Masters of Doom: How Two Guys Created an Empire and Transformed Pop Culture by David KushnerMy rating: 5 of 5 stars
This is the story around the people who created the game Doom. John Romero and John Carmack.
The book starts with a short bio of the two Johns. And covers the stories around the creation of their first game, the company they started and the famous public fallout.
I like the idea that the game and the company worked because both founders had opposite views and opposite approach to the game. Romero was "design is king" and Carmak was the "Engine Guy" One thought that the design of the game is the only thing that matters and tech was just a tool to get the game you want to create. Carmak was the opposite, for him the tech was the main thing, the story is not that important if you don't have the tech to make it stand out.
I didn't like the people in this story, the sterotype of the programmer as the socially-inept genius, the nerd that has the last laugh hurts the tech industry. I liked that I read this book, but I was not inspired by the people or the story. For me this is a history lesson and how to suck at managing.
Good read for sure, I recommend it to those who are in tech as a cautionary tale.
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