I saw a reference to this on Oblomovka.
Both are somewhat funky. I'm not sure how I feel about it but I think that Paul Ford is not correctly separating the action from the final product. I diagree with the idea that Ellen Ullman's fixation and involvement with the creation of those code blocks as part of the cohesive whole of her story necessarily contradicts her first quote. I think for her, interestingly like many artist types I know, the product is rarely interesting--to the point where they might just throw it out. It's the act of production that's so addictive.
Anyhow, Getting Close to the Machine sounds like an interesting book.