Steven Levy

Steven Levy (born 1951) is an American journalist who has written several books on computers, technology, cryptography, the Internet, cybersecurity, and privacy.

7 Commandments of the Personal Computer Revolution

In 1984 Levy established the 7 commandments of the Personal Computer revolution. It was the base for the Personal Computer and Internet social ethos:

1. Access to Computers - and anything that might teach you something about the way the world works - should be unlimited and total.

2. Always yield to the Hands-on Imperative.

3. All information should be free.

4. Mistrust authority - promote decentralization.

5. Hackers should be judged by their hacking, not bogus criteria such as degrees, age, race,or position.

6. You can create art and beauty on a computer.

7. Computers can change your life for the better.

Career

Levy is a senior writer for Wired. Previously, he was chief technology writer and a senior editor for Newsweek. Levy has had articles published in Harper's, Macworld, The New York Times Magazine, The New Yorker, Premiere, and Rolling Stone. He is regarded (along with Walter Mossberg) as a prominent and respected critic of Apple Inc.. In July 2004, Levy wrote a cover story (which also featured an interview with Apple CEO Steve Jobs) which unveiled the 4th generation of the iPod to the world before Apple had officially done so, an unusual event since Apple is well known for its tight-lipped press policy.

Levy has won several awards, including the "Computer Press Association Award" for a report he co-wrote in 1998 on the Year 2000 problem.

In 1978, Steven Levy rediscovered Albert Einstein's brain in the office of the pathologist who removed and preserved it.  

In 1984, he wrote a book called Hackers: Heroes of the Computer Revolution,  in which he described a “hacker ethic”, which became a guideline to understanding   how computers have advanced into the machines that we know and use today. He identified this Hacker Ethic to consist of key points such as that all information is free, and that this information should be used to “change life for the better”.

Levy received his bachelor's degree from Temple University and earned a Master's degree in literature from Pennsylvania State University. He lives in New York City with his wife, Pulitzer Prize winner Teresa Carpenter, and son.

Books by Levy 

 In The Plex: How Google Thinks, Works, and Shapes Our Lives (2011)
 The Perfect Thing: How the iPod Shuffles Commerce, Culture, and Coolness (2006)
 Crypto: How the Code Rebels Beat the Government Saving Privacy in the Digital Age (2001)
 Insanely Great: The Life and Times of Macintosh, the Computer That Changed Everything (1994)
 Artificial Life: The Quest for a New Creation (1992)
 The Unicorn's Secret: Murder in the Age of Aquarius (1988)
 Hackers: Heroes of the Computer Revolution (1984)

Other websites 
 Steven Levy's website
 iPod: I love you, you're perfect, now change - Salon.com article on Levy's 2006 book The Perfect Thing
 
 Authors@Google: Steven Levy
 Lebowski Podcast Episode 27 - Steven Levy's Wish List  Interview with Steven Levy about The Big Lebowski and his interview with the Coen Brothers.
 Lebowski Podcast Episode 27a - Steven Levy on Technology  Chalupa and Steven Levy talk about blogging, twitter, internet security, etc.

References

1951 births
Living people
American Jews
American journalists
Writers from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
American bloggers