A review by nakedsushi
Close to the Machine: Technophilia and Its Discontents by Ellen Ullman
3.0
Ellen Ullman perfectly describes how a programmer relates to the world in this book. That's not to say only programmers should read this. Instead, I recommend non-programmers who ever have to work with programmers read this book because it describes why we're always cranky: half the time, nothing is working and the other half, we have no idea what we're doing.
She writes:
The corollary of constant change is ignorance. This is not often talked about: we computer experts barely know what we're doing. We're good at fussing and figuring out. We function well in a sea of unknowns. Our experience has only prepared us to deal with confusion. A programmer who denies this is probably lying, or else is densely unaware of himself.
The short version:
That said, although most of what Ullman describes rings true, there are some things I can't relate with because I was never a programmer in the 80s or even 90s and I never worked in a really corporate atmosphere. While she found that working as a contractor or consultant and not a "real" employee made her feel isolated, I wonder if this was a time before instant-messaging, Skype, and all the myriad of ways to real-time contact with remote-coworkers.
I definitely enjoyed the chapters about her work life more than the chapters of her love-life. I know this is probably supposed to be more like a memoir, but I found the chapters about Brian to be dull and wished she would just get over him. Also, there was by far, the least erotic sex-scene ever early on in this book, just a warning!
She writes:
The corollary of constant change is ignorance. This is not often talked about: we computer experts barely know what we're doing. We're good at fussing and figuring out. We function well in a sea of unknowns. Our experience has only prepared us to deal with confusion. A programmer who denies this is probably lying, or else is densely unaware of himself.
The short version:
That said, although most of what Ullman describes rings true, there are some things I can't relate with because I was never a programmer in the 80s or even 90s and I never worked in a really corporate atmosphere. While she found that working as a contractor or consultant and not a "real" employee made her feel isolated, I wonder if this was a time before instant-messaging, Skype, and all the myriad of ways to real-time contact with remote-coworkers.
I definitely enjoyed the chapters about her work life more than the chapters of her love-life. I know this is probably supposed to be more like a memoir, but I found the chapters about Brian to be dull and wished she would just get over him. Also, there was by far, the least erotic sex-scene ever early on in this book, just a warning!