Can the Twin Cities revive their glory days of tech innovation?

Pioneer Press feature includes nod to Thomas J. Misa's DIGITAL STATE.

Misa_Digital coverCould the magic come alive again?

Two generations ago, Control Data and Medtronic began their journeys here, growing from tiny buds into national champions of computer and medical-device manufacturing. In the process, they showered the area with good jobs and new wealth.

At the peak of this swarm of economic activity, the late 1970s through early 1980s, the Twin Cities region became widely seen as home to the nation's third-largest concentration of technological innovation, outranked only by Silicon Valley and Boston's Route 128.

Now, in two new books, authors Thomas Misa and Donald Hall recount how it all happened. In "Digital State: The story of Minnesota's computing industry," Misa focuses on the rise of the Minnesota's computer industry. Misa is director of the Charles Babbage Institute at the University of Minnesota.

Keep reading.

Published in: Pioneer Press
By: Dave Beal