I have been visiting friends of mine – “William and Mona”:http://www.rahul.net/akerblom/ – and found to my delight that William had a ‘first edition’ (fifth printing) copy of Ted Nelson’s two part book – “Computer Lib/Dream Machines”:http://www.digibarn.com/collections/books/computer-lib/.
It was written back in 1974 and included a basic description of his Xanadu project as well as many other prescient musings, rather loosely organized. Here’s an excerpt of a singing commercial for Xanadu as overheard by Ted Nelson at the National Joint Computer Conference in 1973:
It’s got everything to give
It’ll get you where you live
Realms of mind that you may roam
Grasp them all within your home.
The greatest things you’ve ever seen
Dance your wishes on the screen.
All the things that man has known
Comin’ on the telephone
Poems books and pictures too
Coming on the Xanadu
Xanadu – the world of you!
Sounds remarkably like the Internet doesn’t it?
