"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.

保羅•格雷厄姆，《黑客與畫傢》一書的作者，矽榖創業之父。1964年，齣生於匹茲堡郊區的一個中産階級傢庭。父親是設計核反應堆的物理學傢，母親在傢照看他和他的妹妹。青少年時代，格雷厄姆就開始編程。但是，他還喜歡許多與計算機無關的東西，這在編程高手之中是很少見的。

保羅•格雷厄姆在康奈爾大學讀完本科，然後在哈佛大學獲得計算機科學博士學位。1995年，他創辦瞭Viaweb，幫助個人用戶在網上開店，這是世界上第一個互聯網應用程序。1998年夏天，Yahoo!公司收購瞭Viaweb，收購價約為5000萬美元。

此後，他架起瞭個人網站paulgraham.com，在上麵撰寫瞭許許多多關於軟件和創業的文章，以深刻的見解和清晰的錶達而著稱，迅速引起瞭轟動。2005年，他身體力行，創建瞭風險投資公司Y Combinator，將自己的理論轉化為實踐，目前已經資助瞭80多傢創業公司。現在，他是公認的互聯網創業權威。