The importance of Ted's vision

Nelson's vision is, I think, the most important vision in the history of computing. That's a tall call, so I'll need to explain my reasoning. In my book Memory Machines (Barnet 2013) I argue that the idea of a universal digital publishing system, an 'open hypermedia' system, originated with Nelson. Bush's vision, though it was about connected items, was analogue. Engelbart's vision was also profoundly important. He was first to build many of the things we take for granted in modern computing (and I don't mean the mouse; I mean the whole concept of real-time, networked, interactive computing). His contributions would take hours to elaborate. But he was not thinking about hypertext as a domestic thing - something your mom and pop would consume over latte and a cheeseburger. Nelson saw that hypertext on a computer screen would spread around the globe like electronic kudzu vine. He wrote singing commercials for it; he even sketched a quirky interior for a Xanadu cafe.