(I did not copy and paste all this is typed by hand)

In the beginning, a hacker was someone who worked passionately for the sake of curiosity and exploration. There were hardware hackers who took it upon themselves to remove the covers from computers to optimize their design (early computers were built out of discrete components, so they could be modified in meaningful ways with simple tools), and there were software hackers who labored to make the most compact and elegant code, since computational resources were scarce and slow. There were hackers who explored the in and outs of the phone system, and those who explored the roofs and tunnels of buildings of university campuses. Quite often, early hackers engaged in all of these activities. Hackers would share their findings or results (hacks) with each other freely . as their rewards were not financial, but came from satisfying their intellectual curiosity and from the enthusiasm of their peers. As a result, hackers tended to form into meritocratic groups where membership and advancement were based entirely upon a persons ability to hack.

As technology evolved and computers became faster and more integrated, hackers found that effort involved in hardware hacking was not worth the benefits. The interesting pieces of computers were quickly becoming buried deep within hermetically sealed ceramic packages, etched into silicon strictures that were difficult to see even with a good microscope. A difficult hardware hack that might double the performance of a computer was made moot within months by Moore's Law¹.
¹

On the other hand, software hacking was beginning to focus more on applications and less on algorithms or optimization. The compactness or elegance of a program was no longer directly important as memory and processor power became cheap and plentiful. Besides, compiler technology had also improved to the point where compiled code ran almost as fast as hand assembly. By the late 80's, the term "hacker" had grown to imply someone who could write volumes of C code in their sleep and create brilliant applications overnight. The old hardware hackers were either converting to software , or retreating to university labs and corporations that could afford to support their expensive hobbies.

The term "hacker" at the time was increasingly associate with people who cracked passwords and programs to gain access to machines and software that was otherwise off limits. Hollywood was partly responsible for this stereotype, with a slew of of movies that portrayed teenagers bringing the world to the brink of nuclear annihilation with a few keystrokes, or closet geniuses creating artificial intelligent cyber-monsters in their basements. Unfortunately the hyperbole of these movie was a lost on the general public, and this dark impression of hackers eventually became a dominant part of the hacker stereotype. The inaccuracy of of this stenotype contributed to the creation of a term for hackers that focuses primarily upon cracking systems and programs - "crackers"

The technology of computation has grown so complex that beginners are increasingly like the parable about the three blind men and the elephant. Some beginners will start their hacking journey by exploring the internet. other will start by exploring the operating system on their computer. Still others will start by looking underneath the covers of their computer. Each individual could spend a year exploring their facet, yet each will have distinctly different view about computer technology at the end of the day.

Politics and hacking:

The introduction of the digital millennium copyright act (DMCA) in 1998 took crystallography out of the hacker's domain -- the low now spells out that only researchers "engaged in legitimate course of study. is employed or is appropriately trained or experienced" are allowed to investigate cryptographic² methods for protecting access rights to works. As a a result, Xbox hacking has been a politically charged topic. It is a battle between hackers and lawmakers to keep cryptography within the legal rights of hackers.
²

The most alarming aspect of the DMCA for hackers is that it embodies the fallacy that the only sources of innovation of benefit to society that lie within the halls of research institutions and corporations. Suddenly, is is a crime to explore, in the comfort of your own home in pursuit of your hobby, the cryptographic methods used to secure access rights.


Disclaimers: I did not write this but I did have to type every word, there was not copy and paste.
This is an excerpt from "Hacking the Xbox - and introduction to reverse engineering" by Andrew Huang
I got the book off ebay and it is very good so far. Lots of good information.

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