Rating:  - A hacker classic
Hackers is considered a classic of computer history (short as it is) and culture. Painstakingly compiled by Levy from both written accounts and hundreds of interviews with some of the most important figures in computing, ranging from Greenblatt and Gosper to Bill Gates, Steve Wozniak, and Steve Jobs. It's an outstanding work and is required reading for anyone interested in the origins of the computer industry.
The story progresses in a mostly linear historical manner, as much as is possible. Early on its much easier since almost all the computing going on was taking place in a few concentrated locations. Later in the 70s and early 80s there is some parallel storytelling after the explosive growth in the personal computer market and there is just too much going on.
Up first is the story of the original "true hackers" of the legendary MIT Tech Model Railroad and the 9th floor Tech Central and AI lab. Rejecting the batch processed mentality of IBM and the big iron mainframes, these elite hackers originated the image of the geeky programmer and the `hacker ethic' still followed to this day. This is probably the most important section of the book culturally speaking, as we get an intimate look at their utopian little society and all the unique patterns of behavior that followed: the lock picking, hardware hacking, soda guzzling, Chinese food eating, 30 hour programming sprees, prank pulling, and the utter disdain for all bureaucracy and administration.
Next up, this time on the other side of the country in California a very different but equally important revolution is underway. The true birthplace of the personal computer was not the elite halls of MIT, but the grungy garages of the original hardware hackers, centering primarily around the legendary Homebrew Computer Club. While the MIT hackers pounded out nifty but largely uninteresting programs on multimillion dollar timesharing microcomputers - the hardware hackers believed in bringing the power of computers to every home - and made it happen. These were men (yes they were all men) who thought nothing of buying an early Altair computer kit that consisted of nothing more than a box full of circuit boards - soldering them together with little or no instruction into something that barely resembled what anyone today would consider a computer - only to have no monitor or keyboard or sound. The entire operating system would have to be entered by hand in arcane assembly language each time the machine was turned.
The hardware hackers knew computers could eventually find a home with regular people at a reasonable price, and quickly delivered. However, once this was accomplished (via the Apple and Atari home computers) it still would take some time to answer the eternal question - what the heck do you do with these computers? The formation of three grassroots companies solved this question - and the game hackers were born. In those days an individual gifted programmer could author an entire game, and reap an incredible 30% royalty rate from its sales. In computer circles they literally became like rock stars, including the rampant drug abuse.
Levy ends with a newly added epilogue entitled The Last of the True Hackers. Here he takes a look at what became of many of the young and idealistic hackers 10 years after the original publishing of the book. In particular he focuses on the lamentation of the self described Last True Hacker - Richard Stallman, aka RMS. RMS is an ultra socialistic hacker and founded the Free Software Foundation in accordance with his overzealous belief that all software should be free.
Overall Levy's book is a fairly objective account of this unusual history. However there are a number of important themes which are developed and explored along the way. Chief among them is defining the principle tenets of The Hacker Ethic and understanding its origins. It is a difficult concept, and simultaneously the reason for the success of the early hackers, and the making of their ultimate downfall. Their inability to understand anything but the computers they worked on, they failed in commercial success and in truly advancing the worldwide adoption of computer technology. Their elitist attitude persists to this day. It was only the hackers who understood not only the technology, but the business side and the practical application of technology that really succeeded.
Rating: - A must read for a Computer History buff
If you saw Robert X Cringeley's "Triumph Of The Nerds" on PBS, this book pre-dates it by *years* Many of the people RXC mentions are here in the book. This book's a wild and wooly romp through the little-known side of the True History of computers and the unsung heroes who, only for the glory of solving a problem or impressing their friends brought us to the revolution/evolution of the Personal Computer. I got this when it was first published in hardcover and have long since lost the dust jacket and have read it countless times.
Rating:  - Required reading for computer programmers
Hackers, by Steven Levy, should be required reading for anyone who programs computers for a living. Starting from the late 1950s, when the first hackers wrote code for the TX-0 and every instruction counted, to the early 1980s, when computers fully entered the consumer mainstream, and it was marketing rather than hacking which mattered. Levy divides this time into three eras: that of the 'True Hackers,' who lived in the AI lab at MIT and spent most of their time on the PDP series, the 'Hardware Hackers,' mostly situated in Silicon Valley and responsible for enhancing the Altair and creating the Apple, and the 'Game Hackers,' who were also centered in California; expert at getting the most out of computer hardware, they were also the first to make gobs and gobs of money hacking.
The reason everyone who codes should read this book is to gain a sense of history. Because the field changes so quickly, it's easy to forget that there is a history, and, as Santayana said, "Those who do not remember the past are doomed to repeat it." It's also very humbling, at least for me, to see what kind of shenanigans were undertaken to get the last bit of performance from a piece of hardware that was amazing for its time, but now would be junked without a thought. And a third takeaway was the transformation that the game industry went through in the early 80s: first you needed technical brilliance, because the hardware was slow and new techniques needed to be discovered. However, at some point, the hard work was all done, and the business types took over. To me, this corresponds to the 1997-2001 time period, with the web rather than games being the focus.
That's one of my beefs--the version I read was written in 1983, and republished, with a new afterword in 1993. So, there's no mention of the new '4th generation' of hackers, who didn't have the close knit communities of the Homebrew Computer Club or the AI lab, but did have a far flung, global fellowship via email and newsgroups. It would be a fascinating read.
Beyond the dated nature of the book, Levy omits several developments that I think were fundamental to the development of the hacker mindset. There's only one mention of Unix in the entire book, and no mention of C. In fact, the only languages he mentions are lisp, basic and assembly. No smalltalk, and no C. I also feel that he overemphasizes 'hacking' as a way that folks viewed and interacted with the world, without defining it. For instance, he talks about Ken Williams, founder of Sierra Online, 'hacking' the company, when it looked to me like it was simple mismanagement.
For all that, it was a fantastic read. The more you identify with the geeky, single males who were in tune with the computer, the easier and more fun a read it will be, but I still think that everyone who uses a computer could benefit from reading Hackers, because of the increased understanding of the folks that we all depend on to create great software.
Rating:  - VERY BORING!
I could barely stand reading this book... it leads to nowhere. It jumps around to different topics too quickly, and it's very hard to be be interested in. I couldn't finish the book, I literally fell asleep with the book in my hands.
Rating: - Must read to understand the beginning of modern computers
Don't read this book as an A to Z or a history book. Read it if you want to FEEL the beginning. Did you ever hack something? Ever flip a character bit in an early role-playing game? Ever write assembly code on a PDP-11? Ever own an Apple II? The three eras covered in this book really take you into the experience and give you a sense of what it was like in the early days of this industry. And Stephen Levy is a great writer. I read everything he writes cover to cover with ease and interest.
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