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Which hobbyist invented the web? Blogs? It isn't at all obvious to me who he is citing, if these people are hobbyists. Also, was "most" open source software a

Which hobbyist invented the web? Blogs? It isn't at all obvious to me who he is citing, if these people are hobbyists. Also, was "most" open source software a hobby, or a professional scratching an itch? And the first pc? Is Chris trying to say that's woz, and he was a hobbyist? The whole blog post is a little too pat.

ebiester 14y ago
Is usenet not the precursor to Reddit? And the first blogs were certainly hobbiests. look at BBS zines as one example.
- andrewljohnson 14y ago
  Please someone say a name or citation already. Who the heck invented usenet?
  - itsprofitbaron 14y ago
    Tom Truscott[1] and Jim Ellis[2] invented Usenet. [1] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tom_Truscott http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tom_Truscott [2] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jim_Ellis_(computing) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jim_Ellis_(computing)
- derleth 14y ago
  > Is usenet not the precursor to Reddit? Debatable. Usenet is decentralized as opposed to being dependent on a single bank of computers and beholden to a single group of owners.
  - drumdance 14y ago
    Tchnologically true, but I think the larger point is that there has been a long evolution based on the fundamental human desire to look at funny cat pictures.
    - tripzilch 14y ago
      There were these people that said "meow" a lot, on Usenet ...
derleth 14y ago
> And the first pc? The nearly-forgotten pre-microprocessor Kenbak-1: > The Kenbak-1 is considered by the Computer History Museum and the American Computer Museum[1] to be the world's first "personal computer".[2] > It was designed and invented by John Blankenbaker of Kenbak Corporation in 1970, and was first sold in early 1971. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kenbak-1 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kenbak-1 The Apple 1 was many things, but there were personal computers before it; it was not the first in that field.
enjo 14y ago
It's confirmation bias of the highest order. What things have hobbyists been working on for years that we're not using? There are so many smart people doing so many different things, and most of them stay far out of the mainstream. Hell I have a friend who's incredibly smart. He spends his weekend meticulously crafting civil war uniforms for his re-enacments. Should I be watching out for a big-time re-enactment craze in the near future?
- tripzilch 14y ago
  > There are so many smart people doing so many different things, and most of them stay far out of the mainstream. It's because the mainstream is a sewer, and you should learn to swim.

ebiester 14y ago

Is usenet not the precursor to Reddit? And the first blogs were certainly hobbiests. look at BBS zines as one example.

andrewljohnson 14y ago
Please someone say a name or citation already. Who the heck invented usenet?
- itsprofitbaron 14y ago
  Tom Truscott[1] and Jim Ellis[2] invented Usenet. [1] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tom_Truscott http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tom_Truscott [2] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jim_Ellis_(computing) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jim_Ellis_(computing)
derleth 14y ago
> Is usenet not the precursor to Reddit? Debatable. Usenet is decentralized as opposed to being dependent on a single bank of computers and beholden to a single group of owners.
- drumdance 14y ago
  Tchnologically true, but I think the larger point is that there has been a long evolution based on the fundamental human desire to look at funny cat pictures.
  - tripzilch 14y ago
    There were these people that said "meow" a lot, on Usenet ...

derleth 14y ago

> And the first pc? The nearly-forgotten pre-microprocessor Kenbak-1: > The Kenbak-1 is considered by the Computer History Museum and the American Computer Museum[1] to be the world's first "personal computer".[2] > It was designed and invented by John Blankenbaker of Kenbak Corporation in 1970, and was first sold in early 1971. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kenbak-1 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kenbak-1 The Apple 1 was many things, but there were personal computers before it; it was not the first in that field.

enjo 14y ago

It's confirmation bias of the highest order. What things have hobbyists been working on for years that we're not using? There are so many smart people doing so many different things, and most of them stay far out of the mainstream. Hell I have a friend who's incredibly smart. He spends his weekend meticulously crafting civil war uniforms for his re-enacments. Should I be watching out for a big-time re-enactment craze in the near future?

tripzilch 14y ago
> There are so many smart people doing so many different things, and most of them stay far out of the mainstream. It's because the mainstream is a sewer, and you should learn to swim.