Burn Book
- Downloads：5314
- Type：Epub+TxT+PDF+Mobi
- Create Date：2024-03-05 12:22:11
- Update Date：2025-09-07
- Status：finish
- Author：Kara Swisher
- ISBN：B0CPLXB1N2
- Environment：PC/Android/iPhone/iPad/Kindle
Reviews
Russell Buyse
，
Sharply written， witty， and encompassing without self-possession。 Highly recommended。
Jodie
，
I do love Kara and don’t want to bring down her rating。 I’ve heard much of this from her over the years so some surprises would have been good。 3。5 rounded up。
Mugren Ohaly
，
She must be fun at parties。 That is if she were ever invited to one。
Radiantflux
，
18th book for 2024。 Audiobook—Author ReadingWhen I was a psychology undergraduate at university in Australia in the 1990s I was given access to the university VAX computers as part of our compulsory statistics course。 This was still a time when typing up an essay， with errors corrected in tippex was seen as fancy， most students still handwrote course assignments， and most professors still hadn't learnt of email， and HTML was a few years away。 What my professor didn't know was that having a VAX a 18th book for 2024。 Audiobook—Author ReadingWhen I was a psychology undergraduate at university in Australia in the 1990s I was given access to the university VAX computers as part of our compulsory statistics course。 This was still a time when typing up an essay， with errors corrected in tippex was seen as fancy， most students still handwrote course assignments， and most professors still hadn't learnt of email， and HTML was a few years away。 What my professor didn't know was that having a VAX account came along with Internet access and when I realized this I went wild。 Suddenly I had access to email and Usenet discussion groups。 On a backgammon group I suggested we stop talking about games and actually play them， and so ended up running the first International BG tournament through my statistics account—non-trivial as email was the sole form of communication for players （how do you show a board？ how do you roll dice in a way that players see as fair？）。 My professor commended me for being so hard working as my time online was audited。It's clear from her account that Swisher got the Internet as I did， and took the jump， leaving a golden path to politics reporter at the Washington Post to the （then） very niche job of tech reporter on the West Coast。 She was there at the beginning and broke many key stories on Silicon Valley as it developed， and in the process becoming a Silicon Valley icon herself。So this book should have been a easy win for me。 However， it turned out to be a vapid nothingburger。 The book is made up of chapters where she mostly bashes Internet founders as narcissistic white man children—something I could get behind—but the analysis is so shallow basically at the level of name calling。 The Google Founders are labelled the weird twins and criticised in a mild way for ripping off intellectual property。 Mark Zuckerberg is apparently still a teenage arsehole that sweats a lot when he's nervous。 Bezos is super ambitious and given a star for getting internet delivery sorted out—but is also an arsehole。 Musk was apparently a great guy until he bought Twitter and ruined it for Swisher （what about all the shitty things he did with Tesla for years？？）。 Steve Jobs was an arsehole， but a visionary and so he gets a pass。 Nothing she says is interesting or deep or new here。 The other chapters are a sort of Wikipedia style summary of her life。 She got a job here， she dated so and so， married someone else， had a child， started this business or that business。 None of it is anywhere deep or personal enough to be of much interest。 Most of this seems to be either to puff-up her self worth or aid in her slagging of this or that boss from decades past that wronged her in some way。 She also has this annoying habit of constantly talking about how tough she is， how "mean but fair" she is。 Isn't that what any decent journalist is？The only thing I'll take from the book is Sergey Brin's baby shower in 2008， where the rich and famous forced to choose between wearing nappies or onesies， and could drink expensive vodka dripping from an ice statue's nipple。 Normally I don't give one-stars， as these sorts of books are usually abandoned before the end， but since I finished this one I'll rate it。1-star。 。。。more
Rachel
，
"My job was to point out how important it is to anticipate the consequences of invention。 And to argue that safety and innovation do not have to be at odds。 And to suggest that all this online rage might just impact the real world。 And to posit that， worst of all， some of the world's richest and most powerful people may have become professional trolls for whom the rules do not apply， diminishing social discourse with their toxic adult-toddler antics。。。power has become far too concentrated in a s "My job was to point out how important it is to anticipate the consequences of invention。 And to argue that safety and innovation do not have to be at odds。 And to suggest that all this online rage might just impact the real world。 And to posit that， worst of all， some of the world's richest and most powerful people may have become professional trolls for whom the rules do not apply， diminishing social discourse with their toxic adult-toddler antics。。。power has become far too concentrated in a small group of homogenous people and that money had done it's usual job of corrupting。 " Kara Swisher has done her job phenomenally well reporting on tech and its players in this digital age。 There a lot here even if you're familiar with her stories， interviews and the Pivot podcast。 It's a scathing， entertaining， important and accessible book。 Highly recommend。 。。。more
Sarah
，
Interview with the author: https://www。wnycstudios。org/podcasts/。。。 Interview with the author: https://www。wnycstudios。org/podcasts/。。。 。。。more
Alana
，
My rating may be a bit unfair because I don't like memoirs。 But I think for me， while I learned some neat tidbits of history， and I liked learning more about Kara Swisher， the book was a mediocre hybrid between telling the story of tech history and a personal story wasn't personal。 By not going deep enough into historical or personal information， the story felt more like a "here's my opinion on particular CEOs and companies"。The book made me appreciate the lengths Kara has gone to investigate te My rating may be a bit unfair because I don't like memoirs。 But I think for me， while I learned some neat tidbits of history， and I liked learning more about Kara Swisher， the book was a mediocre hybrid between telling the story of tech history and a personal story wasn't personal。 By not going deep enough into historical or personal information， the story felt more like a "here's my opinion on particular CEOs and companies"。The book made me appreciate the lengths Kara has gone to investigate tech and how she was a pioneer in tech journalism （and as a woman）， but I couldn't pinpoint a clear message from this story， and Swisher's inability to be vulnerable makes the memoir portions feel superficial。 I think if Kara didn't want to let go of her badass persona the book would have been better off if Kara had fully gone the investigative/history route and limited personal to her intro and conclusion。 。。。more
Amy
，
I liked this a lot。 I was involved in the tech industry throughout this period but had no insight to what was going on behind the scenes at the time。 It's interesting to get the context and her perspective on how we got to where we are today （along with her thoughts about where we're going）。 I liked this a lot。 I was involved in the tech industry throughout this period but had no insight to what was going on behind the scenes at the time。 It's interesting to get the context and her perspective on how we got to where we are today （along with her thoughts about where we're going）。 。。。more
Tracy Miller
，
Somewhat disappointing as I’d heard most of the anecdotes on a podcast。 Also， repetitive use of the word “grok” and a weird amount of typos。
Alcy
，
Scathing， witty， quick read on the power and danger of Big Tech （and the egomaniacs behind it）。 A good collection of Kara’s best。
drh
，
A tech yearbook for the ages。Kara’s reflections on a life in tech is truly astonishing。 Her Burn Book is such an eloquent read fuelling so much nostalgia that I found it difficult to put down- even waking at 3AM to read the next chapter！ （How I miss Steve’s rants and insights）For those of us in tech， some of us a front row seat， and even those of us not， Burn Book provides such a wonderfully detailed trip down memory lane， telling the stories often left untold。 What this book does is remind us a A tech yearbook for the ages。Kara’s reflections on a life in tech is truly astonishing。 Her Burn Book is such an eloquent read fuelling so much nostalgia that I found it difficult to put down- even waking at 3AM to read the next chapter！ （How I miss Steve’s rants and insights）For those of us in tech， some of us a front row seat， and even those of us not， Burn Book provides such a wonderfully detailed trip down memory lane， telling the stories often left untold。 What this book does is remind us all that despite fame， fortune， brains and bruised egos， we are all fallible， we all have struggles， and yet we can all change the world in our own unique way。Thank you Kara， for changing it in yours。 。。。more
Angelica
，
3。5 stars， rounded up to 4。 Kara Swisher’s journalism is exceptional and she's broken more stories in tech than anyone—as she points out repeatedly throughout the book。 Kara's takes on the valley have evolved and I appreciate her perspective and willingness to call bullshit。 It also seems like Kara has spent too much time around people who agree with her， and too much time reflecting on her own excellence。 It's the same yes-ma'am / navel-gazing trap she accuses the tech elite of falling into and 3。5 stars， rounded up to 4。 Kara Swisher’s journalism is exceptional and she's broken more stories in tech than anyone—as she points out repeatedly throughout the book。 Kara's takes on the valley have evolved and I appreciate her perspective and willingness to call bullshit。 It also seems like Kara has spent too much time around people who agree with her， and too much time reflecting on her own excellence。 It's the same yes-ma'am / navel-gazing trap she accuses the tech elite of falling into and it makes this book come off little more insufferable and a little less sharp than it could have been。 。。。more
Courtney Alev
，
I love u Kara！ // not a ton of new if you are a fan and have been following her and her podcasts， but still delightfully acerbic。 She is a great storyteller and an important mirror for all these folks in SV changing the world for both the better and the worse。
Vinum Regum
，
I preordered and eagerly listened to the audio book since the author narrates it。 It’s great retelling of her life as a THE tech reporter of the silicon valley elites。 Definite read/listen！
Dipra Lahiri
，
There's probably no one with the longevity of Swisher， and definitely no one with the chutzpah she has。 Her commentary is sardonic， which is expected given the bizarre and otherworldly universe that the tech bros inhabit， which she frequents but doesn't inhabit。 There's probably no one with the longevity of Swisher， and definitely no one with the chutzpah she has。 Her commentary is sardonic， which is expected given the bizarre and otherworldly universe that the tech bros inhabit， which she frequents but doesn't inhabit。 。。。more
Emily Kennard
，
🔥
Neville
，
I really wanted to like this。 But there wasn't a lot of new info here， especially if you've followed Kara's work for a while。 Most times I felt like it was collation of multiple opinion blog posts rather than a cohesive story。 I really wanted to like this。 But there wasn't a lot of new info here， especially if you've followed Kara's work for a while。 Most times I felt like it was collation of multiple opinion blog posts rather than a cohesive story。 。。。more
Gizzard
，
This is a history of big tech， and may be old news to old tech bros。 But， for those of us who only know more of the recent history （when these bros became ogliarchs） it's got some good history。 So far， I'm not finding a lot of good gossip， but between musk， Ackerman， freidmanbanks，and bezoz， maybe the delusional narcissistic asshole bar is just too high。Good but not great。 This is a history of big tech， and may be old news to old tech bros。 But， for those of us who only know more of the recent history （when these bros became ogliarchs） it's got some good history。 So far， I'm not finding a lot of good gossip， but between musk， Ackerman， freidmanbanks，and bezoz， maybe the delusional narcissistic asshole bar is just too high。Good but not great。 。。。more
Tomas Birriel
，
This is a fun and approachable book about the tech world and the people that inhabit it。 Informed by the author's decades of access and a deep love for the industry， Burn Book serves spicy anecdotes and a conclusion， which we're presented with at the beginning， that it is always， and will always be， about the money。 There is also an especially cool chapter toward the end that shares some journalistic tradecraft。I’ve been aware of Kara Swisher for a while， but really started following her work cl This is a fun and approachable book about the tech world and the people that inhabit it。 Informed by the author's decades of access and a deep love for the industry， Burn Book serves spicy anecdotes and a conclusion， which we're presented with at the beginning， that it is always， and will always be， about the money。 There is also an especially cool chapter toward the end that shares some journalistic tradecraft。I’ve been aware of Kara Swisher for a while， but really started following her work closely when she became an opinion columnist at the New York Times。 And now I rarely miss an episode of her Pivot podcast。 My one criticism of the book is that I wish Swisher would have revealed more of herself。 。。。more
Jill H
，
A quick and fun read。 That is， if you enjoy witty， scathing critiques of white men in hoodies。
Garrick Infanger
，
Kara Swisher is an excellent reporter and thinker and it was great to hear her story and her point of view on the past 25 years in Silicon Valley。 So many fascinating people and issues--and she manages to call BS on everyone。
Lucas van Lierop
，
It’s fine。 There’s pretty much nothing new in it。 If you listen to pivot， or have even marginally followed Kara’s career， save your money。
Mark Mathes
，
Big Tech has devoured competitors， displayed arrogance to its users and regulators， amassed obscene profits and personal fortunes and continues to weaken American democracy。 Author Swisher has been in the front row reporting and commenting on the people and services since the dawn the internet。 This book calls out those who lack character and backbone like Musk and Brin and Zuckerberg to make decisions about the enormous impact of social media and technology on our society。 Are they media compan Big Tech has devoured competitors， displayed arrogance to its users and regulators， amassed obscene profits and personal fortunes and continues to weaken American democracy。 Author Swisher has been in the front row reporting and commenting on the people and services since the dawn the internet。 This book calls out those who lack character and backbone like Musk and Brin and Zuckerberg to make decisions about the enormous impact of social media and technology on our society。 Are they media companies， with free speech and responsibility？ Or utilities like cable and power who don’t have to worry about editing， fairness and civic responsibility？ They want it both ways。 This is the latest warning about how social media leaders have ignored how Russia， China and third world dictators have employed propaganda to affect American elections and our way of life。 Add AI to theater list that tech moguls lack guard rails。 。。。more
E。R。 R Burgess
，