Ted Nelson
most people are fools
"Most people are fools, most authority is malignant, God does not exist, and everything is wrong"
—Ted Nelson
The purpose of computers is human freedom.
"The purpose of computers is human freedom."
— Ted Nelson
life simple computer
"No one's life has yet been simplified by a computer."
— Ted Nelson
The good news about computers
"The good news about computers is that they do what you tell them to do. The bad news is that they do what you tell them to do."
—Ted Nelson
1974 computer oppressive living room
"In 1974, computers were oppressive devices in far-off airconditioned places. Now you can be oppressed by computers in your own living room."
—Ted Nelson
hierarchical director folder prison guard counselor
Calling a hierarchical directory a "folder" doesn't change its nature any more than calling a prison guard a "counselor"
—Ted Nelson
technology frying-pan behavior terminology
"A frying-pan is technology. All human artifacts are technology. But beware anybody who uses this term. Like "maturity" and "reality" and "progress", the word "technology" has an agenda for your behavior: usually what is being referred to as "technology" is something that somebody wants you to submit to. "Technology" often implicitly refers to something you are expected to turn over to "the guys who understand it"."
—Ted Nelson
information commodity myth media database viewpoint
""Information", referred to as a commodity, is a myth. Information always comes in packages (media bundles, called "documents" (and sometimes "titles")), and every such package has a point of view. Even a database has a point of view."
—Ted Nelson
learning computer logical conning
"Users are told that learning to use computers is "learning to be logical". This is nonsense. You are learning to think like the guy who is conning you, though he probably does not realize it …"
—Ted Nelson
deductive logic game useless premise
""Logic" (deductive logic) is an intricate game of figuring out what you've already said; it is virtually useless in everyday life, where deduction from explicitly stated premises almost never occurs."
—Ted Nelson
IBM customer slavery software update bullet kill som
"In the nineteen-sixties, IBM invented customer slavery—because the products were beyond the user's control, the user had to pay not just for software, but for upgrades, and for the suffering of living through those upgrades. That's like certain governments billing the family for the bullet used to kill their son."
—Ted Nelson
application closed package function control data interface
"An "application" is a closed package of function. You don't own your data, THEY do. You don't control the interface, THEY do. You have only the options they give you."
—Ted Nelson
paper money waste AI Artificial intelligence
"Untold reams of paper, not to mention U.S. Federal money, has gone to waste on the tall tales of artificial intelligence, which still has nothing to give us in the realm of personal software. People want control over their computers and their lives. So far, even the supposedly-controllable software is uncontrollable; would you trust today's developers to create things you can understand even less?"
—Ted Nelson
web foam popping bubbles shopping windows
"The Web is a foam of ever-popping bubbles, ever-changing shopwindows."
—Ted Nelson
HTML fix arms legs hamburger
"Trying to fix HTML is like trying to graft arms and legs onto hamburger."
—Ted Nelson
Bell labs Unix Microsoft $50 world standard
"Bell Labs created Microsoft by charging $25,000 for Unix. If they'd charged $50, Unix would be the world standard. "
— Ted Nelson
good news anything possible computer bad nothing easy
"The good news is: Anything is possible on your computer. The bad news is: Nothing is easy. "
— Ted Nelson
intertwingled
"Everything is deeply intertwingled"
—Ted Nelson