Rating: 
Summary: Wireless Evolution ;)
Review: This novel is actually pretty interesting after I read it. At first, I thought it was just another average book by some unknown, unpopular author that no one has ever even heard of before; but infact the novel got better and much more intriguing to me as I read on. There is a powerful transition given to the reader about how cell phones have changed our lives over the many years of development. It talks about how at first, they were just gigantic blocks that we would put up to our ears, and eventually get smaller and smaller, as well as more advanced over the years into what we have today.
The book also gives great detail about how life is working in the cellular business, and how it works all together and how there are so many cell phone companies fighting to see who is the best of all cell phone companies. This novel because it opened doors for my brain and world into the reality and history of cell phones. I recommend this novel to anyone highly interested in the cellular industry and anyone just curious as to how the cellular revolution began and is evolving to. :D
Rating: 
Summary: Not Much One Can Do Now!
Review: "Wireless Nation, the story of the cellular revolution in America" is fairly well written, containing 24 chapters and 338 pages. The writing mechanics are good, but the style is bland and distracted. Murray narrates the lucrative development of the mobile phone and how it evolved into the ubiquitous cellphones people use today. For this reason, the general storyline is lackluster and generally uninteresting unless you are involved in communications research or just passing time in the coffee lounge. Our author goes off track near the middle of the book, boasting about how two persons who had just sealed a valuable dealer were deciding which Porsche to buy. Did Murrary stop to think how that makes a working person feel? Obviously not. So, in this sense, "wireless nation" instills a deep sense of regret that most of us missed a chance to become millionaires with the then-lucrative unissued FCC licenses to cover pager and mobile phone territory. Murray relies totally on his essay-like style. And it's all strictly after-the-fact. You cannot do anything with the information presented in this book that will benefit your life financially. Actually, it reads more like a novel, lacking both references and a "hook" to keep the reader from feeling like he completely missed the boat. Consequently, it is reasonable to presume that "Wireless Nation" will be far from the bestseller's list. I apologize if the truth is painful.
Rating: 
Summary: Spectral Analysis
Review: For a book that calls itself wireless nation there is surprisingly little about the technology from the human aspect and how it came to be embraced by the common man. The book is informative,excrutiatingly so, about the early history of wireless spectrum distribution. The tales about the people involved and the way it changed the lives of the lucky few and the unlucky many is charming. However, the author would have done well to describe the phenomenon as it evolved into the ubiquitous tool that it is now, instead of harping on the POP (rights to spectrum in particular regions) distribution for what seems like ever (150 odd pages to be a bit more precise).
There isn't much here for the budding entrepreneur as some of the blurbs proclaim. 'Look ahead and don't give in too soon' is the simple, and only, story retold by every character in this book.
Another surprising fact is the complete lack of mention of the irridium satellite debacle that started of as a promising techno-tool for the same innate human-need, being able to talk on the phone on the move.
Overall, an informative but tedious book, the kind I wouldn't mind reading if only to fill another loophole in my knowledge of the world that surrounds us.
Rating:
Summary: GREAT book for technology / history buffs
Review: I gave this book 4 stars because, while it was refreshing to read and I definitely learned quite a bit, it wasn't a paradigm-shifting book, which is what I am increasingly moving towards for my 5 star books.Having worked in the telecom industry and on Wall Street I can say that this book is a must read for anyone wanting to know about the cellular industry or telecom in general. I found myself having a difficult time putting the book down at various times as the insight from this insider was unbelievable. Frankly I was behind the curve in the wireless sector as far as my history went but this book did an excellent job of getting me up to speed, describing what a wild ride is was in the sector and the book did an amazing job of telling the stories of some interesting characters involved in the wireless industry during its nascent stage.
Rating: 
Summary: very entertaining and informative
Review: Murray has written an immensely entertaining view of the development
of cellular telephone, the wrangling over FCC spectrum, the con artists
and hucksters, the visionary businessmen, the unprecedented methods
of haggling used to settle license ownership. My own background gives
me familiarity with the Internet revolution; it was quite interesting
to compare and contrast the cellular revolution with it. Those who
studied the cellular revolution were probably better able to understand what was going to happen with the Internet than those who didn't.
Rating:
Summary: A great behind-the-scenes look at lawbreakers making money!
Review: OK, so I gave away the "big surprise", but it's true. This book does an amazing job of detailing the early days of the FCC "dispensation" of the cellular phone spectrum, the companies and individuals involved, and how everything played out. Sure, it's like watching sausages being made. The good guys who played by the rules often got chumped. The guys who bent the rules got away with a lot of things that they shouldn't have. The real sleazeballs sometimes went to jail, but sometimes just made a lot of people angry and still got to keep a lot of money. In short, it's just like America: Under the table wheeling and dealing with lawyers smoking cigars. If you care at all about how so many people made so much money at cellular than this book is for you. I loved it. If you are expecting a nice antiseptic chronology of cellular from beginning to today you'll have to read about the personal foibles of McCaw, Yampol, and others to get it, but it's there.
Rating:
Summary: A great behind-the-scenes look at lawbreakers making money!
Review: OK, so I gave away the "big surprise", but it's true. This book does an amazing job of detailing the early days of the FCC "dispensation" of the cellular phone spectrum, the companies and individuals involved, and how everything played out. Sure, it's like watching sausages being made. The good guys who played by the rules often got chumped. The guys who bent the rules got away with a lot of things that they shouldn't have. The real sleazeballs sometimes went to jail, but sometimes just made a lot of people angry and still got to keep a lot of money. In short, it's just like America: Under the table wheeling and dealing with lawyers smoking cigars. If you care at all about how so many people made so much money at cellular than this book is for you. I loved it. If you are expecting a nice antiseptic chronology of cellular from beginning to today you'll have to read about the personal foibles of McCaw, Yampol, and others to get it, but it's there.
Rating:
Summary: Good book on neglected topic
Review: So much has been written about the internet industry in the 90's. But almost as important in the same period was the wireless industry. Very little has been written about wireless. This book does a good job of telling the fascinating story of how cellular got started in the US. The stories of how the government gave away the sprectrum and entrepeneurs (and hucksters) came up with ways to get rich off it are great. I only wished the book covered a longer period. Maybe the author will do a follow up on the PCS industry, where the government auctioned frequencies instead of using lotteries.
Rating:
Summary: Great Background Read
Review: This book is a must-read for anyone involved in the cellular industry, and should be very interesting (and entertaining) for anyone interested in entrepreneurialism or emerging industries. I work in the cellular industry and often hear, from those who worked in the industry in the mid-eighties, references to the "old days." While the current success of the cellular industry makes it seem as if its success was a "no-brainer," Murray makes clear that this was not the case--he does an excellent job of describing the free-wheeling, if not chaotic, beginnings of the industry, the fateful steps and mis-steps of some of the early players, and the vast uncertainty of whether the industry would ever be viable. Most memorably, he provides interesting profiles of some of the pioneers, cowboys, and charlatans that participated in the creation of America's cell-phone sector.
Rating:
Summary: A Must Read Book for Wireless Professionals
Review: This book provides useful insight for me in terms of assessing which markets and current players will play a significant role in the future. For people who wanted to aspire in making their own mark in this industry, let this book inspire you as stories on how the current cellular magnates were able to achieve their dreams and rise from the many challenges confronting them.
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