"The computer world is like an intellectual Wild West, in which you can shoot anyone you wish with your ideas, if you're willing to risk the consequences. " --from Hackers & Painters: Big Ideas from the Computer Age , by Paul Graham We are living in the computer age, in a world increasingly designed and engineered by computer programmers and software designers, by people who call themselves hackers. Who are these people, what motivates them, and why should you care? Consider these facts: Everything around us is turning into computers. Your typewriter is gone, replaced by a computer. Your phone has turned into a computer. So has your camera. Soon your TV will. Your car was not only designed on computers, but has more processing power in it than a room-sized mainframe did in 1970. Letters, encyclopedias, newspapers, and even your local store are being replaced by the Internet. Hackers & Painters: Big Ideas from the Computer Age , by Paul Graham, explains this world and the motivations of the people who occupy it. In clear, thoughtful prose that draws on illuminating historical examples, Graham takes readers on an unflinching exploration into what he calls "an intellectual Wild West." The ideas discussed in this book will have a powerful and lasting impact on how we think, how we work, how we develop technology, and how we live. Topics include the importance of beauty in software design, how to make wealth, heresy and free speech, the programming language renaissance, the open-source movement, digital design, internet startups, and more.

保罗•格雷厄姆，《黑客与画家》一书的作者，硅谷创业之父。1964年，出生于匹兹堡郊区的一个中产阶级家庭。父亲是设计核反应堆的物理学家，母亲在家照看他和他的妹妹。青少年时代，格雷厄姆就开始编程。但是，他还喜欢许多与计算机无关的东西，这在编程高手之中是很少见的。

保罗•格雷厄姆在康奈尔大学读完本科，然后在哈佛大学获得计算机科学博士学位。1995年，他创办了Viaweb，帮助个人用户在网上开店，这是世界上第一个互联网应用程序。1998年夏天，Yahoo!公司收购了Viaweb，收购价约为5000万美元。

此后，他架起了个人网站paulgraham.com，在上面撰写了许许多多关于软件和创业的文章，以深刻的见解和清晰的表达而著称，迅速引起了轰动。2005年，他身体力行，创建了风险投资公司Y Combinator，将自己的理论转化为实践，目前已经资助了80多家创业公司。现在，他是公认的互联网创业权威。