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Comment by dshep | Hacker News Reader

Wow these are getting pretty boring...

Would it have been less boring if Gibson waxed for pages about weighing the new Lenovo laptops vs. the MacBook, or the merits of one word processor over another?

I think it's fairly fascinating to discover that the author of one of the most notable cyberpunk novels doesn't really care about technology. (In fact, that's kind of the feeling you get from Neuromancer. There's loads of amazing technology but nobody's really fawning over it. It's just there, and it's just used.)

Also, most modern software/hardware is not particularly exciting from a usefulness point of view. It is mostly the same stuff that has been around for ages in a slightly smaller package with a new coat of paint.

It really depends on the person and how they use that technology. People like I assume Gibson use tech as a means to an end, he hasn't bought a new app because he is comfortable with what he has and sees no need to try new things.

This is the same reason my mother had a hard time when she bought a new laptop with windows 7 on it, though surprisingly she really likes google chrome and tells everyone on a computer using internet explorer they should use chrome instead.

I guess the gist of what I am saying is that sometimes change can be to much for those who aren't the power user. I loved windows 7 on the RC and all the little improvements, the same with word and office 2007. I get excited about new OS releases and new programs and updates because I find them useful and it doesn't take me hours or weeks or months to become more productive because I live tech but others just don't have the time or desire to understand it.

Famously Gibson wrote Neuromancer on a Hermes 2000 manual typewriter

I think this is one of those cases where the lack of stacks of software and hardware says as much about the person in question as the presence of it.

Maybe next time they should interview a lumberjack.

I can't think of any famous lumberjacks for them to interview, but Hell, I'd read it. Even if it was on the order of "this axe, this chainsaw, and this old phone I can use while wearing workgloves", I'd learn a little.

Not for one thing or another, but you can find lumberjacks discussing Stihl over Husqvarna for hours on end.

Which you can see with a quick search. :)

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