Hackers captures a seminal period in recent history when underground activities blazed a trail for today's digital world, from MIT students finagling access to clunky computer-card machines to the DIY culture that spawned the Altair and the Apple II.Ī The Rant Heard Round the WorldĪuthor Steven Levy When I began researching Hacker s-so many years ago that it’s scary-I thought I’d largely be chronicling the foibles of a sociologically weird cohort who escaped normal human interaction by retreating to the sterile confines of computers labs. They had a shared sense of values, known as 'the hacker ethic,' that still thrives today. Levy profiles the imaginative brainiacs who found clever and unorthodox solutions to computer engineering problems. With updated material from noteworthy hackers such as Bill Gates, Mark Zukerberg, Richard Stallman, and Steve Wozniak, Hackers is a fascinating story that begins in early computer research labs and leads to the first home computers. Back cover.This 25th anniversary edition of Steven Levy's classic book traces the exploits of the computer revolution's original hackers - those brilliant and eccentric nerds from the late 1950s through the early '80s who took risks, bent the rules, and pushed the world in a radical new direction.

And in the Internet age, 'the hacker ethic' - first espoused here - is alive and well. With groundbreaking profiles of Bill Gates, Steve Wozniak, MIT's Tech Model Railroad Club, and more, Steven Levy's Hackers brilliantly captures a seminal moment when the risk takers and explorers were poised to conquer twentieth-century America's last great frontier. That was before one pioneering work documented the underground computer revolution that was about to change our world forever. And a media obsessed with the digital explosion has reappropriated the term 'computer nerd' so that it's practically synonymous with 'entrepreneur.' Yet, a mere fifteen years ago, wireheads hooked on tweaking endless lines of code were seen as marginal weirdos, outsiders whose world would never resonate with the mainstream. Owning the most powerful computer, the latest high-tech gadget, and the whizziest website is a status symbol on a par with having a flashy car or a designer suit.

Stephen levy hackers