The Informed Life Howard Rheingold on Tools for Thought
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Aug 14, 2022 Howard Rheingold explores computers as extensions of the mind and Douglas Engelbart’s vision for people, tools, and training working together. The conversation ranges from digital literacy and attention in an online world to the renewed appeal of personal knowledge tools like Roam Research and Obsidian, and the forces shaping the web’s future.
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Unearthing Computing's Forgotten Pioneers
- Howard Rheingold recounted researching the overlooked pioneers behind personal computing and wrote Tools for Thought to tell their story.
- The book initially sank but later influenced many readers and thinkers in computing history.
Hardware Lagged Visionary Interfaces
- Early visionaries like Engelbart predicted interaction models decades before hardware could support them.
- Advances slowed as silicon needed to catch up to those interaction concepts.
Tools Need Language, Methods, Training
- Engelbart emphasized coupling tools with language, methods and training (HLAMT) to realize augmentation.
- Rheingold argues we've underinvested in the human and social research needed to use tools effectively.