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Computers for Cynics 2 - It All Went Wrong at Xerox PARC

TheTedNelson · commentary · Watch on YouTube

GUI, HCI & interface historyHistory of computingTech pioneers & interviews

What it is

Ted Nelson, in his Computers for Cynics series, gives a critical history of Xerox PARC's vision of personal computing. He lists what he sees as the limitations and wrong turns in PARC's approach to the desktop and documents.

Why Hacker News recommends it

HN readers treat it as a contrarian counterpoint to the usual PARC mythology, though one commenter noted a few apparent mistakes in it.

  • 1 people recommended it
  • 1 different months
  • 0 strong recommendations
  • first 2014, last 2023

What HN commenters said

  1. “Nelson's history is a breath of fresh air.”

    Nelson lists limitations of PARC's vision, offering a fresher history.

    tod222, 2014-04 · Recommendation · in “Alan Kay at Demo: The Future Doesn't Have to Be Incremental”

Excerpts from Hacker News comments, linked to the originals. Summaries and labels were written by a language model from those comments.

Topics: ted nelson, xerox parc, computer history, hypertext, gui

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