I’m writing again (opens in new tab)

Recently I've been thinking about the nerds/hippie dichotomy from that book. Really missing the anti-authoritarian streak that was so formative in the early computer industry.

Dang we're getting old ey?

I’m not going to be able to find the reference in my head, but I thought there had been a couple Bob’s over the years.

The descent into IBM hiring/etc is when I sort of last stopped reading.

I have to warn you that it might just be sarcasm.

For Triumph of the Nerds, Bob spent hours interviewing a few of us at ARDI, my Macintosh emulation company. Mat's is the only voice that made the cut. Our fridge got more air time than I did, but I'm juggling and riding a unicycle for a few seconds. "Those were fun days."

Nice to see Bob back, especially after the gut punch of Cleve Moler's death.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ACt6xsMt5Uk&t=456s

Me too!

I have a list of similar content here:

https://github.com/superjamie/lazyweb/wiki/General-Tech-Ente...

Haven't updated it in a long time but hope you find something nice.

I used love watching these over and over again as a kid, taped off TV on VHS, now both up in excellent quality on IA.

Triumph of the Nerds (1996) - https://archive.org/details/triumph_of_the_nerds

Nerds 2.0.1 - A Brief History Of The Internet (1998) - https://archive.org/details/nerds-2.0.1-a-brief-history-of-t...

I would love to see a follow-up series that covers the dot com bust, the revival of Silicon Valley’s tech industry thanks to mobile and cloud tech, and the modern AI boom, starting with deep neural networks ran on GPUs and culminating with large language models.

Sure, it's interesting there are still people out there who want to put him in his place or whatever. I think most people understand that's why you don't lie about the things like I've just learned this guy has. Especially if you depend on your name for your livelihood. or in this case, it's a pseudonym?

Maybe they should get over it but IMO everyone should pick their battles carefully, and just because it looks like they aren't doesn't mean it's worth your time. It's Mr. Cringely's cross to bear.

Projects fail all the time. It happens.

It’s simply inexcusable (and criminally fraudulent in many jurisdictions) to lie about your academic credentials—especially when it involves other people’s money.

I cannot fathom why his comments section isn't moderated. Principles?

For clarity, he has a master's degree, not a Ph.D.

Via NYTime Nov. 16, 1998 article "Compressed Data; Stanford Gave Writer A Start, but Not a Ph.D." -

"The San Francisco Chronicle reported last week that Mr. Stephens had not been a professor at Stanford University and had not earned a doctorate there, as he had claimed."

"A university spokeswoman said that Mr. Stephens had worked as a teaching assistant and earned only a master's degree."

https://www.nytimes.com/1998/11/16/business/compressed-data-...

Can HN be a bit better than to sneer about transgressions that go back nearly three decades and had no real victims? I would have hoped so.

Two emdash phrases in 4 paragraphs is hardly excessive.