No way hackers were this cool in the 90s - Hackers (1995) Discussion

And hacking is not that cool either

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Yep.

If you look at any movie of this era that involved hacking, the graphics shown onscreen bore no relation to what was technically possibly back then.

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[–] [deleted] 4 years ago

yeah but the graphics ,or lack of, wernt what was cool about hacking

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[–] [deleted] 4 years ago

Yeah the IT control room was hilarious. The garbage file he accesses has floating equations. I understand the need for good visuals in a movie but it lost credibility.

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[–] fc31 (4652) 3 years ago

It wasn't really meant for IT professionals, more of something for teenagers. A lot of details will fall apart under scrutiny. Like of huge amount of files what are the chances of one file of interest is downloaded? Why would a hacker file has graphics? As a proof of being there wouldn't it better to download a document, instead of a binary file could not identify the server, and can't serve as proof?

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[–] davodikum (5990) 4 years ago

“There are only 10 types of people in the world: Those who understand binary, and those who don’t”.

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[–] Moonglum9 (10736) 4 years ago

Hey! What about the other 1000?

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[–] Kowalski (59636) 4 years ago

STILL A COOL FLICK.

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[–] NitroHangover (1115) 3 years ago

Yep.

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[–] bigbadwolf666 (4707) 4 years ago

If you researched the movie/ book you’ll find they did quite extension research hacking. Not just methods, but culture and icons. Granted they didnt put it all out on the movie but again people have to be entertained. It isnt a documentary and if the movie was just jolie sitting in front of a computer typing. It wouldnt be interesting.

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[–] [deleted] 4 years ago

I didn't rate her performance or look in this.

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[–] PrimeMinisterX (8322) 3 years ago

As someone who grew up in the 90s, I can concur, the hacking scene wasn't really like this. As you say, Hackers is basically the music video version of reality.

That said, it did reflect some true shit about both the hacking scene, the goofy on-screen visuals aside, the depiction of technology was based in reality.

Hackers is a shit load of fun. I loved the movie when I was young and I have to credit it for inspiring me to go to school for computer shit. Unfortunately I then I got into school and realized that computer shit is actually pretty lame and, yeah, not really like the movie would lead you to believe.

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[–] [deleted] 3 years ago

What did you end up doing?

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[–] PrimeMinisterX (8322) 3 years ago

Oh, I'm still doing it, but I'm trying to find a way out.

It's one of those situations where if could go back and do school all over again I'd definitely take another path. Probably would've gone to film school, actually.

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[–] fc31 (4652) 3 years ago

Me too. I became a computer programmer due to this movie. Worked about 15 years in IT industry.

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[–] PrimeMinisterX (8322) 3 years ago

Did you decide it sucked? What are you doing now?

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[–] fc31 (4652) 3 years ago

Well, it was not like what was in the movie, but it was fun. You kept learning new things. I enjoyed doing it for about 5 years, after that it was more like a job. Also I found something else I was more interested, which is finance, after watching another movie "Wall Street". I did not watch it when it first came out.

After that I started to read everything I could find on investment banking and finance, but of course it was too late for me to actually work in finance, but it did get me into trying stock market investment. After about 10 ~ 12 years of that I retired 8 years ago at the age of 41.

These movies do change lives.

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[–] PrimeMinisterX (8322) 3 years ago

Indeed. Movies definitely can have a strong effect on people. They're not just throwaway entertainment. I remember reading that Navy recruitment went up exponentially when Top Gun came out.

I know very little about the stock market but I do enjoy a good stock market movie. Wall Street is good. I also really like Boiler Room.

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[–] fc31 (4652) 3 years ago

Wall street is more mainstream, but boiler room is less so.

If you enjoyed both then maybe you have some interests in finance too.

Though learning finance is quite hard. Some books are so boring to read sometimes I read several pages and realized I did not take in anything (Intelligent Investor, Security Analysis, all written by Benjamin Graham, the incredibly boring, teacher of Warren Buffett), have to go back and reread. Luckily I rode trains to work, and it took around one and half an hour to and back, so I had nothing else to do of that time.

But some are more entertaining (Liar's Poker, Flash Boys, Barbarians at the Gate, When Genius Failed, and some books on GFC), it is like you wonder into a bizarre fantasy world where nothing in real life makes sense.

IT and finance I think somewhat related, they both deal with abstractions you can't really touch, only perceive. Most things in finance are really just a bunch of clever contracts and papers. People working in finance a lot of them are just nerds with more money.

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[–] PrimeMinisterX (8322) 3 years ago

I love Boiler Room. That movie's fucking great. And what an amazing cast; it's like a round-up of all the hot up-and-comers of that generation.

I actually did have a period where I started researching finance and the stock market, but I didn't understand much of it. Frankly, I think I don't have an aptitude for it, and part of that is what you yourself said: It's all very abstract. Working in IT has showed me that that really isn't my thing. I now know that I'd much rather do something physical: Be a park ranger at a national park for instance, or maybe be a gunsmith or a woodworker. I regret getting into a profession that keeps me behind a desk.

I've heard of Liar's Poker and Barbarians and the Gate. I do enjoy a good book so I might have to check those out.

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[–] fc31 (4652) 3 years ago

I hope you enjoy those books. Best of luck!

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