# Triumph of the Nerds

31 Hacker News commenters recommended Triumph of the Nerds and 0 criticized it, November 2025 to November 2026. It was recommended in 4 of 13 months. It meets the Hacker Approved badge rule.

**Verdict:** Fans credit this PBS documentary series with an insider look at early personal computing and Silicon Valley, with interviews of the people who were there.

## Why people recommend it

- Watched repeatedly, still fun (5 comments): "how much fun “Triumph of the Nerds” and “Nerds 2.0.1” are to watch, even nowadays" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49950701)) "I used love watching these over and over again as a kid, taped off TV on VHS" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48247486)) "I absolutely loved his "Triumph of the nerds" trilogy. It's my childhood!" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48240719))
- Inspired career in tech (5 comments): "Triumph of the Nerds and Pirates of Silicon Valley is what convinced me to actually pursue software as a career." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49950534)) "I immigrated to the US to work in Silicon Valley directly because of Triumph of the Nerds" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49950763)) "Triumph of the Nerds played a big part in my move to California from the East Coast" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49950078))
- Captures early personal computing history (3 comments): "it’s a nice capture of the early days of personal computing and of Silicon Valley culture of the era" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49950155)) "Triumph of the Nerds and Nerds 2.0.1 are a fantastic look at 90's tech" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49950424)) "captured the time it was written and the future" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49954022))
- Interviews with people who were there (2 comments): "His journalistic work with Triumph of the Nerds was great, but only because of the subject matter and the people being interviewed." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49988608)) "it’s an interview with the people who were there" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48261257))

## Alternatives hackers recommend

- [Connections by James Burke](https://hackerapproved.com/p/connections.md): 33 recommend
- [All Watched Over by Machines of Loving Grace by Adam Curtis](https://hackerapproved.com/p/all-watched-over.md): 10 recommend
- [The Century of Self by Adam Curtis](https://hackerapproved.com/p/century-of-self.md): 10 recommend
- [The Secret Life of Machines](https://hackerapproved.com/p/secret-life-of-machines.md): 8 recommend
- [Texico](https://hackerapproved.com/p/texico.md): 8 recommend

## Cite as

Hacker Approved, "Triumph of the Nerds", https://hackerapproved.com/p/triumph-of-the-nerds/ (counts from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026).