I have been reading the recently released 25th Anniversary Edition Hackers —
Heroes of the Computer Revolution by Steven Levy. The first version traced the exploits of the computer revolution’s original hacker. These were the nerds who got their revenge by being successful and playing a major role in the computer industry from the late 1950s through the early ’80s.  As the book said, they took risks, bent the rules, and pushed the world in a radical new direction.

The 25th anniversary edition includes updated material from noteworthy “hackers” such as Bill Gates, Mark Zuckerberg, Richard Stallman, and Steve Wozniak. I did not get involved in the computer world until the end point of the first edition.

In the early 80s I made the transition from academia to the business world by joining a firm that did training primarily for computer firms. As a consultant I led the development of Apple’s first national account sales training in the pre-Mac era, developed sales training for NCR’s first personal computer, and wrote about the creation of one Raytheon’s mid-range computers inspired by Tracy Kidder’s Soul of a New Machine, among other projects.

It closes with a chapter on Cambridge 1983 as the place for the last of the true hackers.  Being a Boston resident at the time, and still one, I enjoyed this homage. It closes with a quote from Lee Felsenstein, a Berkeley hacker, “…to able to defy a culture which states, ‘thou shall not touch this,’ and to defy that with one’s own creative power is…the essence.” In those days it seemed that most of this hacker power addressed positive outcomes. Now while some hackers have gone to the dark side, this need to push boundaries still does more good than harm.

It was an exciting time and this book brought back those years and set the stage for them by going even further back in time. I wish I had read it then but it is no less relevant now.  Not being technical I have always had great admiration for those who are and I share some of the other traits such an obsession for doing things more than interacting with people, I have always felt connected with hackers even though I do not possess their computer skills. I think it is a similar obsession that drives my involvement with painting. Artists and hackers are pushing envelopes from very different perspectives but I feel there is a common core.

I highly recommend this O’Reilly book which PC Magazine named the best Sci-Tech book written in the last twenty years.