The technology aspects are excellent.
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The book's episodic accounts of her experiences in the industry and her observations regarding the technology's social impact are interesting and thought provoking. Other than that, who cares about your sex life, Ms. Ullman? If I was geuinely interested in such a book I'd know where to find it.
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Best book on "computer culture" I've read.
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I read this book a year ago when it first came out and loved it. I've re-read it just to enjoy Ellen Ullman's terrific writing. She is a GREAT writer. Ellen Ullman uses her life in the fast lane to comment on parts of cyber-culture that we rarely talk about but ought to. It isn't political or technical. It's more social commentary.
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By a geek for the geeks
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This is a beautiful book, written by someone who not only understands how to work computers, but understands how the computer is working on her -- the seduction of the machine, the impact it has on her life, and the compromises she has to make around her choices. The basic problem is that this book is probably completely incomprehensible to anyone who doesn't see computers in the same way. Ullman's commentary is all about the same subject: not about computers, but about people, and the kinds of people who are attracted and subverted by technology. If you're not a geek, you'll probably be mystified. If you are, you'll be riveted. This is probably the same reason why I fall asleep reading the New Yorker, only in reverse.
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must read for any programmer / software engineer
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excellent book, full of realword observations on the life of a programmer combined with interesting insights into life at the 'coal face' of IT
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An Important response to high-tech hyperbole.
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Ellen Ullman provides a load of thoughful commentary on the nature of computer code and the professional class that writes it. Hers is a uniquely qualified voice in this realm, and she has a real talent for illustrating a highly arcane topic in ways that anyone can understand. From her observations about the environment in which software engineers operate and her descriptions of the effects it has on their personal and emotional lives emerges a troubling picture of an industry without roots, without long-term vision, without commitment. It is a lonely world of big money, scarce leisure time, high-powered connections and low-powered social lives. The perspective is middle-aged, the tone serious, the credentials of the author superb. This book is thoughfully written, nicely readable, highly useful to anyone who wants to acquire a broader context for understanding the impact of computing on daily life.
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