Ask HN: Has anyone here read Snow Crash?

crazy how influential that little book is. funny enough, I grew up on Ready Player One, and by the time i got old enough to start seriously getting into tech, reading Snow Crash was like re-reading RP1 but if RP1 was actually a good story and not written by an incel copying Neal Stephenson.

Ernest Cline sux

Re: Ask HN: Has anyone here read Snow Crash?

#4

Post by doublemint2203 » Sat, Dec 30, 2023, 6:49 AM UTC

gregjor wrote: post #2

Are you trying to ddos HN? https://hn.algolia.com/?q=snow+crash

where'd you find out about this algolia link? any other cool HN-adjacent tools that might not be well known?

Re: Ask HN: Has anyone here read Snow Crash?

#5

Post by slyall » Sat, Dec 30, 2023, 6:56 AM UTC

doublemint2203 wrote: post #4

gregjor wrote: post #2

Are you trying to ddos HN? https://hn.algolia.com/?q=snow+crash

where'd you find out about this algolia link? any other cool HN-adjacent tools that might not be well known?

That would be search window at the bottom of the main HN page.

You can use it to find the thread last week that points all the other HN secrets.

Re: Ask HN: Has anyone here read Snow Crash?

#6

Post by jantypas2 » Sat, Dec 30, 2023, 7:02 AM UTC

Of course, and as I recall, it had Perl code in it. Classic SciFi in the sense that you take reality, break one and only one rule, and see what happens as you move through time.

Re: Ask HN: Has anyone here read Snow Crash?

#7

Post by giorgioz » Sat, Dec 30, 2023, 7:35 AM UTC

Yes I've read Snow Crash, Diamond Age, Cryptonomicon, Fall; or, Dodge in Hell, Termination Shock and I'm currently reading Reamde

Re: Ask HN: Has anyone here read Snow Crash?

#8

Post by qp11 » Sat, Dec 30, 2023, 9:48 AM UTC

I didn't like it. Preferred Vernor Vinge's Rainbows End with similar themes yet much less dystopic.

Re: Ask HN: Has anyone here read Snow Crash?

#9

Post by jaggs » Sat, Dec 30, 2023, 9:59 AM UTC

doublemint2203 wrote: post #3

gregjor wrote: post #2

Are you trying to ddos HN? https://hn.algolia.com/?q=snow+crash

lmao. noted crazy how influential that little book is. funny enough, I grew up on Ready Player One, and by the time i got old enough to start seriously getting into tech, reading Snow Crash was like re-reading RP1 but if RP1 was actually a good story and not written by an incel copying Neal Stephenson. Ernest Cline sux

>> 'incel copying Neal Stephenson.' Wow.

Re: Ask HN: Has anyone here read Snow Crash?

#10

Post by bediger4000 » Sat, Dec 30, 2023, 3:00 PM UTC

Yes, good book, but out of date. How many snow crashes have you seen? I can recall triggering them on retro computers like a Color Computer 3 running OS-9, and a Sun 3, but since then, hardware seems to have changed in a fundamental way that doesn't allow snow crashes.