A reflection on Levy’s Hackers: Heroes of the Computer Revolution. Reading about the adaptation of the “Hardware Hackers” in Northern California, I was able to identify a dramatic shift in philosophy relative to the Original “True Hackers” we spoke about at MIT. These true hackers were protected by an academic environment that solely focused on the purity of the software and systems that they were working on. For comparison, the California Hackers were more politically motivated. They saw the original hackers as “technological Jesuits” who didn’t appreciate the importance of spreading technology to everybody (page 180). The “Hardware hackers” wanted to share this new technology and to allow the possibility of creation into the hands of the common people. This ideology I do support, but there comes a problem when monetization or intellectual property becomes a topic of discussion.
The launch of the Altair 8800 was a very important movement that supported the Hardware Hacker mentality and Projects like the Community Memory. As a kid who was fascinated with computers and saved up money for almost 3 years in a shoe box to build his own gaming computer, I can tell you that the Altair 8800 got everyone—not just adult geeks/hackers— excited. This computer kit made it possible for anyone to own and build their own computer. With this new access to technology, groups like the Homebrew club formed, and they were able to exhaust their creativity. When I first built my computer, I played games like Fortnite, Minecraft, Wizard 101, Club Penguin, etc. I was also interested in creating music beats like any 12-year-old should. I would hope that Hacker Steve Dompier would be proud of me, as he also got his computer (the Altair) to play music. Although his methods were much more complex, this is a perfect example of using computers as tools of art and expression, not just for computations and number crunching.
As this new hacker ethic spread of creativity and self-empowerment, a strong tension emerged. Wrapping back to intellectual property, the core belief of free flow of information created a huge conflict. This dispute was highlighted in the famous letter of Bill Gates’ “Open Letter to Hobbyists,” in which he argued that the free sharing of his program was not “communal collaboration”, but “ theft” (page 233). Bill Gates’ idea of intellectual property I would stand by because if he does not want to share his original ideas with others without making them pay for it, then that is his prerogative. There is nothing I can say that would change this, but at the same time, I believe that there should be a line to cross before software/intellectual property calls a need for payment. For example, when using Windows to start up a company that requires multiple units, it seems justified to ask for payment. For small cases where individuals are installing software on their own devices/computers, then it should be ok. (idk)
Overall, the “Hardware Hackers” succeeded in making personal computers available to everyone, but in doing so, they left behind the purity of their (information is) collective dream, forever complicating the Hacker Ethic with a complex debate between what is theft.