Microserfs

What Hacker News says

1. jambalaya8Oct 2026
   Makes me nostalgic for when I read Coupland's Microserfs in the bookstore the month it came out and thought, this... finally, people I could feel less awkward working and being myself around, weirdness and all.

   Tech is nothing like that now. Guessing a lot of people will find earlier retirement tempting with so many skills to keep up with now and AI rooting out personalities and ages subtley in the HR pool.

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2. wise_bloodSep 2026
   20 years ago I read a The Guardian article about the "top geek novels". I immediately read a bunch of those.

   Recently I managed to find the list again, and it's been endless pleasure:

   - American Gods -- Neil Gaiman

   - Brave New World -- Aldous Huxley

   - The Colour of Magic -- Terry Pratchett

   - Consider Phlebas -- Iain M Banks

   - Cryptonomicon -- Neal Stephenson

   - Cloud Atlas -- David Mitchell

   - The Diamond Age -- Neal Stephenson

   - The Dispossessed -- Ursula K Le Guin

   - Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? -- Philip Dick

   - Dune -- Frank Herbert

   - Foundation -- Isaac Asimov

   - Giles Goat-Boy -- John Barth

   - Gravity's Rainbow -- Thomas Pynchon

   - The HitchHiker's Guide to the Galaxy -- Douglas Adams

   - I, Robot -- Isaac Asimov

   - The Illuminatus! Trilogy -- Robert Shea and Robert Anton Wilson

   - The Left Hand of Darkness -- Ursula K Le Guin

   - The Man in the High Castle -- Philip K Dick

   - Microserfs -- Douglas Coupland

   - Neuromancer -- William Gibson

   - Nineteen Eighty-Four -- George Orwell

   - Orlando -- Virgina Woolf

   - The Shockwave Rider -- John Brunner

   - Snow Crash -- Neal Stephenson

   - Stand on Zanzibar -- John Brunner

   - Stranger in a Strange Land -- Robert Heinlein

   - Trouble with lichen - John Wyndham

   - UBIK -- Philip Dick

   - Watchmen -- Alan Moore & Dave Gibbons

   - Woman on the Edge of Time -- Marge Piercy

   (I am creatively interpreting "The Colour of Magic" as "all Discworld", "Dune" as "the six Dune books", etc.)

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3. karmakazeMay 2026
   I noticed that too. The "The story behind our list" link says:

   > But all human life is here.

   I think that's why I don't resonate with many of the titles. I do enjoy reading a vivid account of a person in a situation, but I prefer one that's not primarily people drama, and interacts with something large in an objective sort of way.

   Books are weird to non-regular readers. I've thoroughly enjoyed almost every book I've read (except those assigned in school). Even reading books much longer than I'd ever expect to finish. I grew up on early sci-fi books from the public library, later reading Microserfs, Cryptonomicon, Diamond Age, Godel Escher Bach, Lord of the Rings. I also enjoy accounts of personalities in music, automotive, and math/science (based on my Youtube history). I can enjoy but feel cheated by stories which are just human drama with a sci-fi backdrop.

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4. linuxhanslFeb 2026
   Fry's was mentioned in Douglas Coupland's "Microserfs". I loved that book and thoughts Fry's was cool even before I set foot in one.

   Years later I entered a store, and somehow it was already nostalgic then :)

   So weird, I haven't thought Fry's for the past 20 years.

   > There was something about wandering the aisles and seeing the merchandise and getting ideas

   That. Exactly.

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5. georgeecollinsDec 2025
   Douglas Copeland wrote a fictional book called Microserfs. He did a lot of comparison between the culture of IBM and Microsoft. Not a bad book , I recall. as
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6. EiriksmalSep 2025
   https://www.sec.gov/enforcement-litigation/litigation-releas...

   A fascinating investor. I just finished re-reading Microserfs. The buzzwords may have changed between 1993 and 2025, but the human behaviors certainly have not.

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