] THE DRUGS culture of the late 60s inspired the modern ] computer industry, according to a book with a very long ] name. New York Times technology writer, John Markoff's ] latest penning, What the Dormouse Said: How the 60s ] Counterculture Shaped the Personal Computer Industry, ] reckons that most of Silicon Valley in the 1960s were on ] something, and those that weren't, were not there. He ] says in the tome that it was the uniquely Californian ] scene of back-to-nature independence, personal freedom ] and psychedelic drugs that gave birth to the PC. Markoff ] traces the modern PC to the clubs built around the Altair ] 8800 and particularly to one at Menlo Park's Homebrew ] Computer Club. This was founded in 1975 by peace activist ] Fred Moore. Homebrewers swapped software and components ] and advised each other on how to build computers from the ] ground up. It is not quite clear where the beer came in. ] Emerging from the foam of Homebrew, was a shop called ] People's Computer which flogged hands-on computing time ] and training to anyone who walked in off the street. HAHAH! Funny. Hack In The Box - Keeping Knowledge Free - www.hackinthebox.org |