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lilpisso's review
emotional
funny
hopeful
informative
inspiring
medium-paced
4.75
This book delivered a well nuanced insight into tech culture. From a women-led early field all the way to future risks and challenges, the reader is left well informed and inspired.
melicamp's review against another edition
4.0
Fun read. It's not only a take on history of coding and computers, but it also addresses some current challenges of AI, social media and diversity among the coding community. Why there are so few coding women if it was them who were first programmers? How we should approach troll farms on Twitter? How to fight with hate on social media while preserving the rights of free speech?
It also reminded me of joy of coding, which I think I lost somewhere along the way of my coding career. It's never too late to get it back. ;)
It also reminded me of joy of coding, which I think I lost somewhere along the way of my coding career. It's never too late to get it back. ;)
catincaciornei's review
4.0
Enjoyable read, about a bona fide fascinating issue: what's up with coding and with these young wildly successful people writing it? Since Clive Thompson possess the gift of crisp, intriguing writing, and he's been scribbling about the tech industry for decades, I as reader was treated to a good surprise: an interesting story delivered in a delightful way. The book answered some of my real questions: how do you get to be a coder? (answer: there were 4 main waves of time&opportunity when coders came to their craft; go to university but mind that they're scarce; fortunately it can be self taught) What are some general personality traits of coders? (answer: "a fierce devotion to efficiency" and "a boundless ability to endure brutal, grinding frustration"; philosophy students make good coders; there's a need for more humanity-oriented people in tech, but also for hard-core math professionals). The story touches slightly on few philosophical debates of the field - coding is a language, because it's made with words, so regulating it is like regulating speech. If we (Westerners) tend to think almost by definition that speech is free, how and when do you regulate online harassing or fringe groups' messages? What's up with the divisive thinking about AI - will it kill us or will it save us (no surprise: there's no agreement but, worryingly, there's very limited understanding of how that code actually does its work). "Coders" grants space to issues of diversity in the field, and puts the subject of women in tech quite centrally. There's also ample room for today's hot topic of regulating huge tech firms (as a quip, I marked down an ironic catchy play of words: "when your customers are paying you money, you can actually call them customers and not "users", which is a term from drug dealing"). Hackers also get explained, and their dedicated chapter has some great stories about super-coders saving the day. And among all this info, the author manages to naturally inserts few lines of code in the book! I really enjoyed this writers' artifice, it brings the main character into the living room - so that's what we're all fussing about these days.
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