The Idea Factory
The Idea Factory by Jon Gertnerby Jon Gernter
Shares rank 38 of 51 history books by recommenders
People recommend it as a worthwhile history of Bell Labs, described as an awesome book about that institution. No recurring criticisms appear in the quotes.
People recommend it as a worthwhile history of Bell Labs, described as an awesome book about that institution. No recurring criticisms appear in the quotes.
3 people gave an opinion
- recommend it
- 3
- criticize it
- 0
- approval share
- 100%
Recommended in 3 of 13 months
- November 2025: not recommended
- December 2025: recommended
- January 2026: not recommended
- February 2026: recommended
- March 2026: not recommended
- April 2026: not recommended
- May 2026: not recommended
- June 2026: not recommended
- July 2026: not recommended
- August 2026: not recommended
- September 2026: recommended
- October 2026: not recommended
- November 2026: not recommended (month in progress)
Why it doesn’t carry the badge
- 3 people recommend itNeeds 10 or more, not met.
- Nobody criticizes itNeeds 2 to 1 or better, met.
- Recommended in 3 of 13 monthsNeeds 4 or more, not met.
The same three rules apply to every product, and the badge can’t be bought. How the badge works
What people say about it
The reasons people give, with the number of comments that give each one. Open a reason to read what they said.
Why people recommend it
Each mark is one comment
Awesome history of Bell Labs
“Awesome book about the history if Bell Labs”
Comment from 12 Sep 2026 in “google.com/goto: Google's anti-scraping update” Worthwhile read
“The Idea Factory is a worthwhile read.”
Comment from 17 Feb 2026 in “History of AT&T Long Lines”
Other history books people recommend
The four most recommended other history books, with the same counts for each, so you can compare like for like. The tick on each bar marks the 2 to 1 line the badge needs.
| Product | Recommend | Criticize | Approval | Months | Owned | Badge |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| The Dawn of Everythingby David Graeber and David Wengrow | 23 | 5 | 82% | 10 | — | Approved |
| Cadillac Desertby Marc Reisner | 18 | 0 | 100% | 11 | — | Approved |
| The Boxby Marc Levinson | 16 | 0 | 100% | 8 | — | Approved |
| Sapiensby Yuval Noah Harari | 13 | 9 | 59% | 8 | — | — |
| The Idea Factoryby Jon GernterThis page | 3 | 0 | 100% | 3 | — | — |
What people said
2 of the 3 comments that mention it, newest first. Each links to the original comment.
“Awesome book about the history if Bell Labs”
“The Idea Factory is a worthwhile read.”
Counts come from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026. How we count. Report a mistake.