In the Beginning...Was the Command Line

<p>This is the Word -- one man's word certainly -- about the art (and artifice) of the state of our computer-centric existence. And considering that the one man is Neal Stephenson the hacker Hemingway (<em>Newsweek</em>) -- acclaimed novelist pragmatist seer nerd-friendly philosopher and nationally bestselling author of groundbreaking literary works (<em>Snow Crash Cryptonomicon </em> etc. etc.) -- the word is well worth hearing. Mostly well-reasoned examination and partial rant Stephenson's <em>In the Beginning... was the Command Line</em> is a thoughtful irreverent hilarious treatise on the cyber-culture past and present; on operating system tyrannies and downloaded popular revolutions; on the Internet Disney World Big Bangs not to mention the meaning of life itself.</p>