Rating:  - Hackers: heroes... A sequel?
I have just finished reading Hackers, by Stephen Levy, and added it to my collection of CyberCulture books. The book reads excellently, and is a brilliant intro to the MIT boys et al, but what I would like to know is: Is there anything that continues in the same vain, but for the period after 1984? If anyone knows, or wants to recommend a title to me, please, PLEASE e-mail me. If you haven't read this book, do. And if you haven't read Bruce Sterlings book "THe Hacker Crackdown" this is also a good read. For more of a 'novel' about hacking read "The Cuckoos Egg" Reads like a Mystery, but is fact. Byeee.!
Rating:  - Amazingly Good Book!
Before I had all the programming books, C, Perl, VB. But I was not motivated enough to read them till I read this book and try to be a good programmer well at least try to be a future hacker!
Rating: - One of the classic computer industry histories
I agree with the many other reviewers about the virtues of this book. It covers the evolution of the computer out of the glass room perhaps the best of any book out there. The book's strong narrative structure is also its only real flaw as it forces the history of the computer into a neat east/west dicotomy capped off by an idealized Richard Stallman portrayed as the last hacker. Still, a great book that is one of the "must reads" for anyone interested in how the computer industry grew and developed.
Rating: - Looking into a world you thought you knew
Hackers is a watershed work... its ability to explain technical concepts is suitable for almost anyone, but its explanation of the human concept behind the early days of the computing industry -- WHY hackers were, not just WHAT they were -- is unparalleled except possibly in The Hacker Crackdown by Bruce Sterling. You might have thought you "knew" that the personal computer came from IBM, which it didn't, or from Apple, which it didn't. You might have thought even the term "hacker" meant a malicious attacker and destroyer of complex systems, when the opposite was and is true. No matter how much time you've spent in the industry, whether you're in hardware, software or management, this book will show you how much of what you thought you knew is wrong or incomplete. The players are three-dimensional, the strands linking the storylines are bright and strong, the tone isn't moralistic, and it shows clearly how not only the Hacker Ethic began and evolved, but gives us insight as to why it's still alive, well, relevant and NEEDED in an era of know-nothing suits, IPO-driven greed, and mindless hype. Buy it. Buy two. Buy three. Give them to your friends.
Rating: - A must-read for anyone with even basic computing knowledge
This is easily the best book ever written for non-nerds (like me) to get an insight into what the early days of the computer revolution were like. Levy captures perfectly the awe of people exposed to new technology,and the crusading spirit of the first hackers.He manages to strike a great balance between technical information and interesting snippets on those zany hackers. This is also the first book I read that discusses the start of the computer game industry.All in all,a fantastic book that propagates the Hacker Ethic like a new religion- I'm a believer!
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