He's an interesting and very bright guy, but I understand what you mean. The conceptual work he did on hypertext was - and is - groundbreaking. Literary Machines raises many issues which modern hypertext systems (chiefly the Web, but also including the also-rans) don't and can't answer. He's made some very astute observations and our relationship with computers.
However, he's a dreamer, not a completer. Had Xanadu been implemented in a timely manner after it was conceived, it could well have been where the Web is today. The failure of Xanadu, up to and including the Autodesk years, is a matter of record. Ted views the Gary Wolfe article as a hatchet job; I've heard some of Ted's version of events from him. I suspect the truth lies somewhere between the two.
In many ways, Ted is a Charles Babbage for our time.
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Date: 2007-05-17 07:36 pm (UTC)However, he's a dreamer, not a completer. Had Xanadu been implemented in a timely manner after it was conceived, it could well have been where the Web is today. The failure of Xanadu, up to and including the Autodesk years, is a matter of record. Ted views the Gary Wolfe article as a hatchet job; I've heard some of Ted's version of events from him. I suspect the truth lies somewhere between the two.
In many ways, Ted is a Charles Babbage for our time.