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Hackers: Heroes of the Computer Revolution - 25th Anniversary Edition 1st Edition

by Steven Levy (Author)
4.5 4.5 out of 5 stars 746 ratings
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This 25th anniversary edition of Steven Levy's classic book traces the exploits of the computer revolution's original hackers -- those brilliant and eccentric nerds from the late 1950s through the early '80s who took risks, bent the rules, and pushed the world in a radical new direction. With updated material from noteworthy hackers such as Bill Gates, Mark Zuckerberg, Richard Stallman, and Steve Wozniak, Hackers is a fascinating story that begins in early computer research labs and leads to the first home computers.

Levy profiles the imaginative brainiacs who found clever and unorthodox solutions to computer engineering problems. They had a shared sense of values, known as "the hacker ethic," that still thrives today. Hackers captures a seminal period in recent history when underground activities blazed a trail for today's digital world, from MIT students finagling access to clunky computer-card machines to the DIY culture that spawned the Altair and the Apple II.

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  1. ISBN-10
    1449388396
  2. ISBN-13
    978-1449388393
  3. Edition
    1st
  4. Publisher
    O'Reilly Media
  5. Publication date
    June 29, 2010
  6. Language
    English
  7. Dimensions
    5.5 x 1.2 x 8.5 inches
  8. Print length
    518 pages
  9. See all details
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From the Publisher

Hacker Culture A to Z: A Fun Guide to the Fundamentals of Cybersecurity and Hacking Hackers: Heroes of the Computer Revolution Hackers & Painters: Big Ideas from the Computer Age
Hacker Culture A to Z Hackers Hackers & Painters
Customer Reviews
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4.5 out of 5 stars
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Price $20.90 $15.81 $15.49
From O'Reilly Media A Fun Guide to the Fundamentals of Cybersecurity and Hacking Heroes of the Computer Revolution Big Ideas from the Computer Age

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Levy is a senior writer for Wired. Previously, he was chief technology writer and a senior editor for Newsweek. Levy has written six books and had articles published in Harper's, Macworld, The New York Times Magazine, The New Yorker, Premiere, and Rolling Stone. Steven has won several awards during his 30+ years of writing about technology, including Hackers, which PC Magazine named the best Sci-Tech book written in the last twenty years and, Crypto, which won the grand eBook prize at the 2001 Frankfurt Book festival.

Product details

  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ O'Reilly Media; 1st edition (June 29, 2010)
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • Paperback ‏ : ‎ 518 pages
  • ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 1449388396
  • ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1449388393
  • Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 1.33 pounds
  • Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 5.5 x 1.2 x 8.5 inches
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.5 4.5 out of 5 stars 746 ratings

About the author

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Steven Levy

Steven Levy

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Levy is editor at large at Wired. Previous positions include editor in chief at Backchannel; and chief technology writer and a senior editor for Newsweek. In early 2020, his book "Facebook: The Inside Story" will appear, the product of over three years studying the company, which granted unprecedented access to its employees and executives. Levy has written previous seven books and has had articles published in Harper's, Macworld, The New York Times Magazine, The New Yorker, Premiere, and Rolling Stone. Steven has won several awards during his 30+ years of writing about technology, including Hackers, which PC Magazine named the best Sci-Tech book written in the last twenty years and, Crypto, which won the grand eBook prize at the 2001 Frankfurt Book festival. "In the Plex," the definitive book on Google, was named the Best Business Book of 2011 on both Amazon and Audible.

Customer reviews

4.5 out of 5 stars
4.5 out of 5
746 global ratings

Customers say

Customers find the book extremely informative and inspiring, with a fair amount of discussion of assembly language. They also say it's filled with engaging stories and history, and does an excellent job promoting and idealizing the infamous. Readers also appreciate the visuals and writing style, describing it as very well written and easy to follow and understand. They find the content entertaining and resourceful, providing an entertaining guide to the origins of hacking.

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ContentStory and historyVisualsWriting styleHacking contentLength
28 customers mention "Content"22 positive6 negative

Customers find the book extremely informative, well-documented, and resourceful. They also say it's a great starting point for computer history fans, and the author really knows how to tell the story. Readers also appreciate the attention to minor details, and say the book provides a fascinating examination of the tech culture that brought us the PC, Web, and eventually the Web.

"...There is a fair amount of discussion of assembly language, which is seldom covered in even college classes, usually one class for a single..." Read more

"...Highly recommend. Levy did a great job researching and writing as well as updating recent editions! Thanks Steven!" Read more

"...All in all, this is a great starting point for computer history fans." Read more

"...Levy does an excellent job of documenting the lives and times of the early computer pioneers, and makes those seminal days live again - even for..." Read more

19 customers mention "Story and history"19 positive0 negative

Customers find the book filled with engaging stories about those who laid the groundwork for computer hacking. They say it's enlightening, interesting, and raises cool ideas into the hacker ethic. They also say it does an excellent job of promoting and idealizing the infamous.

"...First and foremost, I found Hackers to be a facinating story - one with which I would think the majority of the public would be unfamiliar...." Read more

"...Hackers also does an excellent job of promoting and almost idealizing the infamous Hacker Ethic developed initially in the 1950s by the first..." Read more

"Really cool and interesting book, raises cool ideas into not only the hacker ethic, but also technology and history of "hacking"...." Read more

"...I cannot say enough about it. A true sci fi story...that is really true! NOTHING LIKE THE MOVIE. NOTHING LIKE YOU COULD IMAGINE!..." Read more

6 customers mention "Visuals"6 positive0 negative

Customers find the visuals in the book very good and informative. They also say it gives a very good look into the adventure game.

"...A really well done and informative look at how we got from $500 TI calculators to smart watches more powerful than the computers that put a man on..." Read more

"...Other than that, I think it paints a very vivid and humane picture of a very special period of the history of computing...." Read more

"Really cool and interesting book, raises cool ideas into not only the hacker ethic, but also technology and history of "hacking"...." Read more

"...book did not disappoint - it dished all the good and the bad, gave a very good look into how the adventure game genre exploded back when machines..." Read more

6 customers mention "Writing style"6 positive0 negative

Customers find the book very well written, easy to follow and understand, and mention it provides a well written history of hackers and where the term hackers should be applied.

"...Very well written, it was easy to follow and understand...." Read more

"This book holds value as a very accurate and well researched text about important person's of the "Computer Revolution." However, it has..." Read more

"...Very interesting, thorough, and written in a witty way with very good language and flow. Lots and lots of anecdotes and fun facts. Reads like a novel." Read more

"...Also Steven Levy is a wonderful writer and really knows how to tell the story." Read more

5 customers mention "Hacking content"5 positive0 negative

Customers find the book's hacking content resourceful and entertaining. They also mention the book provides an entertaining guide to the origins of hacking.

"...Overall, Hackers is an excellent book if you enjoy computing history and getting into the nitty gritty of how many of the worlds most popular..." Read more

"I found this book to be resourceful and entertaining guide to origins of hacking and the beginnings of the personal computer...." Read more

"...It has also inspired a new generation of hackers (programmers who put love in what they create) to create things you interact with every day." Read more

"The book gives you a different perspective on Hackers. The author describes hackers as the heroes of computer revolution. Not too much hacking stuff...." Read more

4 customers mention "Length"0 positive4 negative

Customers find the book a little long and slow.

"...It was a little long but worth it. Got to look into the history of nerds and the culture revolving hacking and computers...." Read more

"It's a little long and starts slow but it's a great read if you like technology and history...." Read more

"Wow, I really like a lot about this book, but it is a little long winded...." Read more

"nice to read, but the text is - to my opinion - somewhat too long compared to the message, especially in the last part of the book" Read more

Canonical history of hackers and their loosing lexicon of kludge
5 Stars
Canonical history of hackers and their loosing lexicon of kludge
If you ever use the word kludge or talk about a hack then this book is REQUIRED READING (unless you were or are involved with electric train sets at MIT -- then please forgive my loosing review that you should have written).* MIT at night*.* Joke of the day:* Apple Modem shipped with extra phreaky features from Captain Crunch.* Homebrew** Zorky game developers break out rich and sit in hot tubs.This book tells a history that is already being rewritten and forgotten.*hackers
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Top reviews from the United States

gene
5.0 out of 5 stars Focus on the people
Reviewed in the United States on April 14, 2024
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Great history of early computing
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Brian
5.0 out of 5 stars A must for computer enthusiasts and Computer Science Majors.
Reviewed in the United States on March 15, 2017
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I was recommended this book by a colleague. I love it too. It is about the initial stages of the computer revolution, yet reads more like a collection of entertaining short stories. It is far from a dry read. Included in the front are short descriptions about people and devices mentioned or interviewed. If you're a software developer this actually explains why IDEs mark errors with red. If you're a gamer, you'll learn about the first video game. (It wasn't Pong). I haven't red the entire thing yet, but it's still a good read. External links give you further details and some are entertaining. The book may be titled hackers, but there isn't anything illegal or even ill-intented. It was about the pursuit for knowledge and efficiency. This is a must for serious software engineers and computer science. If for nothing else then leisurely reading. There is a fair amount of discussion of assembly language, which is seldom covered in even college classes, usually one class for a single assignment or chapter. Not much is explained in detail so the education level to understand the book completely is fairly high. There are a bunch of inside jokes, but I do think that an average college student could understand 90-95% of the book.
11 people found this helpful
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Eugene N. Miya
4.0 out of 5 stars Well, not quite heros in my book, but good friends
Reviewed in the United States on February 14, 2011
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Steven's book has become a social phenomena in its own right. One moment, I am reading this book in the 80s and the next I am on a porch having a nice quiet conservation with Rick Greenblatt ("An honor to meet you"). Following that I'm on the Steering Committee for the Conference started by Stewart Brand. Stewart deserves a lot of credit, but Steven (whom I've met but don't know quite as well, since I am into high end computing not microcomputing but with some experience on Xerox workstations {life changing}). I shared an office with Jack Dennis the year prior while Jack was on sabbatical in California (we were both tea drinkers in a sea of coffee drinkers). I had not realized that he was into model trains. So I give copies of this book to East Coast friends trying to understand Santa Clara Valley. So I have lived a lot of the periphery of this book.

The new edition has more chapter divisions from the first edition's three sections. Annually for the past 25+ years, several hundred geeks gather to continue the ideas in this book. The book has changed the world in subtle not well documented attempts: Cloud 9, Interval Research, Foo Camp, etc. The general non-computing public will never hear of these. Thousands of others in some know will lust for invitations to be "flies on the wall."

Important things Steven got right missed by others: while the Apollo 17 story is all well and good, Steven picked up on the contrast between Northern and Southern California. Why did Lee's Homebrew Computer Club "succeed" while the Southern California Computer Society (SCCS) fail? This was an important lesson (I grew up in So Cal and attended the anniversary of the founding of Homebrew (HCC). More engineers up North and fewer better marketeers up North. It's a lesson from aerospace bureaucracy. Even Markoff's  What the Dormouse Said: How the Sixties Counterculture Shaped the Personal Computer Industry  book (good in it's own right) missed the chance to elaborate on this. This is missed by every analysis of Silicon Valley. It's even missing on wikipedia. A lot of water has passed under the bridge and this edition has 2 additional afterwards by Steven. Brand also had a short documentary (30 min) made PBS.

Steven did miss 1..2 important points. Markoff has slightly more of the experimental drug culture. The one big subtopic local to the SF Bay area which was raised by the Conference of our same name are the small but significant percentage (typically cited at about 10% as a handle) of gay and Lesbian attendees working in the computer industry. They find political/jock-ular attempts to move the computer industry else where laughable for this reason (they would want me to note this). The culture of the MIT student selection process is also left out. Honor systems had a greater influence because of this.

Steven is not a programmer. He's a journalist. He's got colleagues whom other former roommates of mine married. He did not expect this story to have the legs it has. He gets things mostly right, so read some of the other books besides his and John:  Fire in the Valley: The Making of The Personal Computer (Second Edition) , Accidental Empires: How the Boys of Silicon Valley Make Their Millions, Battle Foreign Competition, and Still Can't Get a Date , Where Wizards Stay Up Late: The Origins Of The Internet , Nerds 2.0.1 , The Dream Machine: J.C.R. Licklider and the Revolution That Made Computing Personal , Triumph of the Nerds , Triumph of the Nerds , and likely many, many other books and dissertations.

They are likely all flawed in some way or another. Bob Taylor thinks Mitch Waldthrop got history right in The Dream Machine. Some people equate Hackers (the book) to Kidder's  The Soul of A New Machine . Kidder has 2..3 good points, but Data General and the MV/8000 are gone. Levy's book is head and shoulders Kidder's book.

I would hate to see some Intro to computing class force students to read this book. It's not for every one, it's flawed, it's geeky. But Levy's book contains little gems that many people outside computing will never understand about hacker culture.
10 people found this helpful
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Gabriel
5.0 out of 5 stars If you like computers, this book will tell you where they came from. A fun read!
Reviewed in the United States on January 12, 2016
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Ok, I admit, I'm old. I actually remember most of the things talked about in this history of the computer age's genesis. Got my first home computer in 1982, a Timex Sinclair ZX81. 8K of ram and no keyboard, just a flat panel like on microwaves. Try typing in programming code on that! hah! Moved "up" to an Atari 800XL, which I hated and then to a Commodore 64, which I expected to hate, but loved. After that I reluctantly moved to a PC clone, although I wanted a $3600 Macintosh. Just couldn't afford it. At that point I got my first job as a self taught computer tech, in 1988. And I am still doing the same work now, although it's just about time to retire. So I've seen a lot over the years The rise of Microsoft, the surprising success of Apple, the fall of CP/M and about 50 different computer languages, such as Logo, Lisp, Fortran and Cobol. I saw the first computer expos, long before there was CES. People wandering around big halls, buying stacks of floppies and glossy computer mags. I played the games from Sierra (before it was Sierra Online) and Electronic Arts, (before it was "EA") and I was there when AOL became a monster app and spanked CompuServe. I had a BBS in 1990 that was one of the first to offer Internet email access. But it was all text as the WWW hadn't been invented yet! All these milestones and much more is covered in this book and I found it fascinating, even though I was never "in the In Crowd" where the Home Brew Computer Club was located. A really well done and informative look at how we got from $500 TI calculators to smart watches more powerful than the computers that put a man on the moon. Wowsers.
11 people found this helpful
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gc
5.0 out of 5 stars Fascinating story
Reviewed in the United States on June 30, 2023
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Very detailed story of hackers and haking
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dachelpo
5.0 out of 5 stars Great Read, Well Written.
Reviewed in the United States on November 13, 2016
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In watching, The New Screen Savers, a video broadcast by the TWIT Leo LaPorte network, I heard that multiple on-line personalities had not just one copy but multiple copies of this book (new editions with added appendices updated where the 'heroes' are today in their careers and life). Although I believe it is now in its 25 year of publication, it was a great read. It is as much a philosophy of a 'way of life' and how the nerds of the world have had a tremendous impact on technology and how their 'hacking philosophy has in most cases led to an ethical and rewarding life (even if they choose to not sell their software). I well probably buy additional copies to share with one of my sons who is a mechanical and civil engineer and a nerd. It will be on optimistic read for him!

By the way, I am a retire school band teacher, h.s. principal, and superintendent. I enjoyed it both as a nerd and as a former public organization CEO. Highly recommend. Levy did a great job researching and writing as well as updating recent editions! Thanks Steven!
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Top reviews from other countries

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Jorge Aguiar
5.0 out of 5 stars Excelente livro
Reviewed in Brazil on April 4, 2023
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Muito detalhado. Apresenta histórias do início da computação muito bem contextualizadas. Recomendo.
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ivigo business space
5.0 out of 5 stars un clásico imprescindible!!
Reviewed in Spain on September 20, 2021
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Un clásico imprescindible actualizado en su 25 aniversario.
Es necesario para comprender el origen de la transformación digital del mundo.
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Sachin Tumbre
1.0 out of 5 stars Feels like reading a fantacy novel. Skip this one...
Reviewed in India on July 26, 2019
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This book is about techies .
Author has made it like a novel by adding too much poetic phrases.
I read “iWoz”in three days straight. This one i dont think i ll be able to finish.
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Francois
5.0 out of 5 stars Probably the best book on the early days of the computer revolution ...
Reviewed in Canada on December 5, 2016
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Probably the best book on the early days of the computer revolution from the late 50's to the early 80's.
I have read many essay and books on this topic and this is one of the most complete account.

While not an easy read if you are not a Tech oriented person it is well writen and gives a clear high level overview of the most significants milestones. From the software hacker laboring on huge mainframe and mini (in the 60's and 70's) to the hobbyist building the first peronnal PC in the 80's.

For me it was the best read since "The soul of a new machine" has open my mind to computing in the early 80's
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Adam
3.0 out of 5 stars Good but too short
Reviewed in Australia on April 22, 2020
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Very enjoyable little book to read. But it stops just as it feels like it should be getting started! Guess I will need to find more books on computer history elsewhere.

Kindle edition has some serious formatting issues.
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