The Internet's Origins: Hippies, Scientists, and Counterculture

Extract

[...] It's a counter-culture catalogue. There's a community dimension because the goal is to enrich with the knowledge of each one. The idea of hippies is to put the individual at the heart of the project and rather than taking power they prefer to invent another world. Stewart Brand has invented the Whole Earth Catalog to circulate information between communities and it is at the base of the philosophy that will guide the internet. 2. Online Communities In the 80s, online communities emerge. [...]

[...] And the Internet was not created by the military either. They just funded it a bit. The true creators of the Internet are students and to a large extent hippies. The Imaginary of the Network 1. Founding or Inspirational Utopias Paris in the 20th century - Jules Verne In his work, Jules Verne describes a a 'futurist' world. - compressed air propelled metros - hydrogen cars - photocopier / computers - surveillance of individuals by machines - screamed music - Kafkaesque offices . [...]

[...] These 2 systems are different on a technical level because it's a matter of connections, but also on a social level because one shows a great openness while the other is in the restriction. II) The context of the American counterculture contexts that combine - racial segregation - Vietnam War - Cold War The 1960s are a opposition of students against their parents, the companies, the colonial policy (Vietnam), the injustices (racism, sexism and segregation) against the traditional model. In this context of opposition, the counterculture context emerges. Ken Kesey, a musician in 1965, wants to find another reality rather than fighting. [...]

[...] And from what Paul Otler proposes, he will propose hypertext. The idea that documents are linked to each other. Ted Nelson, American researcher in the humanities and social sciences He proposed hypertext and imagined the project Xanadu which consists of having digitized documents in which one can navigate. This is the project of a universal digital library with links between documents. It proposes the transclusion here consists a part of doc to put it elsewhere copy-paste. But the project does not end car the technique is not up to par. [...]

[...] Interactive Computing Courant by Douglas Engelbart. He invents the first mouse. He looks for ways for people to work more easily with machines. Interactive computing develops tools to enable easier communication. (keyboard, touch, mouse, voice?) Conclusion Encounters of different natures that combine to bring forth the Internet. Materialization of a set of values (cooperation, co-design) that exert a lasting effect on: the form: a free, solidary, open network to all. We are ultimately very far from Obama's phrase. Internet was born from a utopia of collaboration, a new world and was not created for companies to enrich themselves. [...]