A People’s History of Computing in the United States

by Joy Lisi Rankin

Does Silicon Valley deserve all the credit for digital creativity and social media? Joy Rankin questions this triumphalism by revisiting a pre-PC time when schools were not the last stop for mature consumer technologies but flourishing sites of innovative collaboration—when users taught computers and visionaries dreamed of networked access for all.

Genres: History, Technology, Nonfiction, Computer Science, Science, Audiobook, Computers

328 pages, Kindle Edition

First published October 8, 2018

Reviews

[John · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is an important book that explodes the standard history of the emergence of wide-spread personal computing in the United States. The common narrative talks about the beginning of personal computing via personal computers (e.g., the Alto and then the Apple II), followed by networked social computing (BBS systems, but then Unix-based network news, Internet email, AOL chat groups, etc.). This book shows definitively that between the early 1960s and the mid-1970s, personal computing was alive and well, including complex modalities for computer-mediated communication, largely via dial-up teletypes, on time-sharing systems such as the Dartmouth Time-Sharing System and the University of Illinois's PLATO system. It's an academic book -- the use of some social sciences apparatus slows down the story a bit, and some of the connections between social sciences themes (e.g., social roles for men and women in the 50s and 60s) seems a little belabored.

This book is a significant corrective to two historiographical commonplaces: (1) That personal computing innovation was about Silicon Valley and the personal computer (e.g., Walter Isaacson's The Innovators) and (2) that online communication in BBSs and Internet chat/email started somewhere in the late 70s to the mid-80s, with the true emergence of distance anonymous chat on the Internet (maybe danah boyd's work would fit here).

The book also plausibly shows that the community around early time-sharing inherited a lot of the cultural conventions of heteronormativity (e.g., applications for women were about shopping from the nuclear family's home) and in the Plato community, there were communicative behaviors akin to sexual harassment. One thing about this argument: How could this not have been the case? I think there is an interesting answer here to go deeper with the experience of young women in the time-sharing environments. In passing the author notes that Bates College had access to DTSS and it was fully co-ed in a way Dartmouth was not. I bet there are interesting stories there (that go beyond "getting a date"). A bit of that is out there: for example, a young high school woman is discussed at length in the book Extra Life that is definitely coming out of the time-sharing cultures described here.

One thing that is great is that in her final pages, Rankin calls out for more studies. This is so true. Rankin does a nice job with the Minnesota scene around the MERITSS and MECC systems, and the emergence of games like The Oregon Trail, but as someone who was on the scene there, there are some little gaps (for example, MERITSS had real-time chat and "email" in the early 70s just like PLATO). The book might also have linked up some other aspects of real-time communication in that era, for instance, the Ohio-based QUBE TV system. But these are quibbles and as Rankin says, there are so many stories to be told . . .

[Michael Scott · Rating 1 out of 5]

In the epilogue, Joy Lisi Rankin states about A People’s History of Computing in the United States that 'this is emphatically "a" history, one possible out of many.' Instead of this book, which I did not like much, I recommend Brian Dear The Friendly Orange Glow: The Untold Story of the PLATO System and the Dawn of Cyberculture, which I did.

Unfortunately for this reviewer, the content of this history seems to include many statements that tread the line of sexism and racism. So, much as I wanted to like the work - and I do like the subject - I already gave Charles Murray's Human Accomplishment 1* for disqualifying statements hiding an extremist political agenda, so I'm going to give the same to this book.

Now, the positives.

1. This is a history of the networked computing age in the America, so early 1960s to mid-1980s, focusing on the key representative systems, their innovative and derivative technologies, and the communities formed around them. The author discusses the difference between technical and community network (the latter includes human stakeholders, which are very important to understand the network itself), between people as users/citizens and as consumers (citizens have rights and duties, but also control over the network), between networks created in the laid back academic environments of the middle America vs. the networks created by the military-industry-academia complex. The networks covered include Dartmouth DTSS time-sharing system, MECC's, PLATO (CERL's, CDC's, and ARPA's), and various various smaller examples.

2. For people interested in the aspect, the people's stories focus first and foremost on women, from positive experiences (Maryann Bitzer, who as a teacher develops content using the PLATO system developed by her husband Donald Bitzer) to the very painful (various forms of harassment in writing, as captured in the notes still preserved of the PLATO network).

Unfortunately, the material raises many concerns, and could have used another round of editing. (I'll skip the disqualifying issues.)

- There are many issues of logical continuity and structure. The placement of the only chapter that gives global context and overview in the middle (as Chapter 4) breaks the flow. The author toes the line between representing the people learning computing in these projects as elites (with negative connotations) or empowered (positive); yet, we learn that the programs touched hundreds of thousands of lives, if not millions, from rural and poor neighborhoods to rich private places, from boys- to girls-only colleges, etc.

- There are many games with statistics and uneven analysis; as an example, after bashing in the first chapters the lack of (reasonable) representation of women in various early networks or visions, the author reaches the Dartmouth (alma mater) and suddenly there is little trace of these analyses.

- The author also cherry picks especially the use cases, who do not seem the most representative for the topic at hand or even for the visual display.

- The book seems to misrepresent Jeffrey R. Yost and Martin Campbell-Kelly as saying that the timesharing industry (the computing utility) ended in the 1960s or with the 1970s computer industry recession. In fact, Yost states in Making IT Work (2017) the opposite; at Loc. 4701, Yost states "in 1982, [timesharing] industry revenue peaked to $1.75 billion, dropping $100 million the following year and more rapidly thereafter." Also, in From Airline Reservations to Sonic the Hedgehog (2004, a much longer and deeper work than the 2015 book "From Mainframes to Smartphones" cited by the author), Campbell-Kelly does not claim timesharing went extinct in the early 1970s computer industry recession, but instead that many small firms were wiped out in this recession, accompanied by "crash in comouter stocks" and "deferred computer purchases" in 1970-71. None of these books is cited. 

- etc.

[Jeff · Rating 2 out of 5]

Summary: Incomplete and unfocused, a bait-and-switch.

I was excited to read this book, having grown up in the 80's and very much being deep into computers from 1983 on. Unfortunately, Rankin doesn't get much past the 80's in this "history" of computing. We briefly get a glimpse of Jobs and Gates and the ubiquitous "public" internet we all know today, but this book fumbles to a stop just after the development of the game "The Oregon Trail." That would be okay if this book was published in 1990, but it was published in 2018 -- she leaves a lot on the table.

I learned a couple of good things, like the genesis and evolution of computer networking at Dartmouth, but she becomes so hyper-focused on Dartmouth (literally 500 mentions of the word "Dartmouth") that she leaves herself no room to explore the rest of computing's history. She also focuses a lot of energy on race, class, and gender imbalances in the founding of computers and networking ("...young white men", "...influential white men", "dominated by Great White Men", "...predominantly white", "...overwhelmingly white and affluent", "...almost always white men", "...predominantly male, white, and affluent", et al). While I do think this is an important frame of reference for the reader to have, she seems -- through nearly 50 mentions -- to let these facts take over the "computing" storyline that the reader thinks they'll be reading.

[Andrew Louis · Rating 3 out of 5]

The introduction tells us:

This is not a history of great white men, or even a history of small teams of innovators

The author tells us that this will be the story of ordinary computer citizens and how they built a culture but I don't feel I actually got to read what the title and introduction promised I'd get. The bulk of the book turned out to be detailed descriptions of a few white men and their projects like the BASIC language and the PLATO network.

[Ry · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really good history of underdiscussed hubs of early computing, and it actually discusses how people made use of these computing networks unlike a lot of the other relevant literature! Hope to see more like this in the future

[Mark · Rating 3 out of 5]

Great overview of the early days of computers and how the first computers were also the first internet. Sadly the book has this weird focus on gender. To the point of focusing on individual words people used to describe how they see the future. Someone praising his daughter and rewarding her with computer time is somehow enforcing female gender roles, or just the cultural norms at the time. The author paints it as though these things were done deliberately by the creators to maintain a masculine theme around comptuers and the internet. Rather than seeing the culture form out of the environment at the time. It was the 1960s and it was an all boys school, obviously the culture is going to be mostly male.

This book does a great job at explaining the spread of the early networks and why they spread (games and online communities). It also does a good job explaining how early programming languages and other things designed were designed with the user in mind and how that helped others learn and adapt to computers easier in their daily lives.

It would have been interesting if computers continued to evolve around the ideas of networks rather than going "off grid" as the early Apple computers encouraged.

[Angel Lemke · Rating 5 out of 5]

A really fascinating account of an alternate path that computing took and might have continued to take in its earliest days. If you don't already hate Gates, Jobs & the rest of the Silicon Valley bros for their framing of computing as a consumer choice rather than a citizen's need, this will seal the deal, though they are really only footnotes to the real story. Hopefully knowing what might have been will help move folks to imagine what still could be.

[Kevin · Rating 5 out of 5]

If you're interested in the earliest days of computing, this is a great read. If you're interested in what computing looked like for members of the public in the 1960s and much of the 1970s, this is for you. if you're interested in pre-internet networked systems, this book has that in spades. And if you want to be inspired by the realization that our true cultural heritage with computers involves using and making things with them rather than just buying programs, then you definitely will dig this.

It's an academic work, but it reads quite nicely for a broader audience, and brings you through the creation of the BASIC computer language and the stories of three major timeshared computer networks: Dartmouth's Kiewet Network, Minnesota's TIES and subsequent MECC networks, and PLATO. These were networks broadly made available to universities *and* schools with the specific intention of introducing computers and computing to both faculty and students alike. In a pre-Internet world, people could share files, communicate, and play games long before we think of that being popularly available. There is also a fair bit of commentary on how these networks got caught up in societal norms around race and gender and how their existence is in part predicated on the massive amounts of science and engineering spending the US government was doing during the Cold War, which I found interesting as well. Very much recommended.

[Warren Mcpherson · Rating 3 out of 5]

Time-sharing educational computers in the '60s and '70s were very important in shaping the computer industry but are not well known. This book explores a very interesting chapter in the history of computer technology and explains relationships I had not appreciated previously.
It explores the networks developed at Dartmouth College and the University of Illinois. The development of the Basic programming language as an educational tool was astutely followed highlighting important philosophical insight.
I was happy to see the book dive into social and philosophical issues. However, the social commentary seemed a little uneven. The social aspects of the Plato system were well covered. But the author seems more clumsy in reaching to make points about the "heteronormative" culture of Dartmouth with evidence not seeming to support overwrought conclusions. The structure of the book could also have been improved.
In the end, the novelty of the material makes this book very worthwhile.

[camille! · Rating 5 out of 5]

so useful, so in the archives, such a fun glimpse at the early days of networked interactions. also a reminder that the history of the internet is just the military all the way down

[Paul · Rating 5 out of 5]

Long before the days of Steve Jobs and Bill Gates, America had an active computer culture centered around academic computing. This book tells the story.

In the 1960s, computer usage involved batch processing. A person would type a program on punch cards, hand them to an operator, and wait several hours, or overnight, for the result. At Dartmouth College in New Hampshire, time-sharing made it possible for for multiple terminals, actually teletype machine, to interact with the computer, a GE mainframe, at the same time. A person could now get their answer in minutes, instead of hours. The network grew to include colleges and all-male prep schools all over New England. The BASIC computer language was developed to give the average person the ability to actually do computer programming.

Minnesota was already familiar with computers, being the home of corporations like Honeywell and Control Data. Starting with a connection to the Dartmouth computer, a state-wise high school and college computer system was developed. It was started by using a mainframe owned by the Pillsbury Corporation.

While the system that became ARPANET was having compatibility problems, a parallel system called PLATO, centered at the University of Illinois, was humming along quite nicely. It had terminals with working touch screens. It also had all the elements of a present-day online community, including email, file sharing, computer games, flame wars and gender discrimination.

This book shows that there is a big difference between a history of computing and a history of computers. It is very easy to read and understand. It is also eye-opening in that it shows that the stereotype of computers being an all-male field is not accurate. This is very much worth reading.

[Ari · Rating 5 out of 5]

Joy Lisi Rankin wrote this book with the purpose of inspiring historians to start overwriting the mythology that surrounds Silicon Valley and bring the narrative back to classrooms with ideas started. One chapter even focuses on the development of The Oregon Trail and beyond. While this is written for an academic audience with the idea of inspiring someone to continue research in this area, I think it translates the story well enough for anybody interested in learning more.

Anyhow, I really enjoyed this book. It was not what I thought it would be, but the digital worlds it explored were honestly so fascinating I'm making notes on where to continue my research. This is for a project I'm doing for one of my classes about gender and science.

[Paul · Rating 1 out of 5]

Nothing to do with computing. It's all about heteronormativity, white maleness, gender norms, racism, sexism and worst of all praising BASIC. This is what Dijikstra has to say about basic 'It is practically impossible to teach good programming to students that have had a prior exposure to BASIC: as potential programmers they are mentally mutilated beyond hope of regeneration.'

[Natty S · Rating 4 out of 5]

A fascinating examination of a fifteen-year period when an open, socialized approach to computing laid the foundations of the networked programing, gaming, and social environment we all know today. She tells the stories of BASIC and PLATO and, my childhood favorite, Oregon Trail. What becomes clear is that computing today might be very different had the government continued to subsidize computing as a utility open to everybody rather than let Silicon Valley pirates such as Bill Gates and Steve Jobs wall off this technology for only those who could pay (them) for it.

The one unfortunate bit is the title of the book--an obvious homage to Howard Zinn. But whereas Zinn takes an almost longue dureé approach to the structure of exploitation and oppression of people of color or women, Rankin's is a very narrow examination which can't help but focus on white men. At best she's only able to add discussions of gender--and even that feels wincingly forced at times. Which only feels like a flaw because of the title. Had she titled the book something like When Computing was Communal or Computing Citizens, the narrow focus would have been perfectly acceptable.

[Lara Freidenfelds · Rating 5 out of 5]

Should I post a tough parenting question on Twitter, ask my Facebook community, or email a few friends who are most likely to have useful suggestions? What would be the best place to reach people to share an intriguing job announcement? These days, we have a multitude of network options, and we assume that computers will facilitate our networked communities. Until I read Joy Lisi Rankin’s new book, A People’s History of Computing in the United States (Harvard University Press, 2018), I assumed I should attribute all these ways of connecting with my communities to the work of Mark Zuckerberg and the rest of the self-proclaimed Silicon Valley heroes who have taken credit for our increasingly networked world.

Rankin shows, in contrast, that it was the hippie ‘60s and ‘70s, not the corporate and consumerist ‘80s and ‘90s, that first gave shape and possibility to connectedness via computing. She gives us a new origin story for computer-based connectedness…

Read the rest at Nursing Clio: https://nursingclio.org/2019/02/07/ta...

[Andrew · Rating 3 out of 5]

An interesting look into the development of computing and "computing communities" in the United States during the 1960s and 1970s. This book counters the common mythos of a few great white men building the global computing architecture that we have today, in a straight line from ARPAnet to Facebook. Particular importance is placed on the development and popularization of BASIC throughout the 1960s and 1970s; the significant investment by high schools and universities in developing the original computing networks; time sharing; and the development of common tropes like the late-night hacker and computer gaming as a masculine endeavour. A good read, though it drags a bit at times (especially in the audiobook version, where programs are painfully read out line-by-line).

[Dylan]

DNF

I didn’t read enough to fairly rate. The scope of the book is far, far smaller than the title sadly. The author draws a distinction between the history of “computing” and “computers”—which is reasonable—but then only starts the story with the 1960s and the early Dartmouth messaging network.

The thesis of the book is “stories of the triumph of the PC overlook how much personal computing was actually ready happening on distributed networks across the country from 1960-1980.” Interesting but, aside from criticizing the Great Man Silicon Valley narrative, it’s hardly a “people’s history” in the Zinn sense. Lots of great archival work in here that is likely very useful to scholars of early computing but too limited and narrow to hold my interest.

[Colleen · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was an excellent complement to the histories of the Internet I learned in grad school. I enjoyed the focus on collaboration, the contributions of educational institutions, and gaming. The focus on the user makes it possible to squint and see philosophies that will emerge in the future U/X profession.
Archival research and a focus on primary sources like newsletters is always appreciated.

I listened to the audiobook and my main complaint is though it's a named narrator from before the AI explosion, they sound like what I now associate with AI narrators and that is a bit off-putting for me.

[William Jojo · Rating 3 out of 5]

I read this on and off. After a while, I found myself skimming. This was not because it was bad or terribly written but because the level of detail was beyond what I wanted to know. It's a good history of computing, but it does drag a bit if you're not that into the telling of some of the finer details.

I was most interested in the history of BASIC. The detail was great. I recommend this book to anyone interested in another angle on computing history.

[Ed Fonseca · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book presents an interesting side of computing history that is not talked about much in favor of the Silicon Valley myth of the lone genius inventor. I wanted to love this book, but as other reviewers mention; it only covers computing history up til the 80s. Also, the social commentary felt at times right on the money and at other times tacked on for the sake of adding a few extra pages.

[Joshua Horvath · Rating 3 out of 5]

While the book is definitely worth reading, with it's exploration of topics that aren't generally covered in many mainstream books on computing history, the book is rather pretentious and heavy handed at times. The author's attacks on Walter Isaacson seem very odd for example. A better book, though it only focuses on the PLATO system, is The Friendly Warm Glow.

[Jim · Rating 5 out of 5]

If you loved Steven Levy's Hackers you'll probably also admire A People's History of Computing in the United States. Joy Lisi Rankin tells the story of people embracing time-sharing systems from 1965-1975, that prefigured the personal computing revolution and the internet.

[Shannon Heaton · Rating 3 out of 5]

The author suggested there could be others that could be called by this title, but it seemed like a smallish subset of people computing, maybe there wasn't time to track other interview subjects or areas of further narrative. But, learned quite a bit, to be fair.

[Carey Platt · Rating 4 out of 5]

A look at the early computer networks. Interpreting them as communities of users (as opposed to client server model).

[Nate Gay · Rating 4 out of 5]

Title is misleading. Book is very focused on 60s-70s and does a good job of expanding on those years.

[Michael · Rating 2 out of 5]

A social perspective on computing. Neat to hear about the communities that grew around computing.

[Benjamin · Rating 4 out of 5]

A bit on the dry side but very informative & interesting.

[Jimmy Cerone · Rating 5 out of 5]

An alternate history to the Silicon Valley Mythology. A very interesting “what if” that details the history of time sharing, where people were users of computers instead of consumers.

[Brian Choate · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting look at the people as well as the machines of dawning of the computer age

[Tony Ciak · Rating 5 out of 5]

Nice insight into group computing before personal computers.