What the Dormouse Said
What the Dormouse Said by John Markoffby John Markoff
Ranked 8 of 9 computer history books by recommenders
Recommended as a deep, well-researched history of how 1960s counterculture shaped the early personal computer industry, including the tension between personal and distributed computing.
Recommended as a deep, well-researched history of how 1960s counterculture shaped the early personal computer industry, including the tension between personal and distributed computing.
4 people gave an opinion
- recommend it
- 4
- criticize it
- 0
- approval share
- 100%
Recommended in 4 of 13 months
- November 2025: recommended
- December 2025: not recommended
- January 2026: not recommended
- February 2026: not recommended
- March 2026: not recommended
- April 2026: not recommended
- May 2026: not recommended
- June 2026: recommended
- July 2026: not recommended
- August 2026: recommended
- September 2026: not recommended
- October 2026: recommended
- November 2026: not recommended (month in progress)
Why it doesn’t carry the badge
- 4 people recommend itNeeds 10 or more, not met.
- Nobody criticizes itNeeds 2 to 1 or better, met.
- Recommended in 4 of 13 monthsNeeds 4 or more, met.
The same three rules apply to every product, and the badge can’t be bought. How the badge works
What people say about it
The reasons people give, with the number of comments that give each one. Open a reason to read what they said.
Why people recommend it
Each mark is one comment
Deep look at counterculture and early microcomputers
“may I recommend to readers Markoff's book "What the Dormouse Said." From 2005, it's a deep-dive into the relationship between 60s counter-culture and 70s / 80s era microcomputer movers and shakers.”
Comment from 12 Aug 2026 in “uBlock Origin Is Giving Up the Fight to Keep Ads Off Facebook” Captures personal versus distributed computing tension
“Superb book that describes the tension between the developers of prototype personal computing on one side and distributed computing on the other.”
Comment from 15 Oct 2026 in “AI is mass decompiling games. That's both awesome and scary” Strong computing history book
“Really good computing history book, and I've read a lot of them.”
Comment from 10 Nov 2025 in “Lee Felsenstein”
Other computer history books people recommend
The four most recommended other computer history books, with the same counts for each, so you can compare like for like. The tick on each bar marks the 2 to 1 line the badge needs.
| Product | Recommend | Criticize | Approval | Months | Owned | Badge |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| The Soul of a New Machineby Tracy Kidder | 59 | 0 | 100% | 8 | 28 yrs3 owners | Approved |
| The Old New Thingby Raymond Chen | 31 | 1 | 97% | 12 | — | Approved |
| Accidental Empiresby Bob Cringely | 15 | 0 | 100% | 2 | — | — |
| A History of Lisp | 11 | 3 | 79% | 1 | — | — |
| What the Dormouse Saidby John MarkoffThis page | 4 | 0 | 100% | 4 | — | — |
What people said
4 of the 5 comments that mention it, newest first. Each links to the original comment.
“Superb book that describes the tension between the developers of prototype personal computing on one side and distributed computing on the other.”
“may I recommend to readers Markoff's book "What the Dormouse Said." From 2005, it's a deep-dive into the relationship between 60s counter-culture and 70s / 80s era microcomputer movers and shakers.”
“There was a time when things were different.”
“Really good computing history book, and I've read a lot of them.”
Counts come from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026. How we count. Report a mistake.