The dream machine is a focused look at the history of computing, emphasizing the contrast between a view of computers as powerful descendants of the slide rule with a view of computers as human partners and enhancers of human performance. The subtitle (J. C. R. Licklider and the revolution that made computing personal) defines its organization based on the influence of Licklider, whose background in psychology gave him a different perspective. Originally published in 2001, this fourth edition includes no indication of previous versions. The only difference between this edition and the original is an addendum containing three of Licklider’s publications.
A prologue depicts Linklider taking his son, Tracy, to his Pentagon office in late 1962 or early 1963, where he was the director of the Advanced Research Projects Agency (ARPA) Command and Control Research Division, which included areas such as better communication between machines and users. Tracy had already used his dad’s computer back in Cambridge, which at that time had a keyboard, a screen, a light pen, and software for time-sharing. At Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), Linklider was establishing Project MAC, a large-scale experiment in personal computing that, because of the expense of computers, was implemented via remote terminals. With Pentagon money, he was able to fund such visionaries as Doug Englebart--“Englebart, with his group, would go on to invent the mouse, on-screen windows, hypertext, full-screen word processing, and a host of other innovations.” So, readers immediately get a sense of Linklider’s influence on the direction of computing.
Linklider, born in 1915, earned a triple degree in physics, mathematics, and psychology, and a master’s degree in psychology from Washington University. For his psychology doctorate, received in 1942, at Rochester University, he made maps of neural activity on the auditory cortex. His work in psycho-acoustics at MIT was a connection with the development of computing activity there. He is often in the background as the book covers the development of the first computers to that of personal computing. The thrust of mainframe makers, such as IBM for batch processing, is contrasted with a desire for the more immediate access that time-sharing represents. Later controversy over the merits of networking involved the desirability of allowing others access to your machine given the difficulty of accommodating your own users.
Waldrop describes dozens of main contributors, from Norbert Wiener and John von Neumann to Steve Jobs, giving their backgrounds, mentioning their eccentricities, and identifying their contributions in a very readable and informative manner. One really gets a sense of their vision and creativity. Even with such a thorough, fascinating treatment, there are bound to be some omissions. In chapter 4, when discussing the computers available in 1950, SWAC, the National Bureau of Standards Western Automatic Computer, housed at UCLA, is not mentioned. Operational in July 1950, it was at the time the fastest computer in existence.
In the author’s acknowledgements at the end, Waldrop describes his search to fulfill a book proposal. In his explorations, Waldrop learned about Licklider’s influence and thus focused the book around him. Anyone interested in computing will enjoy this story, even more so in light of the developments since the original 2001 publication.
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