Hackers: Heroes of the Computer Revolution

Steven Levy’s work Hackers, heroes of the Computer Revolution, has stood the test of time quite well. In his opus, he gives an in depth and detailed overview of the people and technology that would eventually create our modern wired and interconnected world. I was alive during most the quarter century that the book covers and was able to see and know many of these developments first hand.
The early history starts out with the Model Railroad club at MIT in the late 50’s through the early 60’s and what made this particularly interesting was the focus on the people and personalities, thus we gain keen insights into the human dimension. This is important to IT and Security people as the one constant in technology that will never change is human nature and if we are going to be effective stewards of systems and guardians of data we have to know people. Another great insight that we gained from this is both the smashing of the most egregious stereotypes in our field and ironically confirmation of many of those traits in the early forebears.

Covers the facts well enough. Compared to the gold standard in computer history writing, the earlier Fire in the Valley: The Birth and Death of the Personal Computer, Levy's writing is rather flat. I don't know if he has improved over the years; this was the first book of his that I read, back when it came out on the heels of Fire in the Valley. It did not inspire me to follow his subsequent career. If you are contemplating buying this book, and haven't read that one yet, just get Fire in the Valley. There is a reason that it has been the basis for two movies so far and this one....none.

In the chapters where he covers Silicon Valley, it's a skimmable rehash of information better presented in Frieberger and Swaine's earlier book, but the more original material elsewhere in it is informative and interesting.

If you are still interested in that period of computer history after reading the earlier book and want to fill in some more of your knowledge, get this one to learn about the MIT crowd, early game programmers, etc. This book won't generate excitement by itself if you aren't already interested in the topic.

This book is a history of the beginning, growth and rise of the use of computers by people outside of the big businesses and governments that worked to create them in proprietary silos. This 25th anniversary edition of Steven Levy's classic book retains its detailed and interesting chronicle of the events that brought computing power to the masses. It also records some of the problems, pitfalls, and failures along the way. Here you will find many names that computer lovers are sure to recognize from Bill Gates to Richard Stallman as well as many that are not as well known, but that deserve to have their victories recorded also.

I greatly appreciate that this book exists. To be honest, it wasn't always a fun read. That isn't a commentary on the quality of the writing, but rather on the ups and downs of the narrative. There were times when I found myself wishing I was there in the middle of the action and other times when I had difficulty knowing who to root for. There were still other moments when I found myself cringing as I read about events long past, wishing that different decisions had been made or disappointed at the actions and attitudes of geniuses.

I'm not going to spoil the book for anyone interested by giving out specific details. All I'll say here is that the story begins with a bunch of model railroaders who love technology and who fall in love with a computer they discover they may access freely in an out of the way room in a building at MIT in the late 1950s. They took their love of piecing together technological gadgets in imaginative and creative ways (hacks) and applied it to this new tool / toy. The story follows their exploits and adventures through the 1960s en route to a second wave of hackers in Northern California in the 1970s who take the love home, creating machines on a smaller budget that could be used by ordinary people. Hot on their heels were another group of Californians who led a third wave, hacking software to do things never before dreamed of and leading the way to the commercialization of the computer. The book ends with a series of afterwards, one written when the book was first published in 1983, another written 10 years later, and another just added to this newly published edition. Each adds details and commentary to the history that were not known at the time of the original interviews and research.

If the history of hacking, free and open source software and the attitudes embodied in the current movement interest you, you will appreciate this book greatly.

I am grateful for O'Reilly's Twenty-Fifth Anniversary Edition of This Classic Work. While several books have been written through the years giving partial biographies of the pioneers and leaders of Computer Software Development, none other than this classic gives a fully developed creative and fun picture of lives and adventures of these programming pioneers. Among the important and extremely entertaining stories Steven Levy capably tells are the adventures of the MIT Tech Model Railroad Club and there adventures with early Minicomputers including the development of the pioneering Space War game, the Meetings of the Homebrew Computer Club that led to the Altair and Apple early home computers, and Richard Stallman's war to free software from the development of EMACS and LISP Machines through the initiation of the GNU Movement.

This is a biography of technical savants by a popular technical journalist told in stories as intriguing as the best of fiction. This Twenty-Fifth Anniversary Edition is noteworthy both for bringing to the fore a disappearing classic of the software revolution and in providing interesting but brief followup's on the subsequent interests and careers of these savants and hackers through the present days. It importantly corrects the misuse and denigration of the idea of what a hack is in the popular press and brings us forward to the days of the Makers and Hackerspaces.

--Ira Laefsky MSE/MBA
IT Consultant & HCI Researcher

Hackers is an absolutely fascinating look at the history of not just computing, but those who made it all happen: the curious college kids of MIT and those who came after who saw computers as more than just computational devices.

Levy weaves an amazing tale of geeks with a passion for using computers as a more than just tools; these kids (and some of them were quite young) fostered a community of information sharing to further the goal of the "hacker ethic." Information should be free and be used to better the individual and improve the use of computers.

Levy skillfully moves from MIT and the east coast, to the next generation of wonderkids in the Berkeley area, where computer technology was first used as an attempt to improve society. As more and more users wished to build their own hardware, Homebrew was formed to aid those in that goal. Homebrew helped launch the most influential wave of personal computing, and resulted in such greats as Woz's Apple computer. Also from this era is the conflict of software (or information) with the hacker ethic. Bill Gates's infamous letter against copying software ushered in a new area of for-profit hacking.

The final portion of the book focuses on computers as forms of personal entertainment, specifically as machines upon which we can play games, and Levy focuses on Sierra On-Line, a once rapidly growing and equally exploding powerhouse in early computer gaming. Here Levy is at his weakest. He fails to delve into coin-op gaming and console gaming as important factors in the drive to bring gaming deeper into the home via computers.

Another failure on Levy's part is, as this is the 25th anniversary edition, a discussion of the open source movement, a direct descendant of the hacker ethic. Had Levy discussed that, his excellent book would have made a wonderful, complete, up-to-date circle.

This book was amazing. What started out as a look into an interesting subculture has contributed to the modern technological society as a whole -- and managed to be a very good read in the process. Steven Levy's book is probably more important and fascinating to read now than it was when he first wrote it in 1984, because of the flourishing of the hacker culture since that time.

This book has inspired me to enjoy science fiction because of its subjects' adoration for Asimov and Heinlein, to build robots because of its descriptions of the pioneers of artificial intelligence, to study electrical engineering in college, to take a C++ class and do well in it even though I'm admittedly bad at programming, to play Apple II games like the Oregon Trail and miss Sierra On-Line (the best gaming company of the 1990s), and so on.

Basically, this book is the groundwork for insight into how to live a modern life, or one geared towards the future.

I never re-read books, but I look forward to re-reading this one after a few more years of diving deeper into the subjects contained within these chapters.

PS: The 25th Anniversary Edition adds 16 pages in an Afterword, updating the reader on the lives of the characters in this book. This addition is every bit as inspiring as the original book, and I'm glad I picked it up at my local bookstore.

First off, thank you Steven Levy! If you, like me, grew up in a hi-tech environment, you need to read this book. If you, like me, have done industrial machine language programming, you should read this book. If your first exposure to a computer was an IBM 360, if you’ve grown up (and old) first with a phone line modem and then with the World Wide Web, you should read this book… you should know your “family’s” history, your heritage. Know what you’ve been a part of even if you were just on the edge. You may find that you were a hacker and didn’t know it. For many it was just a job you liked. You never thought you were a hacker. You didn’t even know the word.

Steven Levy has written a masterpiece, and I will be forever grateful to him for it. Although when I read it (circa year 2001) computers were much more mainstream than the period this book covers (1960s-80s), the book still broke new ground for me. It was before the blogging era, and especially before all the aspiring hackers of the world "united" via a network of blogs, forums, feeds, "planets" (feed collections on specific topics) and link accumulators like Reddit and Digg. In other words, it was much more difficult for me to find people with interests similar to mine.

Or maybe I didn't look hard enough. This is not the point, anyway. The point is that this book took me "out of the closet" as a hacker, proud of my hobby, instead of wondering whether I'm some kind of an autistic freak. Reading it, I understood two things of utmost importance:

1. There were, and there are, many people with my interests and peculiarities. And these are the people that made the computer revolution happen.
2. Somehow, Steven Levy managed to explain in words the reason people find computers and programming so fascinating. In some sense it was a revelation. I kept saying to myself "yes, exactly!" and "ahh, now I understand" very frequently while reading the book.

Here are a couple of great quotes from the book regarding (2):

" What kept him going was his fascination with the machine, how it let you build complicated systems completely under your control."

I heard people referring to this as instant gratification. Engineering is fun, solving problems is fun, and building solutions is fun - this probably has strong roots in the ancestral humans, shaped by evolution to be smarter than other animals. As opposed to other, more "physical" disciplines of engineering, like electrical, mechanical or structural engineering, programming allows you to actually create real and useful things with a computer as your only tool. An electrical engineer may wait for a long time until his board will be produced, and only then he can "play with it". For a computer programmer, things are much simpler. It is very easy and quick to build systems and use them.

" [...] computers were an infinitely flexible artistic medium, one in which you could express yourself by creating your own little universe."

"Code is art" is a very popular notion these days, perhaps coined by Knuth in his "The Art of Computer Programming" books. People do art for fun - they draw, play and compose music, write and design pretty gardens. In this sense, programming is not much different - it is an act of creation and self-expression. It is fun.

As I said, this book is a treasure chest of insightful quotes like the ones above. Levy interviewed most of the who-and-whos in the world of computing from the 1960s in the MIT labs and through the 1980s in the Californian game development companies. In addition to being explanatory of the "hacker nature", the book is also a great historical reference for the early years of computing. How lucky we are these days to have the opportunity to hack so easily. Just a few decades ago, people interested in computers had to use clanky, slow, terminals or worse, batch-processing machines. There are so much free open-source development tools one really doesn't need to spend money on anything further than the hardware - and PCs are cheap and powerful.

I can't recommend this book enough to anyone interested in computing, and programming in particular. As an aid to discovering your internal motivations, you own yourself to read it.

My first experience with computers was taking (and dropping) a Fortran IV class in 1964 at the U of Mo Rolla. To read of the excellence and genius of the early fathers of computing is a mind boggling experience. This is the only book I ever bought and paid for 3 times, twice in paperback and now as an ebook. The misguided souls who have panned this book I can only assume grew up in the last 10 years where using a computer is about as difficult as using a cook book. What we take for granted today those early pioneers had to first conceive of and put into practice, much of it seeming to be magic. Were they quirky characters? Of course, who else could have brought about the revolution? I don't agree with their politics but I envy them their intellect and that they were there when the big bang of computing took place. Even the game hackers did things no one thought possible. I can't recommend this book highly enough, at least if you were of age when the whole computer thing began.

Hackers is a classic on the beginnings of the computer and internet industry. It covers early mainframes and the original MIT hackers from the 50s and 60s, early home computer entrepreneurs and Californian hippies from the 70s, the birth of the computer gaming industry and marketisation of the industry in the 80s, and early days of internet companies, tech startups, hackerspaces and Linux. A historically interesting (long!) read that will help any 21th century technology enthusiast understand the origins of the industry.

Before starting this book I had very little knowledge about the hacking community-- most of that knowledge coming from social media and shows such as Mr.Robot. This book shed a completely new light on the "hackers" and who these people were when the computing industry was blowing up. While the author is overly optimistic about the collaboration among hackers and the book is somewhat slow to read due to a bunch of "filler" writing, the fascinating stories planted throughout the novel are certainly rewarding and insightful. Would definitely recommend this book to anyone interested in the history of hacking or the history of programming development in general.

Up until 4 years ago, I taught undergraduate Computer Science classes. Based on my observations, the most important early indicator of a great programmer is their motivation to innovate. Although understanding the theory/mechanics of programming is essential, it is the student's drive to experiment with & apply what they've learned that separates the oustanding programmers from the mediocre ones. Therefore, I tried to cultivate "the hacker mentality" in my students. One of the principal ways I did this was by motivating my students to read books that inspired their creative spirit. While not part of the "approved" curiculum, I offered extra credit to students who read at least one of three books: "The Fountainhead", "Soul of a New Machine", or "Hackers". All of these books celebrate the inventor/innovator, and thus help inspire programmers to develop their own, unique hacker mentality. I've personally witnessed the work of poor students dramatically improve after digesting these books. Unfortunately, since "Hackers" is now out of print, its message isn't widely available to new generations of hackers. I hope Mr Levy will one day publish an update that covers the birth of the Internet.

If you're considering reading Hackers, by Steven Levy you're either a hacker wannabe, or maybe the real deal looking for a trip down random-access memory lane. Either way, Hackers is a well-written narrative version of the history of "hacking" - that is, figuring out how to make computers perform tasks, often by simple trial and error; from the early days at MIT in the late 50's through the microcomputer revolution in the eighties. Not only is it well-written and organized, it gives you just enough technical data to increase your understanding of the hackers' achievements, and doesn't drown you in jargon.
I read this as research for a writing project; I use computers, I like computers, but by the end of the book I was wrapped up in a world of people who are consumed by the curiosity of what a computer is capable of. All the of real people that Levy writes about are interesting and vibrant in their own peculiar ways. And all the description of ingenuity and innovation in the sake of a good hack really gets you inspired.
I'm sure there are people who will take issue with Levy's selective coverage of the machines covered, debatably skewed emphasis on the bookish quality of the MIT group versus the crazy, do-it-yourselfers at Stanford, etc., and all of the people covered are not shown in a uniform light. But if you love computers, and would like to read about some really interesting people who accomplish some pretty amazing things, then this is a book for you.

This book is pretty good, especially if you remember some of the old days -- tight access to computers, late nights using what computers can be found (by hook or crook), introduction of Apple II, etc.

My only objection to the book is that it spends most of the time on the AI lab at MIT. All well and good, but there were hackers almost everywhere. I remember one guy building his own computer, one bit a time -- he had access to the parts drawers at the lab, and we always running out of NAND gates.

And hackers are back, as a part of the Builders movement. The glory days will be relived once again.

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.

The media have taken a wonderful concept and twisted it into a vision of criminals. Don't be misled. Levy understands what the true definition of a hacker is. It's about having a thirst for knowledge so great that you'll go to extraordinary lengths to learn more and to find ways to apply that knowledge to make things do more then anyone ever imagined that they could. This concept is what moves technology forward at such a great pace.
The book reads like a novel. It gives you a first hand glimpse into the hacker mentality and culture that it has created. If you are intrigued by what computer programmers do, this book will give you an excellent insight into the topic. If you are a programmer, or thinking about becoming a programer - this is one of the most inspirational books that you could ever read.

This book is helpful for anyone who is: interested in the history of computers and computer culture, wanted to understand the time period where people like Steve Wozniak and Jobs thrived in, or just see the development of computing. Was enjoyable to read, and well written.

Was not a fan of the absolute view that the book is written in. Very clearly calls the age of "hackers" dead, but ignores the success of tech centers like Silicon Valley.

Hackers: Heroes of the Computer Revolution - 25th Anniversary Edition Steven Levy
The book provides an interesting view of the history and growth of computers, seeing through the eyes of the hackers; the somewhat elusive group of people that have never cared much for contention, have pushed the limits of both computing hardware and software, and have at the same time engage in headed and headstrong arguments about computers, hardware and software.
The book discusses three main groups of hackers, representing the early era's of modern computing. The first were the group of mainframe hackers bases at MIT in the 50's an 60's, using computing time on the hulking mainframes, trying to get the monolithic batch-processing machines to bend to their will.
The second group were the so-called hardware hackers; a group of hardware junkies at Berkeley, figuring out how to assemble pieces hardware to create their own working computers in the 70's. This was the days of Alteir, the beginning of Intel and Steve Wozniak (who created the original Apple and Apple II).
The final group focuses largely on computer games; an industry which sprung up in the 80's with the proliferation of arcade games, and the mass movement of computers into people's homes.
While the book is not specifically written for computer junkies, it is far more interesting for the hackers (or at least want-to-be hackers) out there. Somebody without a passionate interest in computers or programming would probably get a little board with the level of detail.
However, for those like me who work the field, it is a fascinating story of some eccentric people that literally shaped the computing world as we know it today. While there is a strong focus on the development of Apple, and the gaming world for the Apple (at least in the second half), there is very little mention of the IBM/Microsoft route, and the development of applications and games for the so-called PC world. This almost reflects the modern Apple/PC divide.
While at times I find the book little verbose, it is nonetheless a fascinating story. The edition I read was a 25'th anniversary edition of the book, which was originally published in 1985, a testimony to the longevity of the book. Well worth reading.

Levy has taken a subject that could be extremely boring and made it very interesting. I found myself so absorbed in this story the other night that I ended up reading late into the night.
I appreciated that he devoted equal time to the time frames outlining each section. Often, with historical writings (which this really is) a large proportion of time is devoted to the current state, but Levy kept the story balanced and coherent. Levy introduced me to characters in the 50's and 60's that I had never heard of, who were truly brilliant people. A follow up would be greatly appreciated, that would take us into the 90's and outline how hacking has changed.
Hats off to Levy. I will be looking at more of his writings.

Contrary to popular opinion, hackers are not computer criminals. They are those who are inspired by the power to control technology, and for whom computing is an art form.
The book traces the history of computing, from the early days of the Tech Model Railroad Club at MIT in the late 50's to the game designers of the mid 80's. It's the story of brilliant programmers devoted to their dream of a better world.
Among the characters covered in the book are the first generation hackers, the students at MIT who fought against the system, with its batch processed IBM computers, because they believed that computers should be for everyone, not just the "high priests" entrusted to protect them from the masses. The book also discusses the philosophical hackers of the late 60's who believed the computer age would change the world, as well as the hardware hackers of the late 70's who built their own home computers from discarded parts. In the 80's, with the advent of the affordable home computer, a new generation of hackers emerged - game designers.
Levy also talks about the most famous hackers of all - the two Steves (Jobs and Wozniak), who created Apple in the late 70's, and Bill Gates, the young programmer who broke an unwritten rule and prevented the hacking community from using his software freely.
Hackers was first published in 1984, and understandably, things have moved on since then. Yet it is still an exceptionally good read. It covers a large amount of ground without ever becoming dry.
I bought a copy of Hackers after reading several glowing recommendations from other readers. This is a book that should be considered essential reading for anyone with an interest in computing. Hackers will take you back to where it all began. I highly recommended it.

I love books ABOUT computers! My husband is the computer guru while I just like what I can do on computers, from putting together web pages to making podcasts. He bought this book originally when it came out and left it on the table. I picked it up and started reading, and couldn't stop. I've read it at least 10 times, and I'm reading it again now. It's a fascinating book and very readable (humorous too) and I don't think a person necessarily has to be interested in computers to enjoy the stories and style of writing. I really liked the people in the book, and re-reading it is like visiting with old friends. True, I've never met them and never will, but it's like a well-read and beloved novel in that way, only better because these people lived and did great (or even just interesting) things.

Besides this book, I also love The Soul of a New Machine, and Cuckoo's Egg, and have read all three many times. I still have no interest in the inner workings of computers I must admit. As long as they work, I'm happy. I have a lot of respect for these hackers though, and through the years I've constantly tried to set people straight when they use the term "hackers" in a negative way.

This book is a history of the "real" hackers, from the startin 1959 at MIT up to the early 1980's. I mean "real",because today there is a public confusion between hackers - those who circumvent limitations - and crackers - those who circumvent security. This book, in conjunction with Eric S. Raymond's "New Hacker's Dictionary" in either book or online form, gives both the newbie and the uninitiated a good look at the true nature of wonderful culture responsible for much of today's computer technology.

This, in my opinion, is an excellent book. It is informative about what a hacker really does. This book is very reader friendly but at the same time doesn't tell you the information as if you were a first grader with your finger in your nose. Steven Levy did a good job in accurately describing hackers. He didn't label them as criminals but as curious onlookers searching for information in a high-tech world. A well done book!

This book is a history of the "real" hackers, from the startin 1959 at MIT up to the early 1980's. I mean "real",because today there is a public confusion between hackers - those who circumvent limitations - and crackers - those who circumvent security. This book, in conjunction with Eric S. Raymond's "New Hacker's Dictionary" in either book or online form, gives both the newbie and the uninitiated a good look at the true nature of wonderful culture responsible for much of today's computer technology.

This is a great reference book for anyone who works in the Security or IT industries to get an introduction to the 'who's who' in the hacking world. So many of these people are referenced in professional conversation either by name or deed, and this book helps understand why and provides context. Although some may disagree with the level of heroism claimed, they have a role in our digital history we can learn from.

This, in my opinion, is an excellent book. It is informative about what a hacker really does. This book is very reader friendly but at the same time doesn't tell you the information as if you were a first grader with your finger in your nose. Steven Levy did a good job in accurately describing hackers. He didn't label them as criminals but as curious onlookers searching for information in a high-tech world. A well done book!

Great book that tells the history of computers using funny and interesting anecdotes. It starts by telling about the first computers at MIT and the instant software-writing community built around them. It then moves to California, introducing the business side of computers and how they hit mainstream. I am halfway through the book right now, which is now telling the story of the first Apple computers. Many famous computer names are mentioned and discussed in this book, including Bill Gates, Steve Jobs, John McCarthy, John Draper and many others. Very interesting read if you are curious about how computers got the way they are today. I loved hearing about the innovations in early computing and how these brought us to our modern computers. It keeps coming back to the community built around these computers, and how it helped hasten the pace of which made them so useful today. Must-read for any computer scientist or engineer.

This is a great history of computers. This covers all of the people that "invented" modern computing, etc. Starts out with the software hackers of the 1960s and 1970s, then moves into the hardware hackers of the late 1970s and 1980s. Some of these hardware hackers include how Woz (Steve Wozniak) started Apple computer and made a mint. It then moves on to software companies like Sierra On-Line and Broderbund and how they got their start...
Definitely a cool book. Great computer history book.

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.

I recently finished reading the Soul of a New Machine which I really enjoyed and overall enjoy these types of history of computing types of books. This takes the next step forward from Soul as that was focused primarily on shipping out one machine this focus on three distinct different eras of computing, both the people who used and the machines.

Overall I really enjoyed this book as an IT professional as it is the single best location of the history of computing. Other reviews go into much greater detail of the time periods and the technology so I wont repeat it here. I'm more echoing what others have said. If this book does sound interesting then I recommend you purchase it without hesitation. You will thoroughly enjoy it. I just wish there was more to it.

These guys aren't the hackers that create viruses that damage your computer hard drive.

These are the original hackers. The ones that slept next to the huge mainframes waiting for a chance to get on and test their programs.

I had read about them in other computer history books devoted to artificial intelligence. One such book is "The Brain Makers" by HP Newquist.

But this book takes me so close into their lives that I feel I am actually there with them.

I read a chapter in the book and then get the urge to learn another computer language.

This book contains a lot of information resource and even references to other resource/books.
I found Levy description of hackers life and point of view is excellent.
This book isn't designed to be read only by IT people (even if for those is a greay job), but it's great dealing with hackers philosophy (especially on the first and last part) which, in my opinion, cloud be applied to every-day life.
Well, hackers aren't criminal and the book outline this. After reading the book you would had learn their point of view, and maybe you would convert to their philosophy.
I gave him 4 star JUST because I would had preferred a longer talk on MIT period.

Stephen Levy has encapsulated the history of the PC from it's roots in the MIT Model Railroad Club to the countless technologies stolen from Xerox PARC. He illuminates the culture of computer geeks from the time when hacker was a badge of honor through the corporate warfare of today. A GREAT read for anyone who lived it - and a wonderful insight for those who missed out on it all.

I have to admit that while reading about the first generation hackers at MIT in the 50's and early 60's, I had forgotten that the book was originally published in the early 80's. As the narrative advanced toward the late sixties and some of the next generation of hackers with access to DECs PDP machines, I was anticipating reading about the guys at Bell Labs who wrote UNIX and C on PDP hardware. But that story never emerged. I was still perplexed about this, reading about the Altair and the early Apple computers in 70's. Then I realized this was published in 1983, and thought, well UNIX was still fairly obscure at the time. The K&R C book was published in 1978, however.

I still can't reconcile a book about the history of Hacking (in the original sense of the word and not the current usage applied to malicious criminals) that doesn't cover in any detail the evolution of UNIX/Linux and the Internet. The ARPANet is mentioned in passing. I skipped most of the sections on the Sierra Online people, because that story wasn't compelling to me. (I can see how others who are passionate about game hacking would be interested in that section).

I can't imagine what else could have been a bigger influence on hacking than the emergence of the Internet and the ability to run your own copy of an OS that also powers this massive network of networks. Freely sharing your ideas, code and information with others anywhere in the world is the main theme of this book and the Internet made that possible. Granted in 1983, this was not yet possible for most people hacking on the early PCs and Apples. And yet, this author almost completely ignores this area of computing. It would be like writing the history of the US auto industry and spending more time discussing Studebaker than Ford. (No offense to Studebaker, but come on).

The best parts of the book are the stories of the ingenious ways the MIT guys hacked on massive hardware with less computing power than a $10 pocket calculator.

This is a great reference book for anyone who works in the Security or IT industries to get an introduction to the 'who's who' in the hacking world. So many of these people are referenced in professional conversation either by name or deed, and this book helps understand why and provides context. Although some may disagree with the level of heroism claimed, they have a role in our digital history we can learn from.

After reading army Olson's attempt at discrediting hackers and seeing the "brush" she uses to paint them, Steven Levy's book remains the best way to know what a hacker is and how it all got started. It's a must-read!!!!

Levy's book is an excellent history. He captured a snapshot of a pivotal time in the development of computing. This is important as a historical resource. But it is also a really, really, great read. "Milliblats" stand out in my mind as an example of that!

Excellent. A detailed and narratively compelling read about the people who started the computer revelation. The book takes computers from the early hacker days at MIT with characters like Greenblatt and Gosper and takes you through a humorous and detailed history of the people who brought computing to the masses. Steven focuses on the people who took computing to a new level along with all the important events over the last forty years. Buy it now!

An amazing book that chronicles the beginnings of the personal computer age, including how the present-day institutions of Microsoft and Apple started out. It is truly the one book that defined what a hacker is and can make almost anyone understand the passion many people have for computers. I have read it 2 or 3 times since it first came out and I still love it.