Computer Lib
"Computer Lib/Dream Machines", TedNelson, 1974. ISBN 0893470023.
- Computers are simply a necessary and enjoyable part of life, like food and books. Computers are not everything, they are just an aspect of everything, and not to know this is computer illiteracy, a silly and dangerous ignorance.... I have an axe to grind: I want to see computers useful to individuals, and the sooner the better, without necessary complication or human servility being required. Anyone who agrees with these principles is on my side, and anyone who does not, is not.... Simply as a matter of citizenship, it is essential to understand the impact and uses of computers in the world of the future. Computers belong to all mankind.
It's a "flip book". The first book is "Computer Lib", explaining computers to the layman in an entertaining style. Flip it over, and the second book is "Dream Machines", a (still only partly realized) vision of what computers could become.
It completely changed my view of computers at an early point of my life, including being the first time (as it was for many readers) I heard about hypertext, and about the XeroxParc DynaBook project with WimpInterface (graphical windows, mice, pointers), and the SmalltalkLanguage and its attempts to be simple enough for grade school children to use while still being very powerful.