“They are shy, sweet, incredibly brilliant and, I think, more effective in pushing the culture around now in good ways than almost any group I can think of.”A lot has changed about hackers and how people perceive them. But at least the last part of the above description, uttered by Whole Earth Catalog editor Stewart Brand in this 1984 TV special, still holds true. It hearkens back to when the term “hacker” took its most literal definition: A devoted computer hobbyist who ‘hacked’ away at a computer keyboard to make something work, or work better.The exchange was simple: A company would want their software or hardware to work a certain way and a hacker would make it happen. In the emerging computer tech industry, they were nothing short of magicians.Early works of computer-centric fiction like Neal Stephenson’s Snow Crash used this definition of ‘hacker’ unflinchingly, embracing the technoutopian ideology that flourished in the wake of the great technology booms of the 80’s and 90’s. Who could predict that the pastime which gave rise to computing legends like Steve Wozniak and Andy Hertzfeld would become equated with criminality? It wasn’t until later that the term, adopted in some cases as a catch-all for folks who knew their way around a computer, began to take on its nefarious edge.Today, ‘hacker’ has changed its definition to incorporate those who test the limits of computer security systems (originally distinguished as “crackers”). And sometimes the term is so misused that it approaches meaninglessness. The DDoS attacks spurred by ‘hacktivist’ collectives like Anonymous, for example, require nothing more than a few clicks inside pre-written software.Will the title of ‘hacker’ ever win back its former glory?Connections:
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