I don’t understand how I’ve never encountered Ellen Ullman‘s writing before: she writes elegantly and intelligently about the role of technology–and specifically software and software development–in our world. Close to the Machine (1997) talks about her career as a (female, no less) programmer in Silicon Valley during the very early days of the information revolution.
The first half of the book should be required reading for anyone seeking to understand what it means to create software or trying to think through what the implications of that particularly peculiar industry are for the rest of the world. It’s that good, and Ullman is unflinching as she wrestles with her own political disconnects and with what the implications are of creating tools that all too often and all too easily lose sight of their users.
She loses some steam in her second half, when the book becomes more of a personal memoir, but the writing remains confident and skillful. She has written two novels, and I will be reading one of them (The Bug, which looks to explore some of the same concerns) at some point in the next months. But it is her technical commentary and insight that had me as excited as I read it as anything I’ve picked up over the past few years.
#WhatIWishICouldDo
I don’t see my life as being memoir-worthy. And yet what is remarkable about this book is her insight and her observations, not the particular accomplishments. Sometimes, I wish I could frame my own insights in ways that felt like they could explicitly stand alone, instead of reflecting into the world through fiction. But usually, I just wish I could write more fiction.