Rating:  - The best kind of history writing.
I know that I got around to reading this book rather late in the day, but I'm here to tell you that it's worth reading no matter what time it is. The computer revolution is important in so many spheres of our life-- it's history that's relevant to business, politics, and culture. This book looks at some of the roots of these crucial changes and sets the scene for our current environment.
Happily, it does this scene-setting in a very well-written and engaging manner-- effectively characterizing both groups and individuals in a way that keeps the pages turning. Definitely one to buy, whether or not you're a programmer.
Rating: - Hackers: Heroes of the Computer Revolution
This book was a great place to start. It was well written and informative, good documentation of the hacker ethic and it's origins. "Information should be free!" I suggest following it up with 'Fire in the Valley: the Making of the Personal Computer', then watching the movie 'Pirates of Silicon Valley', afterwards reading 'Barbarians Led by Bill Gates' to understand how the hacker ethic was suppressed and corrupted, then twisted to have a subversive connotation by people and companies seeking to capitalize on the work and achievements of others. This chronology can help gain an understanding how innovation has been likewise suppressed and stolen to the detriment of many.
Rating: - Inspiration
I had a hard time putting this one down. It covers the stories of young tech focused men (almost all the people in the book are male) of MIT in the 50s and 60s, San Francisco/Berkley/Stanford in 70s and Sierra Online (a popular game company) in the 80s.
I found the stories inspiring and renewed my faith in what I could do as individual. It was also a fun and interesting history of all the MIT hackers and how Homebrew Computer club in Northern CA started the personal computer revolution.
I must admit that the ending of the Sierra On-Line section isn't exactly unplifting but overall a great book
Rating:  - A Must for anyone interested in Computer History
I found this book to be resourceful and entertaining guide to origins of hacking and the beginnings of the personal computer. Levy seems to focus a little too much on MIT and homebrew (especially MIT), but it should be considered that this book was written in the early 80's. I find it odd that he seems to highlight and glorify various hackers' objections to cigarette smoke, which leads me to believe that he himself is an ardent non-smoker.
One section of the book that I thought was one-dimensional is the section dealing with Ken Williams. Levy would have you believe that Sierra was the force in electronic gaming at the time but there were a lot of companies doing much more interesting and creative projects than Sierra at the time. Another gripe is that Levy does not make any mention of European or Japanese hackers. Hacking, even in the 70's was a global phenomenon.
Overall, "Hackers" is a must read for anyone interested in the history of personal computing.
Rating:  - Not very good
I was very disappointed with this book. It is old, somewhat outdated and written from a skewed viewpoint of someone who idolizes the "hackers" who came from MIT. There was not much mention of the computer work done elsewhere. This "history" was one sided and not very comprehensive.
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