sourcedoc: NetHistoryReply-D6

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NetHistoryReply-D6

=== 17.02.05

MY CORNER OF HISTORY

Theodor Holm Nelson, Founding Designer, Project Xanadu

In late 2016 I was asked some questions for a new journal. (Internet Histories: Digital Technology, Culture and Society,)

=== Here were the questions:

Tell us about …

1. one of your best memories as a pioneer/key actor in Internet and/or Web History…

2. … and one of your best memories as an Internet or Web user …

 

3. Should you choose one date/event in Internet History that you would like to live again, and one that you would like to change, what would they be?

 

4. Please complete this sentence:

Internet history is …

=== Here are my answers:

1. Best memory as pioneer/key actor

In 1965, shortly after my presentation at the ACM national conference, I got a direct call from the director of information processing research for the Central Intelligence Agency. He came to my house and said they would fund my work. I was excited-- I thought I would get a great setup, and that I would give my government a system they badly needed, thus improving our nation's understanding and policy.

2. one of your best memories as an Internet or Web user …

(Skipping the question.)

3. Should you choose one date/event in Internet History that you would like to live again, and one that you would like to change, what would they be?

In 1988, when our Xanadu Project got major funding, a programmer threatened to quit because my partner Roger Gregory, who was in charge of development, had become tyrannical. I did not ask Roger his side of the story, and acted swiftly to reduce his authority. If I had not done this, Xanadu might have been the international hypertext system, instead of the World Wide Web.

That is the day I would like to live again, and change.

4. Please complete this sentence:

Internet history is …

Internet history, like all history, is a fading tangle of misunderstandings that becomes more and more inaccurate.

=30=

raw

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