In the 1960s, the MIT all-male computer
geeks had an incurable curiosity about how things worked in the real world and
in the cyber world. Back then, computers were huge mainframes stored in
temperature-controlled, glassed-in lairs. These slow machines were expensive
hunks of metal (called PDP) that allowed computer programmers only very limited
access. Nevertheless, the Signals and Power committee of MITÂ’s Tech Model
Railroad Club chose the PDP-6 and PDP-10s as their favorite “tech toy.” Because
of the computerÂ’s slow pace, the smarter programmers created what back then
were called “hacks,” or creative
programming tricks, to complete their jobs faster. Sometimes their shortcuts
were more beautiful than the original programs.
See Also: Good
Hack.
Schell, B.H., Dodge, J.L., with S.S. Moutsatsos. The
Hacking of America: WhoÂ’s Doing It, Why, and How. Westport, CT: Quorum
Books, 2002.