This book had all the ingredients to become a classic, but is sadly - and massively - let down by a couple of fatal flaws. First, the author's writing style is comically longwinded and pretentious - nothing is ever explained in a straightforward, accessible way, while tiny, irrelevant details are puffed up to imply some spurious significance. To put it bluntly, Tompkins seems to be pushing the tolerance - and patience - of his readers.
Which is a shame, because he has a great story to tell, less about the technology than about the amazing cast of characters involved in the Vocoder, its precursors and successors. And Tompkins does have some fascinating points to make - drawing out links between the Vocoder and technology, culture, warfare and much more.
I'd really like to be able to give this a better review - Tompkins is usually a brilliant writer, but in this case he's really dropped the ball.