Manufacturing the Future: A History of Western Electric

Now that Lucent Technologies is gone, swallowed up by the French Telecom giant, this history of Western Electric could be completed. For now, we'll have to do with this comprehensive edition written when Lucent Technologies still had an apparently bright future. What becomes clear is that Lucent's downfall stems from a series of decisions beginning nearly a century earlier in which the manufacturing unit's interests always took second place to those of the Bell operating companies and AT & T. On the downside, it's a bit of an "official" history from the point of view of the corporate higher-ups. It would have been interesting to contrast their veiw with those of the regular employees. Still, it's probably the best available history of this important institution.

I'm actually an analyst of the telecom industry, so I come to this with a special interest. Nonetheless, I would highly recommend the book for those interested in some real foundations to understand the communications revolution. (and not just sound-byte Internet history). It's a pity that the name Lucent Technologies isn't in the title, because that's the real subject of the book. It's a history of Western Electric, which after a 120 year "pit stop" at AT & T ultimately spun out to become Lucent. The best part is the early chapters where we learn about the competition between the telegraph and Bell's telephone, the coalescing of local telephone companies under Bell's leadership, and ultimately the emergence of AT & T (with Western Electric)as the "Bell System" that most of us grew up with. Don't be put off by the fact that Lucent commissioned the book. It's a throughly documented, balanced, and obviously professional undertaking.