Customer Reviews

Hard Drive

5 star:		(10)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

This book was very interesting for Macintosh owners. I am a Macintosh computer consultant and found this book to be very beleivable. I even learned some stuff about Mac programs.

A 2001 reviewer complained about the gratuitous sex in the first and last chapters. After I wrote an initial review of my own saying there was no sex at all in this novel, he has now (Dec. 2004) revised his review to say that the copy of the book that he obtained from his public library evidently was a publisher's error -- it did indeed have two chapters with sex between characters that didn't appear at all in the rest of the book. Very strange, but errors do occur in publishing. So this review is my revised version. In any case, this is a novel about computer nerds -- driven, vicious, dangerous, yes -- trying to destroy each other in a quest to get a ground-breaking new killer-app program to market. It's exciting in a goofy sort of way -- you always want to know what is going to happen to next, and the villains are *really* villainous, and right up to the very end it looks as if the bad guys are gonna get away with their nefarious scheme. The characters are cardboard, but, for all I know, typical of geekdom in Silicon Valley. Read it, and get several hours of enjoyment from it.

BUT -- don't expect there to be any sex in it except for a chaste kiss in the next-to-the-last line. What else could you expect from computer types?

I bought this book on impulse while standing in line at my college bookstore. It was a slow day and I needed something resembling mental popcorn to occupy my brain for awhile.

Hard Drive turned out to be one of the best computer-themed thrillers I've ever read. I devoured the book in a few hours and read it again immediately thereafter. (I NEVER re-read anything.)

I'm not a Macintosh fan, but I appreciate that David Pogue is definitely a Mac expert. I didn't see anything wrong with his using the book to toot the Mac's horn a little bit. Those without much knowledge of computers might be a little put off by the book's premise, but I don't think the book would appeal to that type of person anyway.

This book is out-of-print, but is well worth searching out!

Though David Pogue offers an intreaguing story, this book has become completely outdated and should only be read with an open mind: I found it helpful to think of it as a "history" book on computers. The author obviously knows Macs - or knew them - but has zero literary style, and the story line has become somewhat outdated as well (do we become frantic when a virus gets on the "InterNet," as he calls it, now? In the book they did).

An easy, breezy read to be taken with a grain of salt and lots of patience.

This book is a must read.

Most books that have to do with computers are crummy and you know that non of that kind of stuff will ever exist, or happen, but the book Hard Drive was much different, everything in the book was possible and may/could happen. It was not like other fictional computer books AT ALL.

The end of this book was really surprising.

It took me a while to understand the plot, but once I started understanding it I could not put the book down.

I'm 12 years old and read the boook in school, I got in trouble a few times, but it was worth it.

I recommend this book to ALL readers.

I must have read this book 10 or more years ago. I can't find it anymore (probably lost in my house somewhere) but I have to buy it again. It's a fun book that's entertaining to read. I recommend it for anyone looking for a fun and quick book to read that also has some interest in technical stuff. The book isn't technical but I think it's my interest in all things tech that made it such a fun book to read.

This book is great! Buy it now! I especially like how the Mac is portrayed. You do have to know a little about computers in general but, if you're here looking at this on the Web; you know enough. Great Book! 5 Stars!!!

Reads like a Tom Clancy novel. It is very well written and is suspenseful to the end. Definitely a terrific novel.

Hard Drive is truly a thriller in the sense of the ballooning out-of-control villanous thing which takes over the world...and only our hero can stop it...!
P.S. Make sure your Mac has the right date and time!

I found the concept interesting, but the characters totally uninteresting. The bad guys were unbelievably bad, invoking no sympathy, empathy, or understanding from the reader. The other characters were mostly bores.

The plot almost makes up for the loss in the characters. I guess I liked the book - I guess. Not even remotely close to being a "10" - try "The Moon is a Harsh Mistress" by Robert Heinlein instead (a definite 10).