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John mentioning his NeXT computer in this post reminded me of his NeXT computer purchase story from Masters of Doom: "On a cold winter day, Carmack laced up hi
by Arjuna 8y ago
John mentioning his NeXT computer in this post reminded me of his NeXT computer purchase story from Masters of Doom:
"On a cold winter day, Carmack laced up his shoes, slipped on his jacket, and headed out into the Madison snow. The town was blanketed in the stuff, cars caked in frost, trees dangling ice. Carmack endured the chill because he had no car; he'd sold the MGB long before. It was easy enough for him to shut out the weather, just like he could, when necessary, shut Tom and Romero's antics out of his mind. He was on a mission.
Carmack stepped into the local bank and requested a cashier's check for $11,000. The money was for a NeXT computer, the latest machine from Steve Jobs, cocreator of Apple. The NeXT, a stealth black cube, surpassed the promise of Jobs's earlier machines by incorporating NeXTSTEP, a powerful system tailor-made for custom software development. The market for PCs and games was exploding, and this was the perfect tool to create more dynamic titles for the increasingly viable gaming platform. It was the ultimate Christmas present for the ultimate in young graphics programmers, Carmack."
- sylens 8y agoThought of that very passage when I read this. It's not often you get to read a book that is so biographical about a person who is also still posting about their life on social media.
- drzaiusapelord 8y agoNot really. Tech is still very young. The home PC as a popular item is only around 30-40 years old depending on your criteria. Most of these guys are still around and active. I mean, you can email Vint Cerf today or read endless books about Apple, Woz, etc. You can tweet Bill Gates, etc. The dead in this industry are the super old timers, many of whom you really never hear about, or the unfortunate souls who passed away relatively young. Jobs was only 56 when he passed away.
- electrum 8y agoJohn Carmack was also successful at a relatively young age. He released Doom at age 23.
- BigChiefSmokem 8y agoYour comment made me think of Robert Noyce.
- fsloth 8y agoUm, there are lot of biographies of influential people who still are alive.
- _arvin 8y agoI think you missed his point. This is like getting never-before-seen bonus material for your favorite book. It reads similar to the book as well. All in all, very cool.
- STRiDEX 8y agoThe entire post reminded me of the book. Very similar in tone.
- myth_drannon 8y agoWhat are these "Tom and Romero's antics" ?
- BinaryIdiot 8y agoYou should read the book! I'd do a TL;DR but I can't really remember the specifics other than John really hated the distraction of pretty much anything.
- jmts 8y agoIIRC there was a lot of smashing keyboards, and the occasional cutting down of office doors with axes.
- mandeepj 8y ago> occasional cutting down of office doors with axes. What? Who was cutting down the office doors? Job frustration? and , still survived getting fired?
- kalleboo 8y ago> and still survived getting fired? It was a tiny company and they were co-founders. Who was gonna fire them?
- jmts 8y agoSeems Google, Reddit (u/Ungard at [1]), and Amazon [2] have all the answers. Turns out it was Carmack with the ax. An excerpt from the book: This happened after Romero accidentally locked himself in his office. Hearing the pleas, Carmack gave the knob a twist, paused, then deduced the most obvious and immediate solution. “You know,” he said, “I do have a battle-ax in my office.” Carmack had recently paid five thousand dollars for the custom-made weapon—a razor-edged hatchet like something out of Dungeons and Dragons. As the other guys gathered around chanting, “Battle-ax! Battle-ax! Battle-ax!” Carmack chopped Romero free. The splintered door remained in the hall for months. [1] https://www.reddit.com/r/Doom/comments/4l1si4/questionstory_of_breaking_down_the_door_with_an/ https://www.reddit.com/r/Doom/comments/4l1si4/questionstory_... [2] http://amzn.to/1TE2lPV http://amzn.to/1TE2lPV
- segmondy 8y agoHow many people will spend that money today? I see folks refusing to spend $10/$20 of their own money to get better. It's the weirdest thing. I told someone to spend $100 and run an experiment this past weekend, they looked at me like I lost my mind.
- gitgud 8y agoI too fall victim to the don't pay for learning or improving skills. What was the experiment? if you don't mind.
- shams93 8y agoDevelopers outside of the machine learning PHD world don't make that huge an income, especially if you live in a high rent area and are single they tax the heck out of you in california today. Back then people could afford to drop these large amounts on projects because rent was like $125 a month and taxes were very low compared to say modern california. It actually goes to show how an economy that benefits the rentiers has a way of shutting down innovation and experimentation as all resources go to cover the basics.
- encoderer 8y agoThere is a pervasive idea that developer salaries in sf and other tech cities only cover the rents, etc. Not at all true. Thousands and thousands of career developers making great wages. It’s not VCs driving real estate prices.
- phendrenad2 8y agoIt is true, the salaries keep going up and the rent goes up to match it.
- spannedtheusa 8y agoRent in SF has been going down a little last I checked.
- 8y ago
- mylons 8y agoi just finished masters of doom's audiobook a week or so ago. it was the most addicting story i've heard in some time, and elevated carmack even more in my mind. the book was also strangely motivating. have you (or anyone else) read anything else like masters of doom recently?
- sreyaNotfilc 8y agoI just purchased it. Its nice that you felt motivated from an audio book! I definitely need it. I'll let you know how it is once I'm done.
- mylons 8y agoi was taking walks just to listen to it! enjoy!
- bdickason 8y agoI'm a big fan of the book and got a similar feeling from watching Indie Game: The Movie. Good documentary about a few small indie game studios that makes you feel like you can start something amazing. trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GhaT78i1x2M https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GhaT78i1x2M
- archagon 8y agoHackers: Heroes of the Computer Revolution, though it's a bit more dry IMO.
- doomlaser 8y agoI'm a huge fan of the biography Jean Renoir (the acclaimed film director) wrote about his father, Auguste Renoir (the acclaimed Impressionist painter), Renoir, My Father - https://www.amazon.com/Renoir-My-Father-Jean/dp/B001MPDDME https://www.amazon.com/Renoir-My-Father-Jean/dp/B001MPDDME For a gripping tale of technology and hacking, The Cuckoo's Egg never fails: https://www.amazon.com/Cuckoos-Egg-Tracking-Computer-Espionage/dp/1416507787/ https://www.amazon.com/Cuckoos-Egg-Tracking-Computer-Espiona... And, as someone reminded me in the thread about Xerox and Fujifilm, Dealers of Lightning tells the story of Xerox PARC, the Alto, Steve Jobs' visit, etc: https://www.amazon.com/Dealers-Lightning-Xerox-PARC-Computer/dp/0887309895/ https://www.amazon.com/Dealers-Lightning-Xerox-PARC-Computer...