The Weatherman from Greenwich

A new book, The Weatherman from Greenwich: Charles Todd  1826 to 1910, promises to be a biography of Charles Todd, telecommunications pioneer in Australia. The title is, however, misleading. Most of the book is devoted to social influences in England and South Australia that may have shaped Todds early life. Todds early technical experience in England and his first activities in Australia are briefly sketched. Readers seeking a fuller account of Todds life and achievements should look elsewhere...

The Weatherman from Greenwich

A new book, The Weatherman from Greenwich: Charles Todd  1826 to 1910, promises to be a biography of Charles Todd, telecommunications pioneer in Australia. The title is, however, misleading. Most of the book is devoted to social influences in England and South Australia that may have shaped Todds early life. Todds early technical experience in England and his first activities in Australia are briefly sketched. Readers seeking a fuller account of Todds life and achievements should look elsewhere...

Behind the Legend

In 2017 a new biography, Behind the Legend - The Many Worlds of Charles Todd, by Denis Cryle, was published. Cryle has written an engaging book that is thoroughly researched and referenced. It will appeal both to historians and to the general reader without expertise in any of the scientific or technical fields inhabited by Todd.

Behind the Legend

In 2017 a new biography, Behind the Legend - The Many Worlds of Charles Todd, by Denis Cryle, was published. Cryle has written an engaging book that is thoroughly researched and referenced. It will appeal both to historians and to the general reader without expertise in any of the scientific or technical fields inhabited by Todd.

The Silicon Valley We Don't Want to Have

A book review of Chaos Monkeys: Inside the Silicon Valley Money Machine, published 2016. The book is a warts-and-all account that describes many undesirable aspects of ?Silicon Valley culture?. While the book is overly self-indulgent, it could valuably be read by policy makers interested in start-ups and business culture.

The Silicon Valley We Don't Want to Have

A book review of Chaos Monkeys: Inside the Silicon Valley Money Machine, published 2016. The book is a warts-and-all account that describes many undesirable aspects of ?Silicon Valley culture?. While the book is overly self-indulgent, it could valuably be read by policy makers interested in start-ups and business culture.

Preparing the next generation for the Machine Age

A book review of  'Changing Jobs. The Fair Go in the Machine Age' by Jim Chalmers and Mike Quigley, Redback 13, Schwarz Publishing, September 2017, 199 pp.

A Review of "Grand Intentions"

Grand Intentions by Trevor Barr is an exciting read that involves many themes and works at many levels.  It concerns a fictitious telephone company, Telco One, which is undergoing major change as the Government privatises it.  Telco One is in the throes of moving from a traditional culture based on public sector, even public service, values to a commercial entity subject to the overwhelming imperative of shareholder value.  The twists and turns as Telco One transforms from its previous culture...

A Review of "Grand Intentions"

Grand Intentions by Trevor Barr is an exciting read that involves many themes and works at many levels.  It concerns a fictitious telephone company, Telco One, which is undergoing major change as the Government privatises it.  Telco One is in the throes of moving from a traditional culture based on public sector, even public service, values to a commercial entity subject to the overwhelming imperative of shareholder value.  The twists and turns as Telco One transforms from its previous culture...

The Trollope of Australian telecommunications

Trevor Barr's page-turner of a novel Grand Intentions tackles the ugly side of the neo-liberalism sweeping Australia in the 1990s and 2000s.  It examines the privatisation of an incumbent telecommunications carrier, and the drastic impact of its imported US corporate culture on several individuals. He deploys a cast of plausible fictional characters while allowing the narrative to be driven by an echo of real events in the Australian telecommunications industry.