When Nelson penned these words in 1992, his “hopes” for the use of computers were not being fulfilled, however he was writing on the cusp of the internet revolution. The internet, as a tool, was about to take off, to transform how we live, how we work, even how we play. The internet was about to become one of the defining factors of the time. A generation was dubbed ‘digital natives’. Social media would transform the way we communicate. And, as Nelson “hoped”, the internet would soon transform the way we seek information. I believe that the computer and the internet do indeed make our “everyday lives… simple and flexible” and it does allow us “to read… from vast libraries easily” with the information “being clearly and instantly available to us, in a great interconnected web of writings and ideas”. I believe that Nelson’s “hopes” for the future of the computer were not only fulfilled but advanced upon. This advancement will continue into the future with technology allowing us access to more and more information, making the pursuit of that information easier, quicker and more accurate. It would seem to me that networked media is, undoubtedly, the future.

(Print Scrn captured from reading: “Extract from: Nelson, Theodor Holm. Literary Machines 91.1: The Report On, and Of, Project Xanadu Concerning Word Processing, Electronic Publishing, Hypertext, Thinkertoys, Tomorrow’s Intellectual Revolution, And Certain Other Topics Including Knowledge, Education and Freedom. Sausalito: Mindful Press, 1992. Print. (PDF)”)