Now Available on DVD:

Hackers - Wizards of the Electronic Age

from Amazon.com

Description

Hackers is a classic documentary about the midnight programmers that created the personal computer revolution.

Hackers is not about malicious code-crackers. It is about a “hacker ethic” that led to major breakthroughs in technology, and forever changed our world. From the first MIT hackers to popular Silicon Valley inventors, this program covers this fascinating cultural phenomenon through interviews with twelve of its early pioneers.

The program features conversations with: Steve Wozniak, designer of the Apple II; Bill Atkinson and Andy Hertzfeld, designers of the Macintosh; Homebrew Computer Club leader Lee Felsenstein; MIT hackers Richard Stallman and Richard Greenblatt; and many more.

Hackers was produced over a decade before the advent of the Internet. All interviews were shot over a long week-end in 1984, at the first Hackers Conference, hosted by Whole Earth Catalog editors Stewart Brand and Kevin Kelly, in Sausalito, California. This event was inspired by Steven Levy's classic book Hackers – Heroes of the Computer Revolution.

Produced and directed by Fabrice Florin, in association with KQED. Camera by Wes Dorman. DVD Photo by Matt Herron.  Color / approx. 26 minutes.

Reviews

"Hackers is the most charming, endearing, downright winsome documentary on public television in quite some time. It is a tribute to the men and women whose brilliance, perseverance and ethical sense not only created the billion-dollar personal computer industry, but an entire culture along with it. …I defy you not to be won over by their enthusiasm.”
Philadelphia Daily News - David Friedman - April 25, 1986

“To Florin’s credit, he allows the achievements and spirit of the assembled specialists to bleed through their apparent on-screen quirkiness ... Showing the hackers’ eccentricities without comment, in fact, lets these talented people’s warmth come through; they not only bubble with the passion of their calling, but also with an extraordinary collective motivation.”
San Francisco Chronicle - Calvin Alghren - April 20, 1986

“Hackers offers a pleasant way to peek into the hearts, minds and keyboards of the ultratalented computerniks (a.k.a. “hackers”) who spawned the personal computer revolution ... For a quick introduction to the best and brightest of them, Hackers is a quality bet.”
Washington Post - Michael Schrage - April 20, 1986

“Hackers is one of the best documentaries I’ve ever seen on our industry; it’s destined to become a classic. I strongly urge everyone to watch it.”
PCWorld/MacWorld - David Bunnell - April 1986

“An affectionate and enjoyable trip through the minds of some of Hackdom’s biggest successes... Hackers is television worth watching.”
San Jose Mercury News - David Rosenthal - August 27, 1985

“A solid, informative, ... byte-sized production.”
Chicago Tribune - Clifford Teny - April 28, 1986

"A look at one of our most fascinating sub-cultures"
Wall Street Journal, April 17, 1986

“The most interesting and effective body of intellectuals since the framers of the U.S. Constitution.”
Stewart Brand, circa 1985

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