# The Books in the Box

- Show: [Oxide and Friends](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/oxide-and-friends)
- Published: 2021-09-28
- Length: 1h 17m
- Episode: 16
- Page: https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/oxide-and-friends/2021-09-28-the-books-in-the-box
- Listen: https://share.transistor.fm/s/7809611e

## Summary

Bryan Cantrill and Adam Leventhal host a Twitter Space with guests including Tom Lyon, Dan Cross, and Antranig Vartanian, discussing a wide array of books on technology history, engineering, and business. They cover works such as 'The Inventor's Dilemma' about Joseph Gerber, 'Drift into Failure' by Sidney Dekker, and 'Skunk Works' by Ben Rich, while also sharing anecdotes about industrial espionage involving companies like VMware, Parallels, and Cisco. The conversation highlights the importance of historical context in understanding modern hardware and software development, with Cantrill lamenting a missing box of books containing titles like 'DEC is Dead, Long Live DEC' and 'Datapoint'.

## Chapters

- [0:00](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/oxide-and-friends/2021-09-28-the-books-in-the-box#t=0) Introduction: The Books in the Box and Anti-List
- [2:35](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/oxide-and-friends/2021-09-28-the-books-in-the-box#t=155) The Inventor's Dilemma and Joseph Gerber
- [7:21](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/oxide-and-friends/2021-09-28-the-books-in-the-box#t=441) Drift into Failure and Systemic Safety
- [13:04](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/oxide-and-friends/2021-09-28-the-books-in-the-box#t=784) The Invention that Changed the World and Radar
- [18:03](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/oxide-and-friends/2021-09-28-the-books-in-the-box#t=1083) Skunk Works and Lockheed Aircraft
- [26:46](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/oxide-and-friends/2021-09-28-the-books-in-the-box#t=1606) The Friendly Orange Glow and Cyberculture
- [30:14](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/oxide-and-friends/2021-09-28-the-books-in-the-box#t=1814) Steve Jobs and the NeXT Big Thing
- [33:06](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/oxide-and-friends/2021-09-28-the-books-in-the-box#t=1986) Makers of the Microchip and Fairchild
- [36:52](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/oxide-and-friends/2021-09-28-the-books-in-the-box#t=2212) Missing Books and Industrial Espionage Stories

## Topics

- [Careers & education](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/topic/engineering-careers-and-education)
- [Intellectual property](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/topic/intellectual-property)
- [Starting a product company](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/topic/starting-a-company)
- [AI & machine learning](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/topic/ai-and-machine-learning)

## Most relevant to

large enterprises

## Mentioned

- Oxide Computer Company (company)
- Bryan Cantrill (other)
- Adam Leventhal (other)
- Tom Lyon (other)
- Dan Cross (other)
- Antranig Vartanian (other)
- Simeon Miteff (other)
- Matt Campbell (other)
- Jeremy Tanner (other)
- Joshua Clulow (other)
- Ian (other)
- Tim Burnham (other)
- Nathaniel Reindl (other)
- Dave Hitz (other)
- Pat Walsh (other)
- Peter Thiel (other)
- David Jacques Gerber (other)
- H. Joseph Gerber (other)
- Sidney Dekker (other)
- Robert Buderi (other)
- Richard Rhodes (other)
- Michael Riordan (other)
- Lillian Hoddeson (other)
- Craig Canine (other)
- David Fisher (other)
- Marshall Fisher (other)
- Michael Hiltzik (other)
- Ernest Lawrence (other)
- Ben Rich (other)
- Leo Janos (other)
- Lockheed (company)
- Clarence Kelly Johnson (other)
- Brian Dear (other)
- Randall Stross (other)
- Steve Jobs (other)
- Christophe Lécuyer (other)
- David C. Brock (other)
- Fairchild Semiconductor (company)
- Jay Last (other)
- Lamont Wood (other)
- Wang Laboratories (company)
- Charles Kenney (other)
- Edgar H. Schein (other)
- DEC (company)
- Digital Equipment Corporation (company)
- Alan Payne (other)
- Blockbuster (company)
- Rick Altheater (other)
- Sun (company)
- Apollo (company)
- John Gage (other)
- Larry McVoy (other)
- BitKeeper (product)
- Git (product)
- Ken Olson (other)
- Andy Bechtolsheim (other)
- Barry Cooks (other)
- Avanti (company)
- Cadence (company)
- VMware (company)
- Parallels (company)
- Cisco (company)
- Huawei (company)
- Bell Labs (company)
- Inferno (product)
- Pathstar (product)
- Microsoft (company)
- Apple (company)
- Xerox PARC (company)
- Xerox Star (product)
- Albert Corey (other)
- Jerry Kaplan (other)
- Ryan Carnahan (other)
- Josh Scott (other)
- Douglas Coupland (other)
- John Markoff (other)
- Robert X. Cringely (other)
- Paul Halmos (other)
- Paul Erdős (other)
- John von Neumann (other)
- Andrew Wiles (other)
- Jeffrey Hofstein (other)
- Brian Greene (other)
- Leonard Euler (other)
- Robert X. Grindley (other)
- Steven Levy (other)
- Richard Stallman (other)
- Roberta Williams (other)
- Sierra Online (company)
- Penn Jillette (other)
- Gordon Moore (other)
- Bob Kahn (other)
- J.C.R. Licklider (other)
- ARPANET (product)
- MIT Rad Lab (company)
- NMR (other)
- MRI (product)
- U-2 (product)
- SR-71 (product)
- F-107 (product)
- DC-10 (product)
- Plato (product)
- VHS (product)
- Betamax (product)
- LaserDisc (product)
- Wired Magazine (other)
- PC Magazine (other)
- InfoWorld (other)
- Wizards Stay Up Late (other)
- What the Dormouse Said (other)
- Dealers of Lightning (other)
- Inventing the Future (other)
- Accidental Empires (other)
- Startup (other)
- UNIX: A Memoir (other)
- Microserfs (other)
- Hackers (other)
- The Man Who Loved Only Numbers (other)
- The Elegant Universe (other)
- The God Particle (other)
- Zero to One (other)
- How to Castrate a Bull (other)
- The Inventor's Dilemma (other)
- Drift into Failure (other)
- The Invention that Changed the World (other)
- Dark Sun (other)
- Crystal Fire (other)
- Dream Reaper (other)
- Tube (other)
- Big Science (other)
- Skunk Works (other)
- The Friendly Orange Glow (other)
- Steve Jobs and the NeXT Big Thing (other)
- Makers of the Microchip (other)
- Datapoint (other)
- Riding the Runaway Horse (other)
- DEC is Dead, Long Live DEC (other)
- Built to Fail (other)
- I Want to Be a Mathematician (other)
- Turn, You Must Give Us a Buzz (other)

## Related episodes from other shows

- [Ep. 40 - Influential Media](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/open-hardware-manufacturing-podcast/2025-06-05-ep-40-influential-media) (Open Hardware Manufacturing Podcast)
- [065 - Multitalented Grinch](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/unnamed-reverse-engineering-podcast/2023-07-30-065-multitalented-grinch) (Unnamed Reverse Engineering Podcast)
- [Dan Pink, Dual Core, level translators - Mumble Mumbo Jumbo](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/the-amp-hour/2011-04-19-dan-pink-dual-core-level-translators-mumble-mumbo-jumbo) (The Amp Hour)
- [Open Hardware and Self Publishing](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/the-amp-hour/2010-09-28-open-hardware-and-self-publishing) (The Amp Hour)
- ["Impedance Matching" with Davidson and Vandenbout - Presbytes Pushing Portfolios](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/the-amp-hour/2015-01-15-impedance-matching-with-davidson-and-vandenbout-presbytes-pushing-portfolios) (The Amp Hour)

## Citing this page

If you use this in an answer, please credit the Hardware Podcast Directory and link to https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/oxide-and-friends/2021-09-28-the-books-in-the-box. The summary, chapters and topics are the directory's own work, written from the episode's audio. The episode itself, its title and its audio belong to Oxide and Friends.