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keight's review against another edition
5.0
After reading Ellen Ullman’s novel By Blood, I’ve been meaning to get to her memoir Close to the Machine, but before I could get around to that, she published another book centered around her experiences as a programmer, from before and during the early years of the internet. These essays were written from that inchoate era of the 1990s to today and build on each other excellently. Ullman has both a personal and critical perspective on how technology has changed nearly every aspect of our lives, at least for those of us with access to the internet. Read more on my booklog
lilylikesbooks's review
4.0
Only not 5/5 because my pea brain couldn’t comprehend everything. The intellect that Ellen Ullman possesses is astounding
eskay1891's review against another edition
3.0
I would say this is collection of essays than history. The first few chapters are indeed authors life in code and interesting and then in the middle, it's just like fillers like, one chapter similar to Marley and me, except it's a cat named Sadie, followed by author witnessing urbanization during 1980s and 1990s. I'm not sure, why that should surprise and shock Ellen this much. The analogies are weak at many instances, for instance, consolidation of dairy farms and upgrades in personal computer.
Though there are some interesting chapters, this could have been a shorter book and still send the same message.
Though there are some interesting chapters, this could have been a shorter book and still send the same message.
nakedsushi's review
4.0
A great collection of essays about the tech culture in San Francisco. Some of the story progressions were disjointed which prevented me from giving this 5 stars. This is otherwise a must read for anyone in the tech industry who doesn’t want to suffer from group-think.
rick2's review against another edition
4.0
This was a wonderful biography about a woman’s journey though technology. Presented for the perspective of somebody’s been there, and really earned her Chops. The writing is good and easy to read. Which is saying some thing as some of these technical books get way off the rails. This was genuinely a good read by any standard.
It’s not necessarily the most up-to-date, but it was a wonderful read and it really illustrated a lot of older perspectives that I think is helpful for a modern tech person.
It’s not necessarily the most up-to-date, but it was a wonderful read and it really illustrated a lot of older perspectives that I think is helpful for a modern tech person.
abby315's review against another edition
4.25
book was an easy 5 stars until the final two essays, which say nothing I disagree with at all but are just so tonally jarring and boring that it hardly seems the same writer!
cstack's review against another edition
4.0
Stories from the author's life (she was a programmer through the 80s and 90s). Really interesting to get her perspective on a lot of issues that are very relevant today (privacy, screen time, gentrification, economic inequality). Mixed in are relatable stories about programming (obsessing over bugs) or life in general (caring for her cat in the last years of its life).
She's also just a damn good writer and I like her style.
She's also just a damn good writer and I like her style.
john370's review
3.0
Interesting thoughts about programming and the past. Some repetitive themes with no point.