Customer Reviews

The Computer Contradictionary

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

I read The Devil's DP Dictionary in 1981 when it was first published and absolutely loved it. (I'm a computer nerd so that's to be expected.) Since then that book has gotten a bit dated and I've been waiting for Kelly-Bootle to update it. Let me say that The Computer Contradictionary is everything that I hoped it would be and more. I must also strongly disagree with the customer reviewer who stated "Don't waste your money". I've read the Jargon File (a.k.a. The New Hacker's Dictionary) and while I rate it as highly as the book in question I must say that one really cannot compare the two. The Jargon File, while extremely funny, is a real dictionary with real definitions of hacker jargon. The Computer Contradictionary on the other hand is not intended to give real definitions at all. It exists simply to make us laugh through satire, irony, and Kelly-Bootle's irreverent wit. In fact it's required that one already know the definitions of the words he "defines" or they wouldn't be funny. This was also the requirement of the work that Kelly-Bootle paid homage to in this, and his first book, namely The Devil's Dictionary by Ambrose Bierce.

This is "The Devils DP Dictionary" Rev.2.0 not to be missed by anybody who has been around for long enough to not trust Rev.2.0 of anything. All known bugs have been fixed and countless new features added. Year 2000 compliant, biodegradable and politically incorrect. (Do not lend this book to anybody, you will not get it back.)

This little bit of whimsy is a lot of fun. It's a fun book to keep on the shelf for those times you're too frustrated to go on coding and you need just a bit of comic relief.

The guy who slagged this book off is talking out of his bottom. This book is brill, we all love it over here and Stan Kelly Bootle is a dude!

OK, If you do want to waste your money, you will find a few entries that are a bit funny, but they are few and far between. For the most part this screwed-up dictionary has nothing going for it. It seems like this guy pulled most of the definition right out of his [expletive deleted by author]. Of course, with the title it has, it quickly made its way around this company made of geeks. General consensus was, why did I buy that????? On average, MIT Press does a decent job of producing good books, but they missed the boat on this one. Must have been because of Kelly-Bootle's status in the computer culture. If you want a good dictionary that is also a hilarious read, pick up the New Hackers Dictionary, or just look around for the Jargon file out there on the net