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posted by janrinok on Tuesday August 11 2015, @03:53AM   Printer-friendly
from the as-we-have-said-for-years dept.

Brent Scott has a piece on Aeon about the transformation of the traditional "hacker ethic" as described by Steven Levy and Pekka Himanen into a means of enterprise modeling "doublethink".

We are currently witnessing the gentrification of hacker culture. The countercultural trickster has been pressed into the service of the preppy tech entrepreneur class. It began innocently, no doubt. The association of the hacker ethic with startups might have started with an authentic counter-cultural impulse on the part of outsider nerds tinkering away on websites. But, like all gentrification, the influx into the scene of successive waves of ever less disaffected individuals results in a growing emphasis on the unthreatening elements of hacking over the subversive ones.

Scott goes on to suggest that the hacker ethic has become a "hollowed out" form of "solutionism" as suggested by Evengy Morozov, meaning that "...the tech-industry vision of the world as a series of problems waiting for (profitable) solutions."

This process of gentrification becomes a war over language. If enough newcomers with media clout use the hollowed-out version of the term, its edge grows dull. You end up with a mere affectation, failing to challenge otherwise conventional aspirations. And before you know it, an earnest Stanford grad is handing me a business card that says, without irony: 'Founder. Investor. Hacker.'

The piece ends with Scott calling for a reclaiming of the hacker ethic

I'm going to stake a claim on the word though, and state that the true hacker spirit does not reside at Google, guided by profit targets. The hacker impulse should not just be about redesigning products, or creating 'solutions'. A hack stripped of anti-conventional intent is not a hack at all. It's just a piece of business innovation.


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  • (Score: 1) by Francis on Tuesday August 11 2015, @01:43PM

    by Francis (5544) on Tuesday August 11 2015, @01:43PM (#221254)

    It is decent coffee, unless the specific locations your going to have QA problems. I've yet to notice a real difference between Starbucks and most of the other places I've gone in terms of the coffee. The real difference is in the atmosphere of the place in most cases.

    I do agree about the cost though, it's rather expensive and if you're drinking a cup a day, it doesn't take too long before you can repay yourself for your own machine.

  • (Score: 2) by TheGratefulNet on Tuesday August 11 2015, @02:51PM

    by TheGratefulNet (659) on Tuesday August 11 2015, @02:51PM (#221278)

    around here, they call starbucks 'four bucks' since its just too damned expensive for even a simple coffee, there.

    --
    "It is now safe to switch off your computer."
    • (Score: 1) by Francis on Tuesday August 11 2015, @03:07PM

      by Francis (5544) on Tuesday August 11 2015, @03:07PM (#221284)

      I think you're not their target market. Most of the "cheap" stuff that I remember when I was younger was cheap because it was complete crap. Usually burnt, sitting out all day and way too bitter. Personally, I prefer my coffee like I like my women strong and bitter.

      But, for people who just want coffee, you can do a lot better at home, and even if not better you can do it a lot cheaper than any of the places that make it for you.

      Personally, I don't go out for coffee much, so I'm not really their market either. I could never justify paying that much for coffee no matter how good it is.

      • (Score: 3, Funny) by MichaelDavidCrawford on Tuesday August 11 2015, @04:59PM

        by MichaelDavidCrawford (2339) Subscriber Badge <mdcrawford@gmail.com> on Tuesday August 11 2015, @04:59PM (#221323) Homepage Journal

        Strong, black, ground-up and in my freezer.

        --
        Yes I Have No Bananas. [gofundme.com]
      • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday August 11 2015, @06:05PM

        by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday August 11 2015, @06:05PM (#221350)

        Starbucks burns its coffee up front before they make it. The "Starbucks roast" is burnt, which some like to derisively refer to the chain as "Charbucks". I was never a fan of Starbucks because of that. A great deal of their appeal isn't really the taste of their coffee, it is the taste of their coffee after they load it up with all sorts of types of sugars, dairy, and flavor syrups. I would venture to guess that the vast majority of people who love Starbucks don't like or drink unadulterated coffee.

    • (Score: 2) by everdred on Tuesday August 11 2015, @09:02PM

      by everdred (110) on Tuesday August 11 2015, @09:02PM (#221446) Journal

      What is your definition of "a simple coffee"? Around here, my Starbucks usual (12 oz black coffee) is something like $1.60.

  • (Score: 2) by MichaelDavidCrawford on Tuesday August 11 2015, @05:01PM

    by MichaelDavidCrawford (2339) Subscriber Badge <mdcrawford@gmail.com> on Tuesday August 11 2015, @05:01PM (#221325) Homepage Journal

    One cannot deduct meal expenses unless overnight travel is required. So I deduct my Pike's Place as office space rental.

    --
    Yes I Have No Bananas. [gofundme.com]
  • (Score: 2) by TheRaven on Tuesday August 11 2015, @10:36PM

    by TheRaven (270) on Tuesday August 11 2015, @10:36PM (#221481) Journal
    I can only assume that you either grew up on US diner coffee, or have no taste buds. Starbucks over roasts their beans horribly. There's a reason that most of the things that they sell are a tiny bit of coffee and a lot of sugar and milk: it's to disguise the taste of how bad their coffee is.
    --
    sudo mod me up
    • (Score: 1) by Francis on Tuesday August 11 2015, @11:44PM

      by Francis (5544) on Tuesday August 11 2015, @11:44PM (#221495)

      That's sort of my point, the cheap coffee in the US was always the diner type stuff that was left sitting for hours. Generally burnt and of rather poor quality.

      But, pretty much all the coffee shops I've gone to over the years are basically the same sort of deal.