Itis3A.M..Everythingontheuniversitycampusseemsghostlikeinthequiet,mistydarkness—everythingexceptthecomputercenter.Here,twentystudentssittransfixedattheirconsoles,tappingawayontheterminalkeys.Witheyesgluedtothevideoscreen,theytaponforhours.
Fortherestoftheworld,itmightbethemiddleofthenight,butheretimedoesnotexist.Thisisaworlduntoitself.Theseyoungcomputer“hackers”arepursuingakindofcompulsion,adrivesoconsumingitovershadowsnearlyeveryotherpartoftheirlivesandformsthefocalpointoftheirexistence.Theyarecompulsivecomputerprogrammers.Someofthesestudentshavebeenattheconsoleforthirtyhoursormorewithoutabreakformealsorsleep.Somehavefallenasleeponsofasandloungechairsinthecomputercenter,tryingtocatchafewwinksbutloathetogettoofarawayfromtheirbelovedmachines.
Mostofthesestudentsdon’thavetobeatthecomputercenterinthemiddleofthenight.Theyaren’tworkingonassignments.Theyaretherebecausetheywanttobe—theyareirresistiblydrawnthere.Andtheyarenotalone.Therearehackersatcomputercentersallacrossthecountry.Intheirextremeform,theyfocusonnothingelse.Theyflunkoutofschoolandlosecontactwithfriends;theymighthavedifficultyfindingjobs,choosinginsteadtowanderfromonecomputercentertoanother.
Theymayevenforgopersonalhygiene.“Irememberonehacker.Weliterallyhadtocarryhimoffhischairtofeedhimandputhimtosleep.Wereallyfearedforhishealth,”saysacomputerscienceprofessoratMIT.Computerscienceteachersarenowmoreawareoftheimplicationsofthishackerphenomenonandareonthelookoutforpotentialhackersandcasesofcomputeraddictionthatarealreadysevere.Theyknowthatthecaseofthehackersisnotjustthestoryofoneperson’srelationshipwithamachine.Itisthestoryofasociety’srelationshiptotheso-calledthinkingmachines.
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