Ben Waber reviewed Cellular by Martin Campbell-Kelly
A Law, Market, and Technology Focused History
4 stars
This book is an excellent blend of technical, legal, and market views onto the development of the cell phone industry, starting with early wireless technologies and moving to the present day. This history demonstrates how important government investments and legal structure were in establishing these various industries and allowing them to flourish (or not, in the case of some countries discussed here). Unfortunately besides market share and cell phone penetration data there's very little economic data or analysis to speak of - one is left to guess at the market size in different countries or combine data from separate tables to adequately compare different markets. Overall, however, this book is a great entry into the history of markets literature. Highly recommend
This book is an excellent blend of technical, legal, and market views onto the development of the cell phone industry, starting with early wireless technologies and moving to the present day. This history demonstrates how important government investments and legal structure were in establishing these various industries and allowing them to flourish (or not, in the case of some countries discussed here). Unfortunately besides market share and cell phone penetration data there's very little economic data or analysis to speak of - one is left to guess at the market size in different countries or combine data from separate tables to adequately compare different markets. Overall, however, this book is a great entry into the history of markets literature. Highly recommend