Not sure if I overlooked any talk about 90s hacker culture yet, so I'd like to throw in some extra information here from personal experience.
The books the kids were naming during the club scene are old US DoD manuals for telephone and computer infrastructure standards. I always thought it was funny the movie would throw in some legit stuff around all the crazy 90s make-believe stuff.
The importance of understanding telephone infrastructure in the 90s is akin to understanding current internet and web infrastructure today. The internet was accessed nearly only through analog telephone, there were people only interested in phone hacking called "phreakers".
The strange place with people selling old computer parts and software makes me think of monthly 2600 hacker meet-ups. 2600 was a quarterly magazine devoted to hacking, phreaking, and general security. The meet-ups would often involve people selling hardware along with the usual exchange of information and discussions.
I still love this movie because I still love all things ridiculously 90s, especially the soundtrack. I keep it on my ipod and listen to it for the early Prodigy and Orbital tracks.
I hope to see more love for the soundtrack on the forums
