Rating: 
Summary: Mr. Levy is like a neo-Tom Wolfe. Highly readable.
Review: I've owned this book for about 15 years, and have read it perhaps 30 or more times. The tale is familiar by now, but the storytelling is compelling, and the subject matter fascinating.Hackers covers the computer revolution- from research lab to home- up to approximately 1984, right before the Commodore 64 took over as #1 home computer. Even though the book is a large one, Mr. Levy keeps the focus on a single winding narrative throughout. This makes the book interesting to read and relatively easy to follow, but unfortunately tends to leave out parts of the computer revolution that don't fit into his rigid outline. The outline is as follows: hacking begins at MIT and spreads to Stanford, and we see the genesis of video games in Spacewar. A new movement sprouts in post-hippie California with the release of Intel's first 8-bit chips, and this movement- dedicated to homebrew and user-built systems- is the font from which the Altair and the Apple II spring. Finally, the narrative ends on the rise of game software companies- especially Sierra- on the strength of the Apple II's market share. There's also an epilogue on Richard Stallman. While other stories are recounted in short fashion along the way- John Harris' Sierra/Frogger/Atari story in particular- little is done to acknowledge the larger picture of the industry, whether it's universities outside of MIT and Stanford or Atari's massive rise to and fall from power. Steven Levy writes much like Tom Wolfe circa-"Right Stuff", and the overall theme and feel of the book is the same as much of Tom Wolfe's books- an expose of a (then) little understood sub-culture, written in an engaging fashion. Even Mr. Levy's use of coined words, phrases, and lingo is much like Tom Wolfe. Technical jargon will be introduced with a simple definition, and then used through the next few chapters either in an ironic fashion, or to let readers feel "in" with the scenario being written about. Bizarre wording and odd phrases also pop up- sometimes apparently for show- and are then repeated over and over. "Croseus Mode" is used over and over to refer to wealth- phrasing like this seems gratuitous and I find it jarring to read, but that's just a personal preference. Much of the Apple portion of the book will be familiar for those who watched Pirates of Silicon Valley. Just like that TV movie, the book transcends the culture from which it arose, and is great reading for anyone interested in pop culture, sociology, business, or computers.
Rating: 
Summary: Several Books in One
Review: This book can be read in several ways. Taking it head-on, it is a true story of some real heroes of the Computer Revolution. People who got into the guts of the machine to truly understand (or "grok") how it works and why. From the Tech Model Railroad Club to Apple, these are the people who we can thank for the Internet, for personal computers and for just about any automated system we take for granted today. Taken another way, this book demonstrates an often-overlooked way of teaching and learning. The Hackers have one thing in common: An innate desire to learn. Sometimes all it takes is putting a person in a room with something interesting, and letting them explore. That person will learn more than any book or lecture could have taught. Finally, this book is can be a great gift for a student of computers. Just the thing to inspire someone to greater things.
Rating:
Summary: Required reading for computer programmers
Review: Hackers, by Steven Levy, should be required reading for anyone who programs computers for a living. Starting from the late 1950s, when the first hackers wrote code for the TX-0 and every instruction counted, to the early 1980s, when computers fully entered the consumer mainstream, and it was marketing rather than hacking which mattered. Levy divides this time into three eras: that of the 'True Hackers,' who lived in the AI lab at MIT and spent most of their time on the PDP series, the 'Hardware Hackers,' mostly situated in Silicon Valley and responsible for enhancing the Altair and creating the Apple, and the 'Game Hackers,' who were also centered in California; expert at getting the most out of computer hardware, they were also the first to make gobs and gobs of money hacking. The reason everyone who codes should read this book is to gain a sense of history. Because the field changes so quickly, it's easy to forget that there is a history, and, as Santayana said, "Those who do not remember the past are doomed to repeat it." It's also very humbling, at least for me, to see what kind of shenanigans were undertaken to get the last bit of performance from a piece of hardware that was amazing for its time, but now would be junked without a thought. And a third takeaway was the transformation that the game industry went through in the early 80s: first you needed technical brilliance, because the hardware was slow and new techniques needed to be discovered. However, at some point, the hard work was all done, and the business types took over. To me, this corresponds to the 1997-2001 time period, with the web rather than games being the focus. That's one of my beefs--the version I read was written in 1983, and republished, with a new afterword in 1993. So, there's no mention of the new '4th generation' of hackers, who didn't have the close knit communities of the Homebrew Computer Club or the AI lab, but did have a far flung, global fellowship via email and newsgroups. It would be a fascinating read. Beyond the dated nature of the book, Levy omits several developments that I think were fundamental to the development of the hacker mindset. There's only one mention of Unix in the entire book, and no mention of C. In fact, the only languages he mentions are lisp, basic and assembly. No smalltalk, and no C. I also feel that he overemphasizes 'hacking' as a way that folks viewed and interacted with the world, without defining it. For instance, he talks about Ken Williams, founder of Sierra Online, 'hacking' the company, when it looked to me like it was simple mismanagement. For all that, it was a fantastic read. The more you identify with the geeky, single males who were in tune with the computer, the easier and more fun a read it will be, but I still think that everyone who uses a computer could benefit from reading Hackers, because of the increased understanding of the folks that we all depend on to create great software.
Rating:
Summary: The Bible for computer geeks
Review: This book is a must read for any self-respecting computer geek or anyone who is even mildly interested in the history of computers. In age when the term hacking is synonymous with computer crimes and the computer world is dominated by Microsoft, it is fun to read about the glory days and the true meaning of hacking. These guys started with nothing but machines and built their own software tools from scratch, the things they did laid the ground work for a revolution and it has had lasting effects on every aspect of our lives. The only downer is that I felt that Levy should have made the entire book about the MIT hackers, they are the most compelling characters in the book and where doing the most important and technically challenging work. The rest of the book can't maintian the coolness of the MIT hackers, even though it does cover some interesting people. I think that Levey did a good job in not dumbing down the subject matter and he didn't try and over dramatize the characters and events. This is a book that probably has a cult following and if it doesn't it should.
Rating:
Summary: Several Books in One
Review: This book can be read in several ways. Taking it head-on, it is a true story of some real heroes of the Computer Revolution. People who got into the guts of the machine to truly understand (or "grok") how it works and why. From the Tech Model Railroad Club to Apple, these are the people who we can thank for the Internet, for personal computers and for just about any automated system we take for granted today. Taken another way, this book demonstrates an often-overlooked way of teaching and learning. The Hackers have one thing in common: An innate desire to learn. Sometimes all it takes is putting a person in a room with something interesting, and letting them explore. That person will learn more than any book or lecture could have taught. Finally, this book is can be a great gift for a student of computers. Just the thing to inspire someone to greater things.
Rating:
Summary: A must read for a Computer History buff
Review: If you saw Robert X Cringeley's "Triumph Of The Nerds" on PBS, this book pre-dates it by *years* Many of the people RXC mentions are here in the book. This book's a wild and wooly romp through the little-known side of the True History of computers and the unsung heroes who, only for the glory of solving a problem or impressing their friends brought us to the revolution/evolution of the Personal Computer. I got this when it was first published in hardcover and have long since lost the dust jacket and have read it countless times.
Rating: 
Summary: VERY BORING!
Review: I could barely stand reading this book... it leads to nowhere. It jumps around to different topics too quickly, and it's very hard to be be interested in. I couldn't finish the book, I literally fell asleep with the book in my hands.
Rating:
Summary: Must read to understand the beginning of modern computers
Review: Don't read this book as an A to Z or a history book. Read it if you want to FEEL the beginning. Did you ever hack something? Ever flip a character bit in an early role-playing game? Ever write assembly code on a PDP-11? Ever own an Apple II? The three eras covered in this book really take you into the experience and give you a sense of what it was like in the early days of this industry. And Stephen Levy is a great writer. I read everything he writes cover to cover with ease and interest.
Rating: 
Summary: Some good, some bad.
Review: The first part of this book, dealing with the original hackers of the TMRC is great, it makes the book worth buying. Much of the rest is just historical revisionism where (much like Eric Raymond and the "Jargon File") the author chooses what he wants to tells you and ignores pertinant people, events and facts that get in the way of his picture of the history of hackerdom. This is a good book but you need to take it with a grain of salt and realize that this is only Stephen Levys version of hacker history.
Rating:
Summary: Hackers are almost philosopher, sure not criminal
Review: This book contains a lot of information resource and even references to other resource/books.
I found Levy description of hackers life and point of view is excellent.
This book isn't designed to be read only by IT people (even if for those is a greay job), but it's great dealing with hackers philosophy (especially on the first and last part) which, in my opinion, cloud be applied to every-day life.
Well, hackers aren't criminal and the book outline this. After reading the book you would had learn their point of view, and maybe you would convert to their philosophy.
I gave him 4 star JUST because I would had preferred a longer talk on MIT period.
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