Packard wrote one of the first known books of this type, Sugarcane Island, in 1969 and saw it first published in 1976 by Vermont Crossroads Press http://en.wiki

Packard wrote one of the first known books of this type, Sugarcane Island, in 1969 and saw it first published in 1976 by Vermont Crossroads Press http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Packard http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Packard It seems to me that the two ideas developed more or less in parallel. It says something about the way that culture develops that this idea arrived in print only when digital technology was just making it possible (but far from mainstream). Dungeons and Dragons also independently arrived at the same time--first published in 1974, so clearly in development before that. It seems like our culture was just ready.