Ted Nelson

Let me say up front that Ted Nelson has been one of the most original thinkers in the field of computing over the past fifty years, and I respect his attempts to articulate his vision even though he has never been able to put it into practice. I highly recommend getting your hands on a copy of Literary Machines or Computer Lib/Dream Machines. It's a shame that these books are out of print.

Unfortunately, I cannot recommend this book. In fact, I'd go so far as to say that it's embarrassingly show more bad. If you had told me that it was put together by a high school student who pasted together scraps from Wikipedia, I'd have believed you. It's not just badly written; it's sloppy.

It's true that some of Nelson's unique perspective colors his account of computing history, but I doubt that the reader unfamiliar with his other work would come away with much of an understanding of why some of us find his ideas exciting. Meanwhile, as history, Geeks Bearing Gifts is virtually useless.

I wish that Nelson had put his energy into a first-hand account of his experiences instead of this shoddy attempt to (re)write history. That would have been an original contribution and probably also quite entertaining. Geeks Bearing Gifts is neither. show less

Once upon a time, there was a visionary computer pioneer named Ted Nelson. He envisioned hyptertext (like the Web's links) years before it happened. In fact, his version is still better than anything that exists today.
He was one of the first to see that personal computers really would change the world in education, commerce, and personal expression. His self-published book 'Computer Lib/Dream Machines' reads today like a combination of fulfilled prophecy and far-off speculation.
A seminal show more work in personal computer writing. A gift from my friend Jeff, and one of my most prized possessions. I even purchased the later, smaller-format updated edition (Microsoft Press, 1987) just to keep from wearing out my original. show less

Originally published in 1974, this book just gets better with age. I've had my dogeared copy since 1987 which should explain a lot.