Hacker News Reader

Comment by tehwalrus | Hacker News Reader

This news gives me the shivers.

(I recently read "masters of doom" after a HN recommendation, so a couple of months ago I'd have been like "what? who?".)

View on HN

I think I read it based off the same recommendation.

After reading that book I don't think there's any way you can come away without seeing him as one of the top 25 programmers in the world. Mad genius for sure.

Not so much genius as just an absurdly hardcore work-ethic, and a refusal to ship code that is sloppy where it would matter.

Well the things he has worked on and pioneered arent a result of just hard work, as computer graphics is one of the most complex fields in our industry. There is no doubt that he is a super smart guy with an unparalleled work ethic.

This stands in stark contrast to the "other John" from iD (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Romero) that went on to flame out in the most spectacular manner because he'd waffle between not shipping at all, or shipping half-baked games.

Masters of Doom is an absolutely brilliant book that rekindled my interest in game development. I'd heard of Carmack before reading it, but this news is so much more impactful knowing just how integral he was to making gaming what it is today.

It is one of the few titles that hits the sweet spot of things like Pirates of Silicon Valley or The Social Network. It tells a gripping story of a successful underdog in tech that is accessible and entertaining. Kushner did a great job, though I wonder how much artistic license he took with the D&D campaign stuff.

I would say Masters of Doom is one of the best startup related books anywhere. A team of incredibly passionate people that just wanted to make awesome shit and focused on that. Very inspiring.

I read the book last night. Pretty cosmic to wake up to this news the next morning. Earth shattering.

So did I, glad I understand how significant this news is for Oculus.

Reply on news.ycombinator.com