I would have been able to learn enough from them to be dangerous. Of course, I had no way to get to New York. This piece isn't a review of that book, though I recommend it if you find any of this interesting. It's by Michelle Slatalla and Joshua Quittner. Keep in mind as you read this that I've used terms in the context of the time.
Real hackers are people who whack away at code all day long and are performing a valuable service.
The web server software that delivers half the web pages you look at was written by real hackers. I learned enough on my own to be dangerous only to myself. I never was so stupid as to use a raped ATT or Sprint number. But, I did scan NUAs on Tymnet quite a bit. Took me a whole week of trading and running extender hacks to get a copy of NUA Scanner, which had only recently been finished by the guy writing it.