On May 2, 2005, at 11:32 AM, Eric Jorgensen wrote:
>>
>> But we were all looking forwards to the Xerox Dynabook.

Looking back, it's a bit amazing how many times something very like 
today's
web was ALMOST invented.  Plato, Dynabook, hypertext, assorted email 
conferencing
systems.  I got my first computer in exchange for writing some software 
that put
a "touch the icon" and etc sort-of-GUI interface on top of a truly 
atrocious
HP conferencing and messaging system (circa 1983?)  SOOO close, SOOO 
many times,
but it was never quite there, either technically or personally, or ... 
something.

(as an interesting (?) side result, when HTTP/etc first started to 
appear ~1994
or so, I dismissed it as yet another doomed UI for less technical 
users.  Despite
being smack in the middle of the networking industry.  Sigh.)

Google's "Orkut" community is interesting in the way it seems to be 
failing (to
me) as well.  The number of people signed up for any particular special 
interest
group never seems to be big enough to maintain any significant level of 
activity.
It's like a mailing list needs a thousand lurkers to succeed, even if 
they never
actually do anything...

BillW


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