Close to the Machine
1997 • 208 pages
Ratings6
Average rating3.8
15
Ratings6
Average rating3.8
With a New Introduction by Jaron Lanier A Salon Best Book of the Year In 1997, the computer was still a relatively new tool---a sleek and unforgiving machine that was beyond the grasp of most users. With intimate and unflinching detail, software engineer Ellen Ullman examines the strange ecstasy of being at the forefront of the predominantly male technological revolution, and the difficulty of translating the inherent messiness of human life into artful and efficient code. Close to the Machine is an elegant and revelatory mediation on the dawn of the digital era.
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It's incredibly depressing reading this 20+ years later, when all her criticisms of the interactions between computers and people's lives are still valid (if not even more applicable!).
