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: 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: Incredibly Entertaining And Informative
Review: Mr. Murray's account of the birth of the cellular telephone industry is remarkable. This is a subject I had little to no knowledge of (or interest in) and yet I found myself unable to put this book down. The story is truly incredible. The insider perspective he provides gives the reader a view into the birth of an entire industry. Time and again he details the steps, and more often mis-steps, that led to the wireless world we live in today. As interesting as the stories of the visionaries who "got it" from the begining are, the tales of those who guessed wrong are even more incredible. Huge corporations, respected "experts," and the US government all made one wrong decision after the other, while a handful of players who figured out just how big this industry could be took incredible gambles to succeed. At the same time, every day individuals from widows to plumbers had a chance to participate, and make millions in what was essentially a government run lottery. A riveting first hand account of the creation of an industry where billions were made and lost, and continue to be today.
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: 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.
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