Levy_S-Hackers-Heroes-Computer-Revolution

Recommendations

Info

was really easy to talk to. We talked about things she did before, why she decidedto be a stripper. She didn't seem like the stripper type." By then Ken was gone andJohn was buying the twenty-dollar bottles of Seven-Up. The place was closingdown. It was the moment of truth. The girl was acting like it was natural for her togo her way, and John to go his. So John went home. When Ken called later andasked if he'd "scored," John later recalled, "I didn't have much to say in mydefense."It looked like a permanent plight. Success on the Atari, but no luck with women.Despite John Harris' female troubles, he was a new role model for a new age: thehacker superstar. He would sit for magazine interviews and gab about the virtues ofthe Atari 800. The articles would often mention his six-figure income from his 30percent royalty deal. It was an enviable, suddenly hip position. All over America,young, self-described hackers were working on their masterpieces: it was the newageequivalent to all those young men in the forties trying to write the GreatAmerican Novel. The chances that a bestselling game might come in over On-Line's transom, while not great, were somewhat better than those of an unsolicitedbestselling novel.Ken realized that he was in competition with other companies of the Brotherhoodfor these programmers. As more people learned the Apple and Atari assemblylanguagewizardry that was unique when Ken Williams started out, the homecomputer consumer was becoming more discerning about what he or she bought.Companies besides On-Line were now publishing graphic adventures, havingfigured out their own tricks to put dozens of pictures with text on Apple disks.Also, a new company in Cambridge called In-focom, using text only, haddeveloped an advanced interpreter that would accept large vocabularies of words incomplete sentences. The company was begun by MIT hackers. Their firstmicrocomputer game, lifted straight from the game they'd written for fun on one ofthe Tech Square computers, was "Zork," a supercharged elaboration on the originalAdventure dungeon tale written by Crowther and Woods at Stanford. It was sellinglike crazy.It was indicative of how fast the computer game market was moving. What wasbrilliant one year looked dated the next. The Apple and Atari hackers had taken themachines far beyond their limits. It had only been a few months, for example, sinceits introduction that On-Line's "Skeet Shoot" program looked so crude it wasembarrassing, and Ken dropped it from the product line. Threshold, for instance,blew that previous standard away. And a hacker named Bill Budge wrote aprogram that simulated a pinball machine, "Raster Blaster," that blew away almost
anything On-Line had to offer on the Apple.Ken Williams knew On-Line had to present itself as a desirable place to work. Heand his staff put together a printed package full of promises and dreams toprospective software superstars. Oddly, the enticements that On-Line offered hadlittle to do with the Hacker Ethic. The package did not emphasize the happySummer Camp community around On-Line. Instead, it seemed almost a paean toMammon.One part of the package was titled "Questions and Answers."QUESTION:Why Should I Publish With On-Line (and not someone else)?ANSWER:One very good reason is money. ON-LINE pays the highest andmost regularroyalties in the business... Our job is to make your life easier!QUESTION:Why Not Publish Myself?ANSWER:With ON-LINE your product will receive support from a highly trainedtechnical staff. This frees you for more important things like CaribbeanCruises, skiing at Aspen, and all of life's other "rough" activities. To put itsimply, we do all the work... The only thing we do ask of you is to remainavailable to us in case any bugs occur. Other than that, just sit back andwatch the money roll in!Also in the package was a letter from Ken Williams ("Chairman of the Board")explaining why On-Line Systems was the most professional and effectivemarketing operation around. He cited the ace programming staff of Schwader,Davis, and Stephenson, and trumpeted his own technical expertise. There was alsoa letter from On-Line's sales manager: "We are the best and want only the best tobe on our team. If you fit this simple description, come breathe the rarified air withus at the top. Success is heady. Can you stand it?" A note from the SoftwareAcquisitions Department summed up the message to prospective programmers:"We're interested in you because you are the life blood of our business.Programming has become a premium commodity."It was quite a transformation from the days when a hacker would be more thansatisfied to see someone appreciate the artistry in his software. Now that there wasa marketplace, the Real World had changed hackerism. It was perhaps a necessarytrade-off for the benefits of widespread computer availability. Look at all thewonderful transformations computers had made in the lives of the people in the On-
Page 1 and 2:
HACKERSHeroes of the Computer Revol
Page 3 and 4:
Contents●●●●●●●●●
Page 5 and 6:
hero.Hackers like Richard Greenblat
Page 7 and 8:
Steve DompierHomebrew member who fi
Page 9 and 10:
"Uncle" John McCarthyAbsent-minded
Page 11 and 12:
Dan SokolLong-haired prankster who
Page 13 and 14:
Part OneTrue HackersCambridge:The F
Page 15 and 16:
these machines to punch holes in th
Page 17 and 18:
The clubroom was dominated by the h
Page 20 and 21:
That spring of 1959, a new course w
Page 22 and 23:
of course, was what those Signals a
Page 24 and 25:
officious priests. The technician i
Page 26 and 27:
Deutsch's comments would turn out t
Page 28 and 29:
At that time, only a few people in
Page 30 and 31:
Carroll's poem with the line "The t
Page 32 and 33:
2The Hacker EthicSOMETHING new was
Page 34 and 35:
that easy flow of information.Mistr
Page 36 and 37:
instruction which contained the num
Page 38 and 39:
focus, made their lives adventurous
Page 40 and 41:
occupying valuable space within the
Page 42 and 43:
3SpacewarIN the summer of 1961, Ala
Page 44 and 45:
was a brand-new firm called Digital
Page 46 and 47:
Dennis had written the original of
Page 48 and 49:
The TMRC hackers were not the only
Page 50 and 51:
exerted on others were totally outl
Page 52 and 53:
All of this was actually a signific
Page 54 and 55:
that often formed in the aftermath
Page 56 and 57:
heavy star would be in the center,
Page 58 and 59:
F. J. Corbate, who would seek some
Page 60 and 61:
changed irrevocably the day in 1954
Page 62 and 63:
doing. Then you can see your offspr
Page 64 and 65:
709, or working routines with a new
Page 66 and 67:
hacking them, he would. He would si
Page 68 and 69:
They went back loaded with Chinese
Page 70 and 71:
Though some hackers led somewhat ac
Page 72 and 73:
Despite these odd personal traits,
Page 74 and 75:
impossible was a useful LISP on a P
Page 76 and 77:
opponent could get out of this was
Page 78 and 79:
Dance, phone lines, dance!And the s
Page 80 and 81:
oxes" hardware devices to make ille
Page 82 and 83:
showed up on the ninth floor to wor
Page 84 and 85:
Gosper's forte, and he did some ear
Page 86 and 87:
the companionship of fellow hackers
Page 88 and 89:
master key was a magic sword to wav
Page 90 and 91:
sanctified objects, things you nurt
Page 92 and 93:
6Winners and LosersBY 1966, when Da
Page 94 and 95:
instead of sailing past the end of
Page 96 and 97:
like a pair of antlers. It looked,
Page 98 and 99:
made the same stupid mistake. Only
Page 100 and 101:
"Well, it has them, it's just that
Page 102 and 103:
their PDP-6, and you had one loser
Page 104 and 105:
on a data disk accessible by the co
Page 106 and 107:
system, Greenblatt and the rest exe
Page 108 and 109:
create useful concepts and tools to
Page 110 and 111:
7LIFETHEY would later call it a Gol
Page 112 and 113:
seriously. These were the days of t
Page 114 and 115:
Sometimes the hacker failure to be
Page 116 and 117:
later: "It was sort of necessary fo
Page 118 and 119:
explored in the Adventure world wer
Page 120 and 121:
and weird patterns established in t
Page 122 and 123:
etter program. Greenblatt howled in
Page 124 and 125:
The world.As much as the hackers tr
Page 126 and 127:
mainframe machine in the basement o
Page 128 and 129:
He loved the idea of electronics. H
Page 130 and 131:
But the war was just beginning. For
Page 132 and 133:
month he rented a room. It was belo
Page 134 and 135:
expose people, especially kids, to
Page 136 and 137:
Harbor, about thirty miles south of
Page 138 and 139:
liberal arts colleges. Nelson was a
Page 140 and 141:
I like to think(it has to be!)of a
Page 142 and 143:
9Every Man a GodJ.N June 1974, Lee
Page 144 and 145:
microprocessor.Lee Felsenstein, in
Page 146 and 147:
if he wanted to get involved in bui
Page 148 and 149:
elieve it an acronym for "Man In Th
Page 150 and 151:
kinds of gratification that a human
Page 152 and 153:
would come out of these systems was
Page 154 and 155:
company to help out in the crunch,
Page 156 and 157:
dreaming of things to put in it to
Page 158 and 159:
things done.Bob Albrecht did not li
Page 160 and 161:
Fred Moore had set up a table in th
Page 162 and 163:
charted the musical scale and writt
Page 164 and 165:
Bob Marsh understood that this was
Page 166 and 167:
Homebrew reviewers would examine ca
Page 168 and 169:
could run some real programs on the
Page 170 and 171:
Moore explicitly identified the pur
Page 172 and 173:
SLAC, he talked of video displays,
Page 174 and 175:
of the concept at work. One person'
Page 176 and 177:
themselves to the hacker pursuit of
Page 178 and 179:
after the meeting, Solomon was tell
Page 180 and 181:
eaders), you would have a way to wr
Page 182 and 183:
held at Albuquerque a year after th
Page 184 and 185:
you steal your software. Hardware m
Page 186 and 187:
fun," he later explained. Knowing s
Page 188 and 189:
But by then the possibility of maki
Page 190 and 191:
The computer is more interesting th
Page 192 and 193:
The convivial approach I suggest wo
Page 194 and 195:
amok. Marsh would often interrupt L
Page 196 and 197:
profile, its typewriter-style built
Page 198 and 199:
to get on various time-sharing comp
Page 200 and 201:
oards); a 30-chip TV display. Skill
Page 202 and 203:
He turned to computer programming,
Page 204 and 205:
that use one less chip than the las
Page 206 and 207:
Years later, the people attending t
Page 208 and 209:
favorable to the prices HP was payi
Page 210 and 211:
computers. Now that hackers like Wo
Page 212 and 213:
"Silicon Gulch," as he called it. O
Page 214 and 215:
So the Apple people were prepared t
Page 216 and 217:
proper stream and go with it until
Page 218 and 219:
13SecretsTED Nelson's speech was no
Page 220 and 221:
The former "Captain Crunch" was in
Page 222 and 223:
consuming passion was the resurrect
Page 224 and 225:
energies were divided between that,
Page 226 and 227:
Osbome while he and the others were
Page 228 and 229:
Part ThreeGame HackersThe Sierras:T
Page 230 and 231:
faded blue T-shirt. He had driven u
Page 232 and 233: A more important relationship to Ke
Page 234 and 235: Ken had gotten a taste of this more
Page 236 and 237: nonetheless ... and then extemporan
Page 238 and 239: For most of her life Roberta Willia
Page 240 and 241: was hard to control the writing mec
Page 242 and 243: Ken and Roberta bought the first co
Page 244 and 245: porno books.An excursion to the loc
Page 246 and 247: player's little tank. Jewell sugges
Page 248 and 249: Margot and Al, in her words, "becam
Page 250 and 251: of its founders. You almost had to
Page 252 and 253: 16The Third GenerationTHERE were st
Page 254 and 255: where you try to get a guy to the t
Page 256 and 257: screen; "user definable characters"
Page 258 and 259: dozens of new software companies th
Page 260 and 261: Ken had. already been marketing a P
Page 262 and 263: home and reprogrammed the graphics.
Page 264 and 265: If Ken Williams released a game tha
Page 266 and 267: law was in a case in which some pri
Page 268 and 269: virtual copy of Pac-Man!But the jud
Page 270 and 271: employees. People played a continuo
Page 272 and 273: peppermint schnapps which was On-Li
Page 274 and 275: a sort of rehabilitation project on
Page 276 and 277: At that time Warren was working at
Page 278 and 279: opportunity and he should take it.
Page 280 and 281: Ken Williams took the concerns of h
Page 284 and 285: Line community.Ken was hugely proud
Page 286 and 287: easily as John Harris had lent his
Page 288 and 289: The instant that John Harris ended
Page 290 and 291: and patterned after Billboard's rec
Page 292 and 293: This was quite a step from the earl
Page 294 and 295: tweaking a marketing plan here, deb
Page 296 and 297: A week before Dick arrived, Ken was
Page 298 and 299: whole company to come to the site o
Page 300 and 301: Line hackers gathered at places lik
Page 302 and 303: Guinness Book of World Records cham
Page 304 and 305: magazine show. NBC shot the requisi
Page 306 and 307: subsidized by some institution. The
Page 308 and 309: While still in high school, he land
Page 310 and 311: Ken basically wanted a fairly relia
Page 312 and 313: Apple bestseller. But when Lord Bri
Page 314 and 315: estseller. After flying the young a
Page 316 and 317: important Applefests. For one thing
Page 318 and 319: This message managed to find its wa
Page 320 and 321: They noticed right away because Fro
Page 322 and 323: that the action was switching to tr
Page 324 and 325: 20Wizard vs. WizardsIN December of
Page 326 and 327: things look good on television. Tat
Page 328 and 329: now I just spend my time skiing the
Page 330 and 331: The author of the twelfth bestselli
Page 332 and 333:
even the furniture, upside down wer
Page 334 and 335:
things to Ken about On-Line that he
Page 336 and 337:
The company's energy became focused
Page 338 and 339:
The techniques, algorithms, and cro
Page 340 and 341:
e more precarious than it had first
Page 342 and 343:
hacker paradise, the Tech Square mo
Page 344 and 345:
around the country all because the
Page 346 and 347:
could easily handle the considerabl
Page 348 and 349:
minimum.Noftsker considered this un
Page 350 and 351:
in with the bad guys here. But I'm
Page 352 and 353:
with concern when he spoke of Stall
Page 354 and 355:
Generation hacker. With many more g
Page 356 and 357:
Afterword: Ten Years After"I think
Page 358 and 359:
to avoid attending future Hacker Co
Page 360 and 361:
(though not gender specific) called
Page 362 and 363:
Joseph We-izenbaum, Randy Wigginton
Page 364 and 365:
* Gosper's memo is part of "Hakmem,
Page 366 and 367:
Delta, 1979).* "The winning isn't a
show all

Levy_S-Hackers-Heroes-Computer-Revolution

You also want an ePaper? Increase the reach of your titles

Delete template?

Save as template?