The Virtual Bookcase : Shelf Computer history/fun
Books about the history of computing or about the current state in a serious or humoristic way.
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Review:In the dust jacket blurbs, Mitch Kapor is quoted as calling this, "A Magic
Mystery Tour of the human side of cyberspace." Although the points of some
passages are mysterious, this book definitely concentrates on the human face of
computer mediated communications. Tom Peters calls it "riveting". Now the
personal aspects of net communication are important, and too often get lost in
the technology. Rheingold's "stream of anecdote" style is also pretty much
guaranteed to keep your attention. But Rheingold's view of the nets is
limited, lopsided and even somewhat distorted.
A "Nonsequitor" cartoon shows a long line of people in business dress waiting
their turn at a table. Standing before the table, with their backs to a wall,
...
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(Review by Rob Slade)
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Reviews (2) and details of The virtual community : Homesteading on the electronic frontier
Review:The title covers more than the book actually examines. The hacker culture is
not viewed as a whole, but only isolated, though admittedly important, pockets.
The first part of the book deals with the early days of the MIT lab, the second
with the Homebrew Computer Club and the growth of the microcomputer industry.
Even within these limited confines, the book concentrates on specific
individuals within the groups rather than communities as a whole. The third
part is even more limited, dealing with a single game company and basically two
principals.
The material gathered and presented here is a lot of fun, and contains a great
deal of anecdotal information. A great deal of background is included, such as
a possible origin for t...
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(Review by Rob Slade)
I want to add my review for this book!
Reviews (2) and details of Hackers : Heroes of the computer revolution
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