History of portable computers book -- pre-orders

[Evan Koblentz]

Hi all,

I'm going to release "version 1.0" of my book in a PDF edition this 
Friday night. Then in a couple of weeks from now I'll release a Kindle 
e-book version and a print edition.

The PDF version is only $8 and can be ordered right now at the very 
primitive web site: http://www.abacustosmartphone.com.

There's nothing to stop people from sharing or posting the PDF, other 
than me asking nicely: please do not do that. I am releasing the book 
early because I need the money.

So what's in the book? It is the story of the evolution of 
mobile/portable computers -- how we got from the abacus to the 
smartphone. I wrote it in plain English for general and mildly technical 
readers. There aren't a lot of tech speeds-and-feeds; it doesn't explain 
how the computers worked or how to program them. It is almost entirely 
about who made them, why, and how they all improved on each other to 
incrementally move the ball forward. I think it's interesting. Some 
parts are very funny. Most of all, it's a story that until never was 
never told.

- Evan