# Books in the box redux

- Show: [Oxide and Friends](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/oxide-and-friends)
- Published: 2022-06-28
- Length: 1h 43m
- Episode: 18
- Page: https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/oxide-and-friends/2022-06-28-books-in-the-box-redux
- Listen: https://share.transistor.fm/s/375557ff

## Summary

Guest Scott Johnson shares a detailed war story about being fired by Dave Mahoney after a corporate acquisition, illustrating the dangers of hiring leaders who are 'rich, not hungry' and lack marketing skills. The group discusses the importance of reading industry history, citing books like 'Soul of a New Machine' and 'Steve Jobs & the NeXT Big Thing' to understand organizational dynamics and failure modes. They also explore broader themes of social capital in 'Bowling Alone' and the ethical complexities of technology in 'IBM and the Holocaust'.

## Chapters

- [0:00](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/oxide-and-friends/2022-06-28-books-in-the-box-redux#t=0) Introduction and Beautiful C++
- [10:29](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/oxide-and-friends/2022-06-28-books-in-the-box-redux#t=629) Scott Johnson's Book List and History
- [18:39](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/oxide-and-friends/2022-06-28-books-in-the-box-redux#t=1119) War Story: The Dataware Acquisition and Firing
- [29:58](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/oxide-and-friends/2022-06-28-books-in-the-box-redux#t=1798) Lessons on Leadership and Corporate Culture
- [35:58](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/oxide-and-friends/2022-06-28-books-in-the-box-redux#t=2158) Book Recommendations: Reinventing the Wheel and Creative Capital
- [42:32](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/oxide-and-friends/2022-06-28-books-in-the-box-redux#t=2552) Bowling Alone and Social Capital
- [58:50](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/oxide-and-friends/2022-06-28-books-in-the-box-redux#t=3530) UK Computing History and Von Neumann
- [1:32:30](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/oxide-and-friends/2022-06-28-books-in-the-box-redux#t=5550) IBM and the Holocaust and Closing Thoughts

## Topics

- [Careers & education](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/topic/engineering-careers-and-education)
- [Leadership, teams & culture](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/topic/leadership-and-culture)
- [Maker community & events](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/topic/maker-community)
- [Policy, trade & tariffs](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/topic/policy-trade-and-tariffs)

## Most relevant to

established companies

## Mentioned

- Oxide Computer Company (company)
- Dataware (company)
- Soul of a New Machine (other)
- Steve Jobs & the NeXT Big Thing (other)
- Bowling Alone (other)
- IBM and the Holocaust (other)
- Reinventing the Wheel (other)
- Creative Capital (other)
- Beautiful C++ (other)
- DEC (company)
- WordPerfect (product)
- Dyson (company)
- Fairchild Semiconductor (company)
- Acorn (company)
- Sinclair (company)
- ENIAC (other)
- John von Neumann (other)
- Trader Joe's (company)
- McIlhenny Company (company)
- Cummins Engine Company (company)

## Related episodes from other shows

- [Mark Herschberg | Essential Skills for Success They Didn’t Teach in College](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/being-an-engineer/2023-04-21-mark-herschberg-essential-skills-for-success-they-didnt-teach-in-college) (Being an Engineer)
- [Tool of the Week Segment | Episode 31](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/built-2-scale/2025-12-04-tool-of-the-week-segment-episode-31) (Built 2 Scale)
- [8 Silent Business Killers For Manufacturers w/ Steve Blue](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/the-manufacturing-executive/2023-02-28-8-silent-business-killers-for-manufacturers-w-steve-blue) (The Manufacturing Executive)
- [The Reluctant Entrepreneur: Mike Konrad's Journey Through Entrepreneurship, Networking and SMTA](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/ems-c-level/2025-03-14-the-reluctant-entrepreneur-mike-konrads-journey-through-entrepreneurship-network) (EMS@C-LEVEL)
- [509: Swarmed by Engineers](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/embedded-fm/2025-09-05-509-swarmed-by-engineers) (Embedded.fm)

## 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/2022-06-28-books-in-the-box-redux. 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.