A collection of short stories about computer nerds,
featuring real nerds doing things they didn't exactly do.
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Are you a computer nerd from way back? You might find yourself here.
What are computer nerds really like? There are thousands of stories about how their brilliance and clever insight has led to our current tech world. This is not one of those books.
This is a collection of fictional stories about the early computer scientists from the 1970s and 1980s. Computer nerds appear in fiction quite often, typically as unappealing slobs who nevertheless save the day. The nerds in those stories are one-dimensional characters who exist only to advance the plot to its thrilling finale. Once again, this is not one of those books.
The stories here present an honest view of the early nerds, and each of Rubin’s characters is someone he knows, with their looks, traits, and back history intact. To protect them, he’s changed their names, given them nicknames, and described things that were nearly true, but not completely. The nerds might well have done these things and perhaps should have, but it didn’t always end that way. This is the human side of the nerd revolution, real people with complex lives they balanced while playing with computers, long before it became popular.
“This book is a remarkable historical representation of a group of scientists
and researchers working in a lab during the early 1980s.
This was a time before Silicon Valley was a hub of wealth and innovation.
With great attention to detail, Rubin narrates the numerous quirks and idiosyncrasies
of these often eccentric individuals ...
He provides a delightful insight into the various escapades that these researchers embarked upon
... I loved the feeling of comfort that I got after reading it.”
—Breana Ceballos, nerdbot.com
“This book is a charming collection of short stories about the various antics of computer nerds
in the early days of Silicon Valley. ...
Each story in this book is brief but clever, always ending in a some sort of twist.”
—Asher Neal, officialnerdywebsite.org
“This book is a great antidote for those who think of Silicon Valley nerds as nothing more
than pitiful techies with poor social skills who somehow inexplicably became Masters of the Universe.”
—Amazon review
“This book is not just for aging nerds, it’s for anyone interested in an entertaining perspective
on the people and places that created the modern hi-tech world.”
—Amazon review
Some folks are curious to know which parts of the stories are true and which parts are not. It varies in each story.
In “Plagiarism”, there is an annoying nerd who has to be tricked back to his office with a phone hack, and another nerd who writes humorous technical pieces. Both of these are true, but no plagiarism took place.
In “Art Direction”, a nerd makes beautiful computer-rendered images and uses a clever ruse to avoid being “art directed.” This is entirely true, except that it's the story of two different nerds, one who made beautiful images and another who used the clever ruse.
In “Big Time Music”, a nerd band achieves unexpected fame and opens for the Rolling Stones. This is essentially true, except that the Stones didn't invite them, the nerds invited themselves.
Each story tells real things that happened, but to make them more fun, events are rearranged ever so slightly. This is why they're almost true.