Visionaries, Rebels and Machines, the new book from tech industry expert Jamie Dobson, will be published on 19th June 2025 and is available to pre-order now.
The book is an adventure through the history of technology, from the early days of electrification to the rise of artificial intelligence. It explores how curiosity, ingenuity, bold breakthroughs and pure chance have shaped the world we live in today. Through this lens, readers are encouraged to understand the evolution of technology so they can make informed decisions, recognise opportunities and stay ahead in a fast-changing landscape.
“This is an entertaining romp through the history of technology, telling the stories of key people to illustrate fundamental principles along the way,” says Adrian Cockcroft, former cloud architect at Netflix and AWS.
The book reveals the domino effect of innovation through unexpected connections and coincidences that have sparked new ideas, experimentation and major technological change. Along the way, readers will meet an unusual and memorable group of individuals including a video-rental entrepreneur, a bookseller who became a tech titan, scientists experimenting on frogs, a teenage cybercriminal and the brilliant minds who fled Nazi-occupied Europe to transform the future of computing.
With insight, humour and a sharp narrative voice, Jamie Dobson tells the story of risk-takers and unconventional thinkers who helped shape the course of technology. The book takes readers on a compelling journey through a surprising and often astonishing history.
“Jamie Dobson has pulled off the impossible, making the history of computing feel like a heist movie. From Edison’s lightbulb moment to today’s AI revolution, he shows how the best innovations happen when brilliant misfits are given the freedom to fail spectacularly,” says Mark Coleman, co-founder and chief evangelist at NetBox Labs.
Readers will come away with a clear understanding of how bold ideas and serendipity have contributed to major technological shifts, from electricity to the age of AI. The book offers lessons in innovation and adaptation by revealing how progress often comes from unlikely places. It presents technology’s story not only as a timeline of machines, but as a human tale driven by creativity, resilience and risk.
Chapter titles include A digital and binary system of communication, The right call, The invention factory, The peculiar birth of a peculiar company, The computer, The wasp and the fig tree, The Alto and the Internet, The rise of utility computing, The dramatic fall of utility computing, The magical computer store, Saturday night at the movies, A womb with a view, and The computer as a community.
“A fascinating look back at the origins of our modern computing environment, how the technology evolved and, perhaps more importantly, how the people involved made it happen. As well as providing an informative history, Jamie Dobson draws out the lessons we can learn from how things developed and suggests how they might apply in the era of AI,” says Steve Freeman, principal engineer at Gousto.
Jamie Dobson’s lifelong interest in computing began at the age of nine when he first encountered a BBC computer and BASIC. He is now the co-founder of Container Solutions, where he helps executive teams succeed with Cloud and Cloud Native strategies while steering them away from common pitfalls.
Jamie said: “I am really excited about this book as the feedback, reviews and endorsements have been so positive. I was particularly surprised that some have said they’ve read it in one sitting, which is awesome. Of course, I am hopeful the book will do well, but what I’m really hoping is that Visionaries, Rebels and Machines will speak to a broad audience, not just fellow techies. And that it will therefore make a useful contribution to the present discussions on artificial intelligence.”
