Walter Isaacson Quote
Spacewar highlighted three aspects of the hacker culture that became themes of the digital age. First, it was created collaboratively. We were able to build it together, working as a team, which is how we liked to do things, Russell said. Second, it was free and open-source software. People asked for copies of the source code, and of course we gave them out. Of course—that was in a time and place when software yearned to be free. Third, it was based on the belief that computers should be personal and interactive. It allowed us to get our hands on a computer and make it respond to us in real time, said Russell.10
Walter Isaacson
Spacewar highlighted three aspects of the hacker culture that became themes of the digital age. First, it was created collaboratively. We were able to build it together, working as a team, which is how we liked to do things, Russell said. Second, it was free and open-source software. People asked for copies of the source code, and of course we gave them out. Of course—that was in a time and place when software yearned to be free. Third, it was based on the belief that computers should be personal and interactive. It allowed us to get our hands on a computer and make it respond to us in real time, said Russell.10
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About Walter Isaacson
He has been the president and CEO of the Aspen Institute, a nonpartisan policy studies organization based in Washington, D.C., the chair and CEO of CNN, and the editor of Time.
Isaacson attended Harvard University and Pembroke College, Oxford as a Rhodes scholar. He is the co-author with Evan Thomas of The Wise Men: Six Friends and the World They Made (1986) and the author of Pro and Con (1983), Kissinger: A Biography (1992), Benjamin Franklin: An American Life (2003), Einstein: His Life and Universe (2007), American Sketches (2009), Steve Jobs (2011), The Innovators: How a Group of Hackers, Geniuses, and Geeks Created the Digital Revolution (2014), Leonardo da Vinci (2017), The Code Breaker: Jennifer Doudna, Gene Editing, and the Future of the Human Race (2021) and Elon Musk (2023).
Isaacson is an advisory partner at Perella Weinberg Partners, a New York City-based financial services firm. He was vice chair of the Louisiana Recovery Authority, which oversaw the rebuilding after Hurricane Katrina, chaired the government board that runs Voice of America, and was a member of the Defense Innovation Board.