Customer Reviews

Hackers - Wizards of the Electronic Age

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

 

 

Talk about a walk down Memory Lane! This is absolutely priceless footage of the ORIGINAL hackers in all their glorious youth talking about sneaking into the Stanford mainframe computer after hours in order to "hack," staying up all night trying to make code work, Wozniak talking about the first Apple, or talking about "someday you'll be able to send messages," and all of them playing with the brand new Macintosh. This is like looking at an old photo album and sighing over the good old days. I'm sorry the previous reviewer didn't take the time to actually view the tape. It's well worth seeing and savoring.

Being a geek history buff I really enjoyed this DVD.

If you've read Robert X. Cringely's "Accidental Empires", or watched his "Triumph of the Nerds" or "Nerds 2.0.1" videos, or read any of the other good geek history books like "Fire in the Valley" or "Silicon Boys", you will probably enjoy this video.

It's not a comprehensive history (it's only 26 minutes), but offers some cool interviews and other stuff from the pioneers of the modern "PC" era.

You can also watch one of my heroes, Steve Wozniak (Apple co-founder), state how (at the time, in 1985) there were "too many" computer people creating too much software and other stuff, and how the market didn't need that much stuff. These days the number of geeks and computer products has increased exponentially though.. This is his equivalent of the Bill Gates "640k" statement around that same time I think. =)

It's a good video, I only wish it was longer.

Mildly interesting video. I had expected a bit more, but this is 30 minutes of a couple of people talking about how cool computers were - in 1980. Nice to see a very young Richard Stallman, and other notorious hackers (Steve Wozniak, Andy Hertzfeld), but all in all a low value video...

I can't decide what I enjoyed most about watching this DVD, the conversation it inspired post-viewing or simply the general impression of authenticity during the (far too brief) 26 or so minutes capturing the conference. I am rather enamored of scraps of paraphernalia that bring an immediate sense of immersion into a not-so-distant yet considerably different technological past. I believe this collection of interviews might be of the greatest interest to those seeking an accurate feel for the compressed arc of social change in the last quarter of a century. Bearing in mind that the engineering luminaries involved in this very informal and casual recording are discoursing on advancements at the razor's edge of progress at the time, it is humbling and, yet, a bit humorous to note that what was at one point the province of sugar-addled wizards under the cloak of a cultural midnight is now the binary data the current generation takes with their mother's milk.

It should be noted that the title of this DVD is not referring to the eventual usage of the term 'hacker,' implying nefarious code cracking and the like, but rather the connotation of people who simply love to survey a machine part by part and endlessly push the potential for its capabilities and application. Our current information-rich reality is forever indebted to this quirky and interesting breed and, overall, I really enjoyed watching this fairly rare footage. It's like digging up a fossil that was formed with unnatural rapidity due to flood. In this case, an unprecedented flood of resources, applied intelligence and discovery that we now take for granted every time we punch a bit of text into a handheld device and secure instant gratification.

Recommended viewing experience.

This is a must for anyone who is curious about the hacker attitude and software movement.. I loved it!

As someone else mentioned, the highlight of this video getting to see a very young, fresh-faced Richard Stallman. For many years my only image of him was the long haired, bearded, venerable father philosopher of the Free Software movement. Pretty cool to see him as young guy (but with a big ol' bushy beard even back then!) When I purchased this, I winced that I was only getting 26 minutes. But when I sat down to watch it, somehow it didn't feel particularly short.

The description says that this documentary was shot at a Hackers Conference in 1984. For the record, it was actually in March 1985. You can see this when one of the attendees is demonstrating his email and bbs (which were apparently still quite novel at the time...)

This is a very old program, not a modern retrospective of hacking. Hackers was made from point the view of showing present day Hackers as seen in the mid-80s. Much of the show centers on Steve Wozniak and other hardware/software Hackers. There is a sort of interesting Q&A regarding open software and piracy views among the hackers. This program does not glorify illegal activities in any way, it is more about presenting the "state of hacking" at that time. From a historical perspective, this show gives modern viewers some insight on the roots of hacking before it became a four letter word.

Interesting historical interviews with figures important to the high tech industry but the DVD is very brief at 26 minutes.

Modern history ..... Amusement , but not to special . It is a "B" documentary .

I like the viideo, hearing woz and the old school hackers, what did they think, how did they live their lifes, but I think it could be better if you put some mmm... I don't know... subtitles? and some pics or something about making the movie, or maybe actual interviews with the people of this video, cuase, it's a little long... (26 Mins.) I know this could be better, but it's up to you guys....