm of science and science fiction to being a user-friendly domestic technology.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Awesome outline of electronic history
- By Johnny on 09-28-17
By: Tom Lean
-
Designers & Dragons: The '70s
- A History of the Roleplaying Game Industry
- By: Shannon Appelcline
- Narrated by: Colby Elliott
- Length: 14 hrs and 38 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 55
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 43
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 43
Designers & Dragons: The ’70s is a comprehensive picture of the beginnings of the RPG industry. This second edition expands the original single book into a series of four, and we’ve added over 50,000 new words to this volume alone. Learn about the colorful history of TSR and the wave of D&D inspired games (and gaming companies) to follow, and dip your toes into war gaming trivia. Regardless of your gaming background, Shannon Appelcline’s meticulously researched history won’t disappoint.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
the forgotten realm of where RPGs arize
- By RAW-ATX on 01-02-22
-
Service Games
- The Rise and Fall of SEGA: Enhanced Edition
- By: Sam Pettus
- Narrated by: Tom Racine
- Length: 17 hrs and 13 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 223
-
Performance4 out of 5 stars 204
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 204
New Edition! More content, images, and corrected text and facts. Monochrome edition. Starting with its humble beginnings in the 1950s and ending with its swan-song, the Dreamcast, in the early 2000s, this is the complete history of Sega as a console maker. Before home computers and video game consoles, before the Internet and social networking, and before motion controls and smartphones, there was Sega.
-
4 out of 5 stars
-
The Story of the Fall of Sega
- By Austin on 01-05-15
By: Sam Pettus
-
Trade-Off
- Why Some Things Catch On, and Others Don't
- By: Kevin Maney
- Narrated by: Dennis Holland
- Length: 6 hrs and 58 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 50
-
Performance4 out of 5 stars 28
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 28
In Trade-Off, Kevin Maney shows how these conflicting forces determine the success, or failure, of new products and services in the marketplace. He shows that almost every decision we make as consumers involves a trade-off between fidelity and convenience between the products we love and the products we need.
-
4 out of 5 stars
-
No Trade-Offs for Reading Trade-Off
- By Joshua Kim on 06-10-12
By: Kevin Maney
-
Broad Band
- The Untold Story of the Women Who Made the Internet
- By: Claire L. Evans
- Narrated by: Claire L. Evans
- Length: 9 hrs and 1 min
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 172
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 146
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 145
Women are not ancillary to the history of technology; they turn up at the very beginning of every important wave. But they've often been hidden in plain sight, their inventions and contributions touching our lives in ways we don't even realize. Vice reporter and YACHT lead singer Claire L. Evans finally gives these unsung female heroes their due with her insightful social history of the Broad Band, the women who made the Internet what it is today. Evans shows us how these women built and colored the technologies we can't imagine life without.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Inspiring
- By Jean on 03-29-18
By: Claire L. Evans
-
The Friendly Orange Glow
- The Untold Story of the PLATO System and the Dawn of Cyberculture
- By: Brian Dear
- Narrated by: George Newbern
- Length: 21 hrs and 6 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 114
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars 106
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 106
At a time when Steve Jobs was only a teenager and Mark Zuckerberg wasn't even born, a group of visionary engineers and designers - some of them only high school students - in the late 1960s and 1970s created a computer system called PLATO, which was not only years but light-years ahead in experimenting with how people would learn, engage, communicate, and play through connected computers.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Memory lane for the cyberist.
- By Robert C. Hickcox on 08-08-18
By: Brian Dear
-
Electronic Dreams
- How 1980s Britain Learned to Love the Computer
- By: Tom Lean
- Narrated by: Mark Meadows
- Length: 10 hrs
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 22
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars 20
-
Story5 out of 5 stars 20
In Electronic Dreams, Tom Lean tells the story of how computers invaded British homes for the first time, as people set aside their worries of electronic brains and Big Brother and embraced the wonder technology of the 1980s. This book charts the history of the rise and fall of the home computer, the family of futuristic and quirky machines that took computing from the realm of science and science fiction to being a user-friendly domestic technology.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Awesome outline of electronic history
- By Johnny on 09-28-17
By: Tom Lean
-
Designers & Dragons: The '70s
- A History of the Roleplaying Game Industry
- By: Shannon Appelcline
- Narrated by: Colby Elliott
- Length: 14 hrs and 38 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 55
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 43
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 43
Designers & Dragons: The ’70s is a comprehensive picture of the beginnings of the RPG industry. This second edition expands the original single book into a series of four, and we’ve added over 50,000 new words to this volume alone. Learn about the colorful history of TSR and the wave of D&D inspired games (and gaming companies) to follow, and dip your toes into war gaming trivia. Regardless of your gaming background, Shannon Appelcline’s meticulously researched history won’t disappoint.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
the forgotten realm of where RPGs arize
- By RAW-ATX on 01-02-22
-
Service Games
- The Rise and Fall of SEGA: Enhanced Edition
- By: Sam Pettus
- Narrated by: Tom Racine
- Length: 17 hrs and 13 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 223
-
Performance4 out of 5 stars 204
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 204
New Edition! More content, images, and corrected text and facts. Monochrome edition. Starting with its humble beginnings in the 1950s and ending with its swan-song, the Dreamcast, in the early 2000s, this is the complete history of Sega as a console maker. Before home computers and video game consoles, before the Internet and social networking, and before motion controls and smartphones, there was Sega.
-
4 out of 5 stars
-
The Story of the Fall of Sega
- By Austin on 01-05-15
By: Sam Pettus
-
Trade-Off
- Why Some Things Catch On, and Others Don't
- By: Kevin Maney
- Narrated by: Dennis Holland
- Length: 6 hrs and 58 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 50
-
Performance4 out of 5 stars 28
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 28
In Trade-Off, Kevin Maney shows how these conflicting forces determine the success, or failure, of new products and services in the marketplace. He shows that almost every decision we make as consumers involves a trade-off between fidelity and convenience between the products we love and the products we need.
-
4 out of 5 stars
-
No Trade-Offs for Reading Trade-Off
- By Joshua Kim on 06-10-12
By: Kevin Maney
-
Broad Band
- The Untold Story of the Women Who Made the Internet
- By: Claire L. Evans
- Narrated by: Claire L. Evans
- Length: 9 hrs and 1 min
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 172
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 146
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 145
Women are not ancillary to the history of technology; they turn up at the very beginning of every important wave. But they've often been hidden in plain sight, their inventions and contributions touching our lives in ways we don't even realize. Vice reporter and YACHT lead singer Claire L. Evans finally gives these unsung female heroes their due with her insightful social history of the Broad Band, the women who made the Internet what it is today. Evans shows us how these women built and colored the technologies we can't imagine life without.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Inspiring
- By Jean on 03-29-18
By: Claire L. Evans
-
The Friendly Orange Glow
- The Untold Story of the PLATO System and the Dawn of Cyberculture
- By: Brian Dear
- Narrated by: George Newbern
- Length: 21 hrs and 6 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 114
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars 106
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 106
At a time when Steve Jobs was only a teenager and Mark Zuckerberg wasn't even born, a group of visionary engineers and designers - some of them only high school students - in the late 1960s and 1970s created a computer system called PLATO, which was not only years but light-years ahead in experimenting with how people would learn, engage, communicate, and play through connected computers.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Memory lane for the cyberist.
- By Robert C. Hickcox on 08-08-18
By: Brian Dear
-
Innovation Secrets of Steve Jobs
- By: Carmine Gallo
- Narrated by: Sean Mangan
- Length: 8 hrs and 24 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 502
-
Performance4 out of 5 stars 410
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 406
In The Innovation Secrets of Steve Jobs, best-selling author Carmine Gallo reveals the qualities that make the Apple co-founder the most innovative leader in business today. Each principle is backed with research, quotes, and first-person interviews with experts and business leaders, as well as specific ideas for applying those principles to every business, large or small.
-
1 out of 5 stars
-
awful
- By Thomas on 10-15-11
By: Carmine Gallo
-
Googled
- The End of the World as We Know It
- By: Ken Auletta
- Narrated by: Jim Bond
- Length: 13 hrs and 53 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 312
-
Performance4 out of 5 stars 147
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 150
In Googled, esteemed media writer and critic Ken Auletta uses the story of Google's rise to explore the inner workings of the company and the future of the media at large. Although Google has often been secretive, this book is based on the most extensive cooperation ever granted a journalist, including access to closed-door meetings and interviews with founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin, CEO Eric Schmidt, and some 150 present and former employees.
-
3 out of 5 stars
-
Audio production could have been better
- By David on 11-12-09
By: Ken Auletta
-
Group Genius
- The Creative Power of Collaboration
- By: Keith Sawyer
- Narrated by: Jonathan Marosz
- Length: 8 hrs and 4 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 80
-
Performance4 out of 5 stars 47
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 48
In this authoritative and fascinating new audiobook, Keith Sawyer, a psychologist at Washington University, tears down some of the most popular myths about creativity and erects new principles in their place. He reveals that creativity is always collaborative: even when you're alone. Sawyer's audiobook is filled with compelling stories about the inventions that changed our world.
-
3 out of 5 stars
-
Worth reading
- By Glenn on 12-29-10
By: Keith Sawyer
-
Meatball Sundae
- By: Seth Godin
- Narrated by: Seth Godin
- Length: 4 hrs and 51 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 235
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 71
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 69
New Marketing, whose tools include things like MySpace, You Tube, Web sites, permission marketing, cable TV, and viral techniques, is reshaping our world. But many companies try to use the tools without first getting their organization and products in sync with them. The result: what Seth Godin calls a "meatball sundae". A big, ineffective mess.
-
2 out of 5 stars
-
Meatball Godin
- By Oliver Nielsen on 09-11-08
By: Seth Godin
-
Ask Your Developer
- How to Harness the Power of Software Developers and Win in the 21st Century
- By: Jeff Lawson
- Narrated by: Jeff Lawson
- Length: 9 hrs and 1 min
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 376
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars 302
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 301
Jeff Lawson, developer turned CEO of Twilio (one of Bloomberg Businessweek's Top 50 Companies to Watch in 2021), creates a new playbook for unleashing the full potential of software developers in any organization, showing how to help management utilize this coveted and valuable workforce to enable growth, solve a wide range of business problems, and drive digital transformation.
-
2 out of 5 stars
-
Two and Half Stars
- By Anonymous User on 12-16-21
By: Jeff Lawson
-
You Only Have to Be Right Once
- The Unprecedented Rise of the Instant Tech Billionaires
- By: Randall Lane
- Narrated by: Walter Dixon
- Length: 5 hrs and 36 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 254
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 219
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 221
Over the last three years, Forbes has published in depth profiles of this new batch of billionaires, including the founders of Spotify, Dropbox, Tumblr, and Twitter. Now, in a compilation introduced and updated by Forbes editor Randall Lane, fans and critics alike will get a comprehensive look at who these super-entrepreneurs are and what they say about their own success and their plans for the future.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Awesome book!
- By Jamal Love on 06-17-15
By: Randall Lane
-
Play Bigger
- How Pirates, Dreamers, and Innovators Create and Dominate Markets
- By: Play Bigger LLC, Dave Peterson, Christopher Lochhead, and others
- Narrated by: Sean Pratt
- Length: 8 hrs and 7 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 1,194
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 1,010
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 1,008
Winning today isn't about beating the competition at the old game. It's about inventing a whole new game - defining a new market category, developing it, and dominating it over time. You can't build a legendary company without building a legendary category. If you think that having the best product is all it takes to win, you're going to lose. In this farsighted, pioneering guide, the founders of Silicon Valley advisory firm Play Bigger rely on data analysis and interviews to understand the inner workings of "category kings".
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
The most impactful new thinking of the year
- By Chris Guest on 12-21-16
By: Play Bigger LLC, and others
-
What Would Google Do?
- By: Jeff Jarvis
- Narrated by: Jeff Jarvis
- Length: 9 hrs and 2 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 1,103
-
Performance4 out of 5 stars 414
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 416
In a book that's one part prophecy, one part thought experiment, one part manifesto, and one part survival manual, internet impresario and blogging pioneer Jeff Jarvis reverse-engineers Google, the fastest-growing company in history, to discover 40 clear and straightforward rules to manage and live by.
-
1 out of 5 stars
-
Shallow and one-sided
- By JimmiJ on 02-04-09
By: Jeff Jarvis
-
Little Rice
- Smartphones, Xiaomi, and the Chinese Dream
- By: Clay Shirky
- Narrated by: George Backman
- Length: 3 hrs and 57 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 42
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 34
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 35
Since the 1990s China has been climbing up the ladder of quality, from doing knockoffs to designing its own high-end goods. Xiaomi - its name literally means "little rice" - is landing squarely in this shift in China's economy. But the remarkable rise of Xiaomi from startup to colossus is more than a business story because mobile phones are special. The common desiderata of the global population, mobile phones offer the kind of freedom and connectedness that autocratic countries are terrified of.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Informative and up to date.
- By Kevin on 01-10-16
By: Clay Shirky
-
The Art of Business Wars
- Battle-Tested Lessons for Leaders and Entrepreneurs from History's Greatest Rivalries
- By: David Brown
- Narrated by: David Brown
- Length: 11 hrs and 56 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 112
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 101
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 101
Based on the chart-topping Business Wars podcast, stories, and lessons from history’s greatest business rivalries, interspersed with audio clips from the podcast. Using Chinese military genius Sun Tzu’s strategies as a guide, Brown examines why some companies triumph while others crumble....
-
1 out of 5 stars
-
Just a repeat of the pod cast…..
- By Vm2008 on 02-01-22
By: David Brown
-
Appetite for Self-Destruction
- The Spectacular Crash of the Record Industry in the Digital Age
- By: Steve Knopper
- Narrated by: Dan John Miller
- Length: 11 hrs
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 147
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 73
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 74
For the first time, Appetite for Self-Destruction recounts the story of the precipitous rise and fall of the recording industry over the past three decades, when the incredible success of the CD turned the music business into one of the most glamorous, high-profile industries in the world - and the advent of file sharing brought it to its knees.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Awesome Book
- By Todd on 08-15-09
By: Steve Knopper
-
Program or Be Programmed
- Ten Commands for a Digital Age
- By: Douglas Rushkoff
- Narrated by: Douglas Rushkoff
- Length: 3 hrs and 28 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 158
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 137
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 134
In 10 chapters, composed of 10 "commands", Rushkoff provides cyber enthusiasts and technophobes alike with the guidelines to navigate the digital new universe. In this spirited, accessible poetics of new media, Rushkoff picks up where Marshall McLuhan left off, helping listeners to recognize programming as the new literacy of the digital age - and as a template through which to see beyond social conventions and power structures that have vexed us for centuries.
-
3 out of 5 stars
-
Good book, but with some crazy ranting
- By Bjarne on 02-05-15
By: Douglas Rushkoff
What listeners say about Shareware Heroes
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
-
Overall2 out of 5 stars
-
Performance1 out of 5 stars
-
Story3 out of 5 stars
- Jonathan C. Weeks
- 11-28-23
Hire Voice Actor
This is just a customer reminder that if you are doing audio book narration and you have little to no experience with speaking or performance, just hire a voice actor. Every time I hear that the book is narrated by the author, I say "oh no" - it's so rare for that to turn out well.
And in this situation I feel like the narration did the contents a great disservice. The voice is dulcet and gentle, so you want to like them, but then you have trouble understanding, get stuck on weird voice quirks, and worse, sometimes you hear a different take of the same line right after one another. Sometimes the voice sounds confused, like it's asking you if the information is correct.
The content is well done, if organized a little odd. It lacks narrative flow, but you can treat it more as an encyclopedia than a story. But because of the narration, I found my mind wandering or distracted by the voice itself.
I only recommend the written version, and would recommend checking this out if a voice actor ever steps up the plate.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall2 out of 5 stars
-
Performance1 out of 5 stars
-
Story3 out of 5 stars
- Will
- 05-04-23
Narration is hard to stomach
I hard a very difficult time understanding the narrator. "Beta" was pronounced "beet-uh" for instance. I had to really concentrate to understand the narration, which just isn't going to work for an audiobook. Maybe the Kindle version is better.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
1 person found this helpful