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You’ve Never Heard of Tech Legend Bob Taylor,But He Invented ‘Almost Everything’
- saas_co_de 9y ago> In 1961, as a project manager at NASA, Taylor directed funding to computer scientist Douglas Engelbart, who used the money, in part, to invent the computer mouse. Five years later, at Arpa (now Darpa), Taylor kick-started the internet when he convinced his boss to invest $500,000 of taxpayer money to build a computer network. So they are giving him credit for everything Engelbart did? I wasn't there but sounds fishy.
- bpicolo 9y agohttps://www.amazon.com/Dealers-Lightning-Xerox-PARC-Computer/dp/0887309895 https://www.amazon.com/Dealers-Lightning-Xerox-PARC-Computer... is a much better account. Great book.
- mlfung 9y agoHaving also chaired Engelbart's Core planning Committee (2001-2004), co-organized the 40th anniversary of the MOAD and the gathering 1 week after Engelbart's passing - I was there some of the time. I also got Bob Taylor's advice when we were organizing the www.TCPIP40.com 40th celebration. Sponsoring and funding and articulating the vision within the larger context of DARPA is what Bob Taylor did. He was only one of 2 psychologists who were the pivotal DARPA program managers for the most game changing funding by DARPA - the other was JR Licklider. Both understood the promise, and nurtured the "people centered" approach that allowed all who encountered it see the possibility of technology that could be of the people, by the people and for the people. It took 100's of 1000's of people to believe in this possibility of what computer networks could enable. All deserve credit, and Engelbart always freely acknowledged this.