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I had gotten a negative impression of him back when reading 'Mother Earth Mother Board'[1]; it's interesting to read a different accounting of his life. [1]: h

I had gotten a negative impression of him back when reading 'Mother Earth Mother Board'[1]; it's interesting to read a different accounting of his life. [1]: https://www.wired.com/1996/12/ffglass/ https://www.wired.com/1996/12/ffglass/ (now regrettably behind a pay-wall)

wbl 2y ago
Heaven forbid you have to pay to read one of the great pieces of computer journalism ever.
- nhecker 2y ago
  Oh, I've given Wired my money over the years. I have no qualms rewarding good journalism. But your point is well taken -- I'll temper my previous comment: one should not feel bad about paying for this piece!
  - ZeroGravitas 2y ago
    When I used to buy Wired in its paper form, they had this thing about how "information wants to be free". Did the original author approve the work being behind a digital pay wall and get rewarded for their work, or was it some later private equity style ghoul who couldn't help but gatekeep and rent seek the duplication of bits as a middleman? If the latter then maybe we should be sad and angry.
    - wiml 2y ago
      I think you misunderstand the saying. Information wants to be free — it is naturally so cheap to copy and transmit that its marginal cost is effectively zero. That doesn't mean you want it to be free, or that WIRED wants it to be free. Like nature abhors a vacuum, or water seeks the sea, information wants to be free. Yet we still build thermoses and reservoirs.
- dTal 2y ago
  Yes, it is very much a shame for important cultural works to be accessible only to those with money. Once upon a time it was considered such a social problem that governments allocated funding to civic institutions where copyrighted material could be read entirely for free. A short and easy registration process would even grant anyone permission to physically take these works home to study at their leisure for a while. Really, it's amazing society survived...
Luc 2y ago
It's a long article (thanks for linking to it) but it seems Heaviside isn't mentioned in it. Perhaps you're thinking of Wildman Whitehouse? "[W]hat Victoria was to monarchs, Dickens to novelists, Burton to explorers, Robert E. Lee to generals, Dr. Wildman Whitehouse was to assholes."

wbl 2y ago

Heaven forbid you have to pay to read one of the great pieces of computer journalism ever.

nhecker 2y ago
Oh, I've given Wired my money over the years. I have no qualms rewarding good journalism. But your point is well taken -- I'll temper my previous comment: one should not feel bad about paying for this piece!
- ZeroGravitas 2y ago
  When I used to buy Wired in its paper form, they had this thing about how "information wants to be free". Did the original author approve the work being behind a digital pay wall and get rewarded for their work, or was it some later private equity style ghoul who couldn't help but gatekeep and rent seek the duplication of bits as a middleman? If the latter then maybe we should be sad and angry.
  - wiml 2y ago
    I think you misunderstand the saying. Information wants to be free — it is naturally so cheap to copy and transmit that its marginal cost is effectively zero. That doesn't mean you want it to be free, or that WIRED wants it to be free. Like nature abhors a vacuum, or water seeks the sea, information wants to be free. Yet we still build thermoses and reservoirs.
dTal 2y ago
Yes, it is very much a shame for important cultural works to be accessible only to those with money. Once upon a time it was considered such a social problem that governments allocated funding to civic institutions where copyrighted material could be read entirely for free. A short and easy registration process would even grant anyone permission to physically take these works home to study at their leisure for a while. Really, it's amazing society survived...

Luc 2y ago

It's a long article (thanks for linking to it) but it seems Heaviside isn't mentioned in it. Perhaps you're thinking of Wildman Whitehouse? "[W]hat Victoria was to monarchs, Dickens to novelists, Burton to explorers, Robert E. Lee to generals, Dr. Wildman Whitehouse was to assholes."