The pictures in the article show an old IBM-style computing facility, the domain of the sages in white robes who tend the machine. This raises two questions in my mind:
1. Have hackers and the hacker culture risen in importance and influence in the broader tech ecosystem since, say, 1985?
2. Has this resulted in a change of computing culture contributing to the decreasing numbers of women entering the field?
One of the things present in Levy's Hackers was that the vast majority of the movers-and-shakers in the hacker community were men. Roberta Williams was, I believe, the only woman mentioned in the book with any direct involvement in computing. Has that culture risen in influence, and is it (partly) to blame? The IBM terminal & mainframe rooms with their hospital-clean appearance don't make press much any more.
1. Have hackers and the hacker culture risen in importance and influence in the broader tech ecosystem since, say, 1985?
2. Has this resulted in a change of computing culture contributing to the decreasing numbers of women entering the field?
One of the things present in Levy's Hackers was that the vast majority of the movers-and-shakers in the hacker community were men. Roberta Williams was, I believe, the only woman mentioned in the book with any direct involvement in computing. Has that culture risen in influence, and is it (partly) to blame? The IBM terminal & mainframe rooms with their hospital-clean appearance don't make press much any more.