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His "Silicon Snake Oil" was equally important to me in the mid-90s. As a computer guy who was running as fast as I could into everything Internet, it was a real
by deltarholamda 4y ago
His "Silicon Snake Oil" was equally important to me in the mid-90s. As a computer guy who was running as fast as I could into everything Internet, it was a real eye opener. It made me look at what I was doing and flip it around. I still ask "is what I'm doing really an improvement, or am I just making a box go 'bing' in a new way?"
It's easy to forget all the nerd stuff we do is supposed to be serving the interests of society, mankind, real people, however you want to think of it. And, sometimes, the question that should be asked is not "can we do it?" but "should we do it?" Social media, for example, should probably have done a bit more introspection before turning us into click-farmers.
- ok123456 4y agoI remember their being a negative backlash against that book. Most of the Stoll fans on the early internet were expecting some futurist pablum, which he certainly could have sold out and done, but instead offered a polemic. I read both "The Cuckoo's Egg" and "Silicon Snake Oil" as a young teen and it shaped and tempered my view of technology.
- CliffStoll 4y agoYou betcha, OKserialdigits -- and thank you. When I wrote a critique of the early internet, my sister warned me of the costs: Nobody thanks Cassandra. But -as techies- I believe it's our responsibility to speak against thick hyperbole and unrealistic projections. Progress grows from realistic evaluations and honest criticisms.
- deltarholamda 4y agoI don't keep a lot of computer books, but I still have "Silicon Snake Oil" and Jaron Lanier's "You Are Not A Gadget".
- sillyfluke 4y ago>Okserialdigits I like how this contains more characters than ok123456