
Book · Other fiction
Hackers and Painters: Big Ideas from the Computer Age
by Paul Graham
Page count, estimated reading time and reading quiz: everything to know before you start Hackers and Painters: Big Ideas from the Computer Age, and the Vread challenge to get to the end.
- Pages
- 270
- Reading time
- ≈ 4 h 50 min
- Checkpoints
- 8
- Genre
- Fiction
Free on iPhone and Android.
How long does it take to read Hackers and Painters: Big Ideas from the Computer Age?
At 270 pages, Hackers and Painters: Big Ideas from the Computer Age is a medium-length book. Expect about 4 hours 50 minutes of reading to finish it, based on 250 words per page and an average reading speed of 230 words per minute. A fast reader will go quicker; a careful read (or reading in a second language) will take longer.
At 30 minutes a day, that is about 10 days of reading. At the median pace of Vread readers, 72 pages per reading day, it takes 4 reading days. For a book of this length (250 to 399 pages), Vread readers who finish it take a median of 4.7 days between the first and the last checkpoint (Vread Reading Barometer 2026).
- 30 minutes a day10 days
- Vread median pace (72 pp./day)4 days
Estimates; see the method at the bottom of the page.
Prove you read it
The Vread challenge: 8 checkpoints
- Checkpoint 1, page 34
- Checkpoint 2, page 68
- Checkpoint 3, page 101
- Checkpoint 4, page 135
- Checkpoint 5, page 169
- Checkpoint 6, page 203
- Checkpoint 7, page 236
- Checkpoint 8, page 270
In Vread, Hackers and Painters: Big Ideas from the Computer Age is split into 8 checkpoints, one every 34 pages or so. At each checkpoint, a question covers the passage you have just read: a correct answer validates the step, and your progress moves forward like a training plan.
The challenge: validate all 8 checkpoints through to the last page. No giant quiz at the end, no summary to copy out: short questions along the way that prove the book was actually read. It also works as a reading quiz to check your understanding before a test.
Also available in French on Vread.
Illustrative example
What a checkpoint looks like
A short, precise question about the pages you have just read: a character, a place, a choice.
The answer is in the text: reply in the app.

This is not a question from Hackers and Painters: Big Ideas from the Computer Age: to avoid spoilers, the real questions stay in the app.
Answer in the app, one checkpoint at a time.
Summary, quiz, reviews: frequently asked questions
How many pages is Hackers and Painters: Big Ideas from the Computer Age?
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Where can I find a summary of Hackers and Painters: Big Ideas from the Computer Age?
More by this author on Vread
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Read Hackers and Painters: Big Ideas from the Computer Age with Vread
Add the book to your library, read at your own pace in whatever format you use, and validate each checkpoint. Vread is free on iPhone and Android.
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