Levy_S-Hackers-Heroes-Computer-Revolution

SLAC, he talked of video displays, hardware reliability, Ivan Illich, and the idea ofincorporating the user in the design. It was a good blend of social commentary andtechnical esoterica, and the Homebrewers appreciated it. Lee found himselftalented in the ready quip, and eventually hacked a little routine that he'd deliver atthe beginning of each meeting. He came to take a fierce pride in his job as clubmaster of ceremonies: in his thinking he was now the ringmaster of a hackermovement, a group that was central in shaping a microprocessor way of life.Not long after Lee took over, a troubled Fred Moore resigned his roles astreasurer, secretary, and editor of the newsletter. He was having some personalproblems; the woman he'd been seeing had left him. It was a rough time for him toleave: he felt that the club had been his legacy, in a sense, but it was probably clearby then that his hopes of it being devoted to public service work were futile.Instead there was the Propaganda of the Deed, and, more disturbing, some peoplewho came to meetings, Fred later recalled, "with dollar bill signs in their eyes,saying, 'Wow, here's a new industry, I'll build this company and make theseboards, and make a million...'" There were other computer-related social issuesMoore wanted to pursue, but he had come to realize, he later explained, that "thepeople in the club were way ahead [of him] as far as their knowledge ofelectronics or computing, [and because of this] the people were enamored withthose very devices, devices which were very seductive." So Fred was unhappy athow blindly people accepted technology. Someone had told Fred about the cheapfemale labor in Malaysia and other Asian countries who physically assembledthose magical chips. He heard how the Asian women were paid pitiful wages,worked in unsafe factories, and were unable to return to their villages, since theynever had a chance to leam the traditional modes of cooking or raising a family.He felt he should tell the club about it, force the issue, but by then he realized thatit was not the kind of issue that the Homebrew Club was meant to address.Still, he loved the club, and when his personal problems forced him to bow out andgo back East, he would later say it was "one of the saddest days of my life." Asmall, wistful figure, he stood at the blackboard at a mid-August meeting andwrote down his duties, asking who would do the newsletter, who would do thetreasury, the notes... And someone came up and began writing "Fred Moore"beside each item. It broke his heart, yet he felt for him it was over, and while hecouldn't share all his reasons he had to let his brothers know he couldn't be thereany more."I saw myself as a person who had helped those people get together and share theirskills and energy," Moore said later. And those goals had been reached. Indeed,each meeting seemed to crackle with spirit and excitement as people swappedgossip and chips, bootstrapping themselves into this new world. At the mappingperiod, people would stand up and say that they had a problem in setting up this or