Wired @20

by John Heilemann, Evan Ratliff, Amy Wallace

For two decades, WIRED has chronicled the people, ideas, and technologies that power the digital revolution. To celebrate the magazine’s 20th anniversary, the editors have chosen 20 of the most important and mind-blowing stories from the archives. With an introduction by features editor Mark Robinson and including all-new epilogues that bring the articles up to date, this anthology showcases the award-winning writing and crackling intelligence that has been the magazines trademark for 20 years.

705 pages, Kindle Edition

First published April 1, 2013

About the author

John Arthur Heilemann is an American journalist for New York magazine, where he mainly covers US politics. Previously, he was a staff writer for The New Yorker, Wired and The Economist. He is the co-author of the No. 1 New York Times bestseller Game Change Obama and the Clintons McCain and Palin and the Race of a Lifetime, about the 2008 US presidential campaign. Heilemann is also a political analyst for MSNBC.

Reviews

[Bojan Tunguz · Rating 5 out of 5]

I’ve been a longtime fan of the Wired magazine, and for the past few years a regular subscriber as well. In my mind no other publication properly captures the excitement, the ethos, and the aspirations of the digital world and culture, especially the way they are embodied in the Silicon Valley. Even though technology in all its manifestations is at the core of what Wired (and the Silicon Valley) is all about, the mindset to which it belongs far surpasses those confines. In a way Wired is about innovation and entrepreneurship applied to all aspects of our modern life, including the economic and social spheres.

One important aspect of the Wired magazine has always been good, in-depth, writing. Many of their articles over they years have become intellectual reference points for our understanding of the entirety of digital economy (terms such as the “long tail” and “crowdsourcing” first appeared on the pages of this magazine). Most of the articles in this collection indeed reflect this high standard of tech penmanship and insight. The articles are exhaustive in their breadth and depth, and sometimes even exhausting to read – the article on Microsoft antitrust case alone reaches to hundred and twenty magazine-sized pages. Many of the articles could have been turned into short books in their own right, and all of them could have been published today separately as eBooks (or Amazon Singles for instance).

Even thought the writing in this publication is invariably extraordinary, and the stories themselves give you a great glimpse into the tech world over the past two decades, not all of the content is equally interesting. While some of the articles have retained their freshness and relevance even today (a testament to the quality and the timelessness of their insight), some are quite onerous to read and feel like an exercise in navel-gazing. Well over a decade after the bursting of the 1990s tech bubble, it’s more than obvious to anyone how shallow and self-absorbed many of the most hyped products and services of that era were. A couple of articles that cover the “irrational exuberance” of that era are annoying to read today, but serve as a powerful reminder to be weary of the unfounded hype. They indirectly validate the common-sense notion that what ultimately works is the honesty, integrity, and products and services that are based on something that is solid and real.

A couple of articles in this collection were truly inspiring. The article about the crazily optimistic people who are drawn to the Silicon Valley from all corners of the world reinforces the notion that if you are really smart, willing to work hard, and can stomach the unparalleled levels of risk then you can still make it over there. The story of the illegal-immigrant high-school kids who built an award-winning robotic submersible that bested even the most sophisticated teams from places such as MIT is such an all-American underdog tale.

This is a wonderful collection of articles that can enlighten and inspire anyone who is interested in the ever-advancing digital revolution that we are a part of.

[Biblio Files (takingadayoff)]

As an anthology addict, but not a reader of Wired Magazine, I wasn't sure I would find enough in this collection of longform journalism to justify the cost. (It's free to Wired subscribers through the Wired site.) The verdict is in -- it's worth it.

This is a collection of some of the best stories from Wired's twenty year run, and you'd read similar stories in the New Yorker or Atlantic Monthly. It's a meaty selection -- in-depth articles by Steven Levy, Neal Stephenson, William Gibson, Chris Anderson, and more. It's fun reading some of the earlier pieces just to remind yourself how different it was only twenty years ago -- no internet for most of us, in the midst of a boom that seemed as if it would never end.

Amazon says the file size is 1107 KB, equivalent to 705 pages, but I tend to think B&N's numbers are a little closer at 757KB, which would make the book about 350-400 pages, and that seems about right. The articles are long, maybe twenty pages each, so that works out to the 400 page estimate. The articles are arranged by topic rather than chronologically, and that works fine. Just be warned -- once you start one of these articles, it will be hard to put it down until you've finished.

Table of Contents

Introduction

I.Obsessions
The Truth, the Whole Truth, and Nothing But the Truth (Microsoft Antitrust case) by John Heilemann 2000
The Pedal to the Metal, Totally Illegal, Cross Continental Sprint for Glory (insane road race) by Charles Graeber 2007
S.O.S. (deep sea recovery cowboys) by Joshua Davis 2008
Vanish (excellent tale of shedding one's identity for a month) by Evan Ratliff 2009
The Fury (college professor guns down her colleagues) by Amy Wallace 2011

II. Revolutionaries
Crypto Rebels (hackers vs. civil liberties) by Steven Levy 1993
Web Dreams (early web magazine rises to the top) by Josh Quittner 1996
Mother Earth Motherboard (the wireless revolution starts with very long wires) by Neal Stephenson 1996
The Wurmanizer (TED talks founder profile) by Gary Wolf 2000
Mega (profile of megahacker Kim Dotcom) by Charles Graeber 2012

III. Dreamers
Disneyland With the Death Penalty (does our future look like Singapore?) by William Gibson 1993
The Epic Saga of The Well (profile of early online community The Well) by Katie Hafner 1997
Gen Equity (entrepreneurs and tech startups) by Po Bronson 1999
Steaming Video (privacy vs. exhibitionism) by Charles Platt 2000
La Vida Robot (high schoolers from the wrong side of the tracks take on MIT students) by Joshua Davis 2005

IV. Mind Grenades
The Long Boom: A History of the Future, 1980-2020 (the future's so bright...) by Peter Schwartz and Peter Leyden 1997
Why the Future Doesn't Need Us (our replacements are here -- robotics) by Bill Joy 2000
The Geek Syndrome (Is Asperger's caused by good math genes?) by Steve Silberman 2001
The Long Tail (the opposite of winner-take-all theory) by Chris Anderson 2004
The Rise of Crowdsourcing (cheaper than outsourcing) by Jeff Howe 2006

[Markus · Rating 4 out of 5]

A lot of great articles about the forming years of the information society of these days. Not all of the articles were brilliant, but mostly it was really good stuff.

[Jeremy · Rating 2 out of 5]

There are some interesting reprints of articles, but I think some of the more interesting items from the 90s were completely missing. I was a bit disappointed.