Andy Chase

I don't know how I managed to miss it for the two years it's been out, but I just read Neal Stephenson's essay In the Beginning Was the Command Line, and found it to be incredibly perceptive and still relevant two years later (an impressive accomplishment in itself when it comes to writing about computers, software, and the internet in general.)

Anyway, Stephenson's essay should be required reading for anyone who's ever engaged in the tired, never-ending PC vs. Mac debate, or complained about Linux being too hard to use. It's a great examination of how Microsoft, Apple, and Linux got to be where they are today, and some of the strengths and weaknesses of all three when it comes to user interface. He also speaks very favorably of BeOS, although in light of current events this is more of an interesting aside. (Unfortunately, it appears that BeOS is finally, for all intents and purposes, doomed, having been borged by Palm Computing for purposes as yet unknown. The industry consensus seems to be that Palm will probably throw BeOS into the trash; what they're really after is the team of developers that put the trim, elegant OS together.) It's a long read in a web browser, but I found it very interesting and entertaining, always a winning combination in my book.

I've been meaning to read some of Neal Stephenson's books for some time now, and after reading his essay Snow Crash goes right to the top of the list of things to look for next time I go to the bookstore.