Memory Machines by Belinda Barnet

Memory Machines by Belinda Barnet

This book explores the history of hypertext, an influential concept that forms the underlying structure of the World Wide Web and innumerable software applications. Barnet tells both the human and the technological story by weaving together contemporary literature and her exclusive interviews with those at the forefront of hypertext innovation, tracing its evolutionary roots back to the analogue machine imagined by Vannevar Bush in 1945.

‘“Memory Machines” will appeal to anyone who is curious about the history of computing in general and hypertext in particularThis book is highly recommended for computer science students and for students of history of science and technology, as well as for computing and engineering enthusiasts.’ —Stephanie Wical, Online Information Review

‘[A] richly layered account, focusing on oral histories as much as an analysis of documents. […] This volume provides a sophisticated and vital history of early computing, usefully exploring conceptual ideas around hypertext, outlining the constraints on pioneering efforts to implement models of hypertext as technical prototypes, and ultimately demonstrating how these collectively shaped all subsequent efforts to develop computer-based prototypes for information structuring and retrieval.’ —Craig Hight, ‘Media International Australia’

Belinda Barnet is a lecturer in media and communications at Swinburne University, Melbourne, Australia.

http://blog.arsmemoriae.com/

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