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>But even from this remove it was possible to glean certain patterns, and one that recurred as regularly as an urban legend was the one about how someone would

>But even from this remove it was possible to glean certain patterns, and one that recurred as regularly as an urban legend was the one about how someone would move into a commune populated by sandal-wearing, peace-sign flashing flower children, and eventually discover that, underneath this facade, the guys who ran it were actually control freaks; and that, as living in a commune, where much lip service was paid to ideals of peace, love and harmony, had deprived them of normal, socially approved outlets for their control-freakdom, it tended to come out in other, invariably more sinister, ways. Applying this to the case of Apple Computer will be left as an exercise for the reader, and not a very difficult exercise. -Neal Stephenson, 1999, "In the Beginning was the Command Line" The more things change, the more they stay the same, eh?

nonrandomstring 3y ago
It was on this HN forum that I was first introduced to the remarkable essay on the Californian Ideology[0]. [0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Californian_Ideology https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Californian_Ideology
- Phiwise_ 3y ago
  >Above all, they are passionate advocates of what appears to be an impeccably libertarian form of politics - they want information technologies to be used to create a new 'Jeffersonian democracy' where all individuals will be able to express themselves freely within cyberspace. However, by championing this seemingly admirable ideal, these techno-boosters are at the same time reproducing some of the most atavistic features of American society, especially those derived from the bitter legacy of slavery. I suppose the loose definition of remarkable could indeed technically apply to the assertion that "capitalists" jumped on board the http and tcp/ip bandwagon to reassert plantation slavery. Regardless, you've missed the wider context of the anecdote. Stephenson is referring to the stereotypical experiences on hippie communes during the boomer scene era, well before Barbrook and Cameron's concerns about some sort of subversion or other. They even explicitly specify that some pre-90s era of the bay area ideology obviously knew better, so they're in direct disagreement with Stephenson here. We have to pick one or the other. Frankly, I think I know which I prefer between "There's more continuity between the hippies and the yuppies than you typically expect in the valley" and "investors are supercharging democratized communication because it will make you racist and capitalist, which are equally bad". For the rest of the context, you can read the essay here, which I think is a legal copy; Stephenson himself did also distribute it as a pdf: http://project.cyberpunk.ru/lib/in_the_beginning_was_the_command_line/ http://project.cyberpunk.ru/lib/in_the_beginning_was_the_com...
  - nonrandomstring 3y ago
    Thanks so much for that full essay! Absolutely fascinating. I'm not a Californian, nor even an American, but understanding the culture behind the last 40 years of digital technology... and why, after staring out so hopeful it's gone so wrong, is important stuff.

nonrandomstring 3y ago

It was on this HN forum that I was first introduced to the remarkable essay on the Californian Ideology[0]. [0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Californian_Ideology https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Californian_Ideology

Phiwise_ 3y ago
>Above all, they are passionate advocates of what appears to be an impeccably libertarian form of politics - they want information technologies to be used to create a new 'Jeffersonian democracy' where all individuals will be able to express themselves freely within cyberspace. However, by championing this seemingly admirable ideal, these techno-boosters are at the same time reproducing some of the most atavistic features of American society, especially those derived from the bitter legacy of slavery. I suppose the loose definition of remarkable could indeed technically apply to the assertion that "capitalists" jumped on board the http and tcp/ip bandwagon to reassert plantation slavery. Regardless, you've missed the wider context of the anecdote. Stephenson is referring to the stereotypical experiences on hippie communes during the boomer scene era, well before Barbrook and Cameron's concerns about some sort of subversion or other. They even explicitly specify that some pre-90s era of the bay area ideology obviously knew better, so they're in direct disagreement with Stephenson here. We have to pick one or the other. Frankly, I think I know which I prefer between "There's more continuity between the hippies and the yuppies than you typically expect in the valley" and "investors are supercharging democratized communication because it will make you racist and capitalist, which are equally bad". For the rest of the context, you can read the essay here, which I think is a legal copy; Stephenson himself did also distribute it as a pdf: http://project.cyberpunk.ru/lib/in_the_beginning_was_the_command_line/ http://project.cyberpunk.ru/lib/in_the_beginning_was_the_com...
- nonrandomstring 3y ago
  Thanks so much for that full essay! Absolutely fascinating. I'm not a Californian, nor even an American, but understanding the culture behind the last 40 years of digital technology... and why, after staring out so hopeful it's gone so wrong, is important stuff.