McKenzie Wark’s description of a hacker relates the idea that they are able to “create the possibilities of new things entering the world.” Hackers create new and innovative things in many areas such as art, science, technology by apply abstraction to specific information. To some extent this description fits to what I had perceived a hacker to be, someone who was able to manipulate a preexisting feature to meet their desires. Although I thought a hacker to be someone who would only gain access to computer programs for manipulation, Wark says that a hacker can also affect culture, art, and science. One can use the term hacker to identify themselves with simply changing something old and innovating it to become something new and beautiful; it’s not all just about illegally gaining access to a program to make it do something you want or to see what information it holds.

I agree with Wark when he says that “to produce is to repeat; to hack, to differentiate.” His description of what it means to be a hacker releases its negative meanings and allows the reader to see a hacker as an artist. Although the work is preexisting in some cases, the hacker has the talents and imagination to breathe new life to create something so unique and pure that audience would have forgotten the original tracks of the work itself. By breathing new life into the work, Wark says that hackers “free” the information previously held by restricting properties. This reflects back to my perception of a hacker being someone to gain access to a restricted entity. He says that information inherently wants to be free and as a result, hackers are becoming worthy because they allow for that release. They are seen as producers rather than the owners of the works.