Comment Re:Neal Stephenson is lame. (Score 1) 57
> "He, like Bill Gibson, is basically a computer illiterate that writes fiction w/o any understanding of the technology they're writing about. "
As far as I know, William Gibson has never claimed any great degree of computer literacy. I seem to remember reading somewhere that he wrote Neuromancer on a typewriter and is quoted here (http://fbox.vt.edu:10021/J/jfoley/gibson/rogers_g ibson_interview.txt) as saying
"You know, when I wrote Neuromancer I'd never even heard the term hacker. If I had done I would have used it in the book."
Gisbon and Stephenson may, as you say, be computer illiterates writing fiction without any understanding of the technology they're writing about (though I doubt it in Stephenson's case). However, it would seem to me that you are a "computer literate" that reads fiction without any understanding of what the author was writing about. Fiction is not about "accuracy" or "technical understanding". Gibson, in Neuromancer, was not writing about computers, but about post-modern society. Its not about whether the computer gear the characters uses to surf the net is feasible, but about the breakdown of societies when multinational corporations can reign unchecked by governments and morality .... Hmmm doesn't that sound like some court case I was reading about lately ?
In the case of Neil Stephenson, you are demonstrably wrong in your statement that he (Stephenson) revels in the dark side of computer cracking. None of his characters in any of the books I have read (SnowCrash, Diamond Age or Cryptonomicon) were computer crackers. The major characters in both Snowcrash and Cryptonomicon were legitimate programmers (and hackers) who had to deal with and overcome the cracker mentality - Hiro in Snowcrash defeating the spread of a virus, and Randy in Cryptonicon overcoming industrial spies. Page 806 of the Trade paperback issue of Cryptonomicon actually discusses the media's fascination with hackers and portraying them as bad guys. I'm guessing that you didn't make it all the way to page 806 ??
The "baloney" you mentioned, is called "In the Beginning" and may be found here http://www.cryptonomicon.com/beginning.html. I didn't notice any glaring errors in the text - but I would hardly call myself an expert on the topic of operating systems - despite teaching Computing Studies to High Schools students for the last ten years, as well as administering a network that incorporates Netware, NT and Linux Servers. Perhaps someone here at slashdot could point out some of the more obvious errors in the text to me ?
But once again, I think you missed the point of the article. Stephenson's writings were not intended as a technical description of how to use an operating system. If I wanted a completely accurate description of an operating system I'd refer to a manual or read the appropriate "man".
Perhaps you should have another look at the article and see if you can work out what Stephenson was writing about - leave your prejudices aside and see if you can actually make it all the way to the last line this time.
As far as I know, William Gibson has never claimed any great degree of computer literacy. I seem to remember reading somewhere that he wrote Neuromancer on a typewriter and is quoted here (http://fbox.vt.edu:10021/J/jfoley/gibson/rogers_
"You know, when I wrote Neuromancer I'd never even heard the term hacker. If I had done I would have used it in the book."
Gisbon and Stephenson may, as you say, be computer illiterates writing fiction without any understanding of the technology they're writing about (though I doubt it in Stephenson's case). However, it would seem to me that you are a "computer literate" that reads fiction without any understanding of what the author was writing about. Fiction is not about "accuracy" or "technical understanding". Gibson, in Neuromancer, was not writing about computers, but about post-modern society. Its not about whether the computer gear the characters uses to surf the net is feasible, but about the breakdown of societies when multinational corporations can reign unchecked by governments and morality
In the case of Neil Stephenson, you are demonstrably wrong in your statement that he (Stephenson) revels in the dark side of computer cracking. None of his characters in any of the books I have read (SnowCrash, Diamond Age or Cryptonomicon) were computer crackers. The major characters in both Snowcrash and Cryptonomicon were legitimate programmers (and hackers) who had to deal with and overcome the cracker mentality - Hiro in Snowcrash defeating the spread of a virus, and Randy in Cryptonicon overcoming industrial spies. Page 806 of the Trade paperback issue of Cryptonomicon actually discusses the media's fascination with hackers and portraying them as bad guys. I'm guessing that you didn't make it all the way to page 806 ??
The "baloney" you mentioned, is called "In the Beginning" and may be found here http://www.cryptonomicon.com/beginning.html. I didn't notice any glaring errors in the text - but I would hardly call myself an expert on the topic of operating systems - despite teaching Computing Studies to High Schools students for the last ten years, as well as administering a network that incorporates Netware, NT and Linux Servers. Perhaps someone here at slashdot could point out some of the more obvious errors in the text to me ?
But once again, I think you missed the point of the article. Stephenson's writings were not intended as a technical description of how to use an operating system. If I wanted a completely accurate description of an operating system I'd refer to a manual or read the appropriate "man".
Perhaps you should have another look at the article and see if you can work out what Stephenson was writing about - leave your prejudices aside and see if you can actually make it all the way to the last line this time.
