The story of the man who instigated the work that led to the
internet--and shifted our understanding of what computers could be.
Behind every great revolution is a vision, and behind perhaps the
greatest revolution of our time is the vision of J.C.R. Licklider. He
did not design the first personal computers or write the software that
ran on them, nor was he involved in the legendary early companies that
brought them to the forefront of our everyday experience. He was instead
a relentless visionary who saw the potential in the way that individuals
could interact with computers and software.
At a time when computers were a short step removed from mechanical data
processors, Licklider was writing treatises on "human-computer
symbiosis," "computers as communication devices," and a now
not-so-unfamiliar "Intergalactic Network." His ideas became so
influential, his passion so contagious, that author M. Mitchell Waldrop
calls him "computing's Johnny Appleseed."
In a simultaneously compelling personal narrative and comprehensive
historical exposition, Waldrop tells the story of the man who not only
instigated the work that led to the internet, but also shifted our
understanding of what computers were and could be.
This Stripe Press edition also includes the original texts of
Licklider's three most influential writings: "Man-Computer Symbiosis"
(1960), which outlines the vision that led to the personal computer
revolution of the 1970s; his "Intergalactic Network" memo (1963), which
outlines the vision that inspired the internet; and "The Computer as a
Communication Device" (1968, coauthored with Robert Taylor), which
amplifies his vision for what the network could become.
