Tribute to Douglas Engelbart - Internet Pioneer

"Digital technology could help make this a better world. But we've also got to change our way of thinking. I confess that I am a dreamer. Someone once called me "just a dreamer." That offended me, the "just" part; being a real dreamer is hard work. It really gets hard when you start believing your dreams."

Things that impressed me about Douglas Engelbart:

Douglas Engelbart was and is a very determined individual. He pursued his vision for our electronic future when many of us would have given up to pursue other venues of interest. I have a saying; "Anyone can dream of doing something and leave it at that. I prefer to do something about my dreams." I think this says allot of the type of person Douglas Engelbart is. He acted upon his dreams and from them started our digital evolution. Douglas is a man full of daring and (to some) preposterous ideas and dreams, yet from these dreams and ideas came our modern computing society. Many of us take for granted how easy it is to click a link on a web page and order your favorite magazine, or manage your finances via online banking. These luxuries are available to us because of the great time and energy Douglas Engelbart put into pursuing his dreams.

Doug is a visionary. He envisioned machines and technology that provided the sum of all knowledge to any individual, at the click of a button. Because of his determination and pursuit of this dream, nearly every home, business, educational institution and library in the U.S. and abroad have access to such a machine. Before Dougs' time, people listened to the radio or talked with the neighbors for the latest news and information. Now, with the help of machines and systems born from Dougs vision to augment the human intellect, we have at our fingertips an unending wealth of digitized information. With the aid of computers, we are able to take digital journeys to far off places and distant lands, gather information from literally anywhere on the globe, and contribute knowledge to the ever increasing information nexus, the world wide web, all from the comfort of our living room.

After viewing several of the Engelbart videos that came on the New Media Reader CD, I was thoroughly impressed with the type of person he is. He seems to have a sense of humor and wit about him that I did not expect from such a high level visionary/inventor. Before I viewed the videos I had a preconceived image of what kind of person he was. I imagined him to be a total computer geek (to put it bluntly). After viewing the videos the old adage "Don't judge a book by it's cover..." came to mind. He appeared to be a down to earth guy doing what he does best, pursuing his dreams. This realization helped make reading about him and watching the rest of his videos more interesting. If you haven’t viewed the videos yet, I highly suggest watching them. Several of the links at the bottom of this page can direct you to these videos.

The 1968 NLS Demo:

Engelbart's NLS demonstration in 1968 shows many of the techniques we use with today's computers. These include:

• Remote Desktop Sharing - As Doug allowed Bill in Menlow Park access to his computer from a remote location, and as they had their famous "Bug Fight" on screen, to me this seemed strikingly similar to "Remote Desktop Sharing". The features Doug demonstrated, such as the ability to invite remote users to see your desktop, granting or restricting certain privileges such as moving the mouse cursor ("Bug" as they called it) or manipulating files, are widely used features in Remote Desktop Sharing applications of today.
• Video Conferencing - During the NLS demo, Doug also conducted a video conference with Bill in Menlow Park. This feature is very common in today’s computing environment. With the addition of a small inexpensive USB video camera and some software, one could perform this same technique from virtually anywhere in the world.
• Digital Scheduling and Appointment Keeping - As Doug demonstrated to the audience how he could use the computer to keep grocery lists and travel information, this reminded me of how I keep appointments, schedules and grocery lists on my hand held palm pilot. The ability to use the computer as a personal secretary if you will, is a widely utilized and very helpful function, even to this day.
• Power Point Presentations - While Doug was demonstrating the goals of the "H.I.R.C.", the Bootstrapping Process, and the N.L.S. systems, he was constantly changing the projected images to produce graphic presentations for the audience, on what he was speaking about. I couldn't help but think that his presentation of these items was quite similar to how one would provide a Power Point presentation to an audience.

Links related to the life and work of Douglas Engelbart:

• Internet Pioneers by Scott Griffen - This is a great source for information on Douglas Engelbart and the contributions he has made to our society. It is also highlights internet pioneers such as Vannevar Bush (Author of "As We May Think"), J.C.R. Licklider (invented the idea of a "network"), Larry Roberts (creator of ARPANET), Paul Baran (co-invented "packet switching"), Bob Metcalfe (invented Ethernet), Vint Cerf (known as the "father of the Internet"), Ted Nelson (coined the term "hypertext"), Tim Berners-Lee (invented the "World Wide Web"), and Marc Andreesen (lead the team that created Netscape navigator).
• The Bootstrap Institute - This page is a very exhaustive bibliography about Douglas Engelbart, written by Christina Engelbart, which covers his entire history starting in 1942 after graduating from high school, up to June of 2003. If you'd like to learn more about Douglas Engelbart, I highly suggest reading this very informative article.
• The Mouse Site - This website is a great resource for exploring the history of human computer interaction beginning with the pioneering work of Douglas Engelbart and his colleagues at Stanford Research Institute in the 1960s. On this page you will find extensive information about the 1968 NLS demo.