The Road Ahead
by Bill Gates
★ Top 25 book of 1995 · #22 on Best Books of 1995
Written in 1995, this book looks at how information and computer technology will shape society. It traces the history from ancient counting devices to personal computers, and covers Microsoft's early days and the role of software.
Best for: Readers curious about computing history and early predictions of the tech future
The Road Ahead is #22 on BookWard's Best Books of 1995, out of 28 1995 books that cleared our data bar.
What The Road Ahead is about
Bill Gates, writing with Nathan Myhrvold and Peter Rinearson, looks at what the personal computer revolution means and where it might lead. He pictures a future reshaped by a global information superhighway, and he builds that picture on a retelling of computing's past, from ancient counting devices through mainframes to the home machine. Along the way he recounts the early days of Microsoft, Apple, DEC, Compaq and IBM, and explains why software matters so much and why it is so complex and costly to produce. First published in 1995 and substantially revised about a year later, it suits readers who like to see how early hopes for the internet age were framed.
The Road Ahead on the Best Books of 1995
The Road Ahead came out in 1995. Of the 28 books first published in 1995 that met BookWard's data bar, it ranks #22 on our Best Books of 1995 list.
Why it made the list: 159 readers have shelved it on Open Library. The list ranks each year’s books on how many readers have picked them up, how highly readers rate them, and how many are reading them right now.
Nearby on the 1995 list
- Naked in Death Nora Roberts, #20
- Double Act Jacqueline Wilson, #21
See all Best Books of 1995 Best books by year
More years: Best Books of 1994 Best Books of 1996.
The numbers behind it
- Readers: 141 want to read it, 11 are reading it now and 7 have read it, according to Open Library.
| Signal | This book (0 to 100) | Weight |
|---|---|---|
| Reach | 11 | 55% |
| Reader love | 54 | 25% |
| Being read right now | 39 | 20% |
Questions about The Road Ahead
When was The Road Ahead published?
The Road Ahead by Bill Gates was first published in 1995.
Was The Road Ahead one of the best books of 1995?
The Road Ahead is #22 on BookWard's Best Books of 1995, out of 28 1995 books that cleared our data bar. 159 readers have shelved it on Open Library.
Why is The Road Ahead on the Best Books of 1995 list?
159 readers have shelved it on Open Library.
More of the best books of 1995
- The Lost World Michael Crichton, #1
- Emotional Intelligence Daniel Goleman, #2
- Northern Lights Philip Pullman, #3
- Mindhunter John E. Douglas, #4
- Rose Madder Stephen King, #5
- Wicked Gregory Maguire, #6
See the full Best Books of 1995, the Top 100, or new books on Rising.
How we know
This page uses public data: Open Library reader counts and ratings, and Wikipedia page views for recent years. The description is paraphrased from real source text. Rankings reflect reading interest, not quality or sales, and can be affected by data gaps. Lists update monthly.
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