The Hacker Ethic will never die, no matter how commercial the rest of the software sphere becomes. The fact of the matter is that the subset of people that those ideals appeal to is on the smaller side. When computers were new, the only people motivated to work with it were those who believed in the hand-on imperative and decentralization. This is because there were few other benefits to dedicating your life to the clunky machines besides a deep passion for technology. As the space become more and more commercialized, however, more and more advantages for the common person were introduced. For example, you could play fun video games or make a living for your family. The mass appeal has continued to the grow to the point where it may seem as though the True Hackers have disappeared; everyone is in it to make a buck or enjoy premade software. From the 80s to the current day, there has existed an intense subculture in the technology world that continues to advocate for decentralization, freedom of information, and hands-on learning. We saw this in the Brotherhood of Ken Williams, Jerry Powell, and Doug Carlston, who broke every rule in a modern company's Information Security manual. Levy also emphasizes that part of what made Apple so groundbreaking was its openness. In a far cry from it's modern tendency to prevent the user from looking at their products in the wrong way, Apple was originally dedicated to making their systems accessible to all. Although they eventually changed tactics, there are still plenty of modern companies that abide by the open source doctrine and allow developers to engage with their technology. It seems to me as though there is plenty of room for professionalism and hacker-like mentality to coexist. I would argue (with absolutely no supporting statistics) that the amount of hackers in the world has and will continue to increase, and it is simply their proportion in the tech field that has decreased.
I loved reading about Ken Williams's early career as a PhD in bullshitting. Claiming to be an expert in a language you've never heard then frantically cramming to learn the language before an interview might the be most computer science story I've heard in a minute. It warms my heart to know that the core of being a programmer (quickly picking up random garbage you've never seen before) has not fundamentally changed over the past 50 years. As with many computer scientists, I've felt like an imposter many times. It's always refreshing to hear about how most people are winging it as they go.
Nothing beats a good magazine. Specifically, Lego magazines. I could not get enough of those as recently as 7 years ago. The thought of consulting one for technical advice is baffling, however. Reading about the impact of Softalk and other early tech pieces remined me of just how much we rely on the modern equivalents (forums, newsletters, reddit, etc). The ability to answer the question "What's the next hot thing?" is a powerful thing. The internet gives us a live pulse on the latest trends in products and security, which I often criminally underappreciate.