commit f362bf2d1c6699ad2764eaf055354f73b94422cd
parent 722de0b0e6727d5c3882d97e42feee579122f010
Author: pyratebeard <root@pyratebeard.net>
Date: Wed, 26 Nov 2025 16:58:45 +0000
the_friendly_orange_glow
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+---
+title: the friendly orange glow
+keywords: [rndlitrec]
+...
+
+## random.literature.recommendation
+_The Friendly Orange Glow: The Untold Story of the PLATO System and the Dawn of Cyberculture_ by Brian Dear
+
+#### blurb
+> The remarkable untold story of PLATO, the computer program and platform created in the 1960s, that marked the true beginning of cyberculture--a book that will rewrite the history of computing and the Internet
+
+> Here is the story of the brilliant, eccentric designers, developers, and denizens (often teenagers and twentysomethings) of the PLATO system, a computer network so far ahead of its time, and with a list of hardware and software innovations so long, that it's almost inconceivable that it actually existed--and existed so long ago--only to fade almost entirely from public view. The many thousands of people who used the system have held on to the PLATO ideas throughout their careers, influencing countless technological products and programs: from flat-panel wall TVs and touch-sensitive screens to chat rooms, instant messaging, screen savers, multiplayer games, flight simulators, crowdsourcing, interactive fiction, emoticons, and e-learning. Fascinating, first hand, and revelatory, The Friendly Orange Glow makes clear that the work of PLATO practitioners has profoundly shaped the computer industry from its inception to our very moment.
+
+> This book is as much the biography of a vision as it is the story of the people behind PLATO. Every technology story--whether it's about the steam engine, airplane, telephone, Model T, or more recently, Apple, Google, and Tesla electric car--has at its core a vision. It is the immutable nature of technology, and technology visions, to run full life cycles, from cradle to grave. PLATO's story is no different. Like all technology visions, PLATO grew outdated and was disrupted by competing visions. The Friendly Orange Glow is a revelatory paradigm for our technological age.
+
+---
+
+I love learning about the history of technology and this book is a goldmine of information. I, like I imagine most people, had never heard of the PLATO system and yet while reading The Friendly Orange Glow it amazed me how many inventions, both hardware and software, started with PLATO.
+
+Brian Dear spent over a decade compiling this book with research and interviews with the people who built and worked on PLATO. Starting as an education tool it grow into an international community writing software, playing games, and even falling in love.
+
+It was strange hearing about the technology and reminding myself that this was pre-internet, even before desktop computers, and yet elements of the cyberculture I still love today existed. Anyone that reads my blog or knows me online will know that I am a terminal user and still hang around on IRC servers. I also poke around BBS servers and public access systems such as [sdf.org][sdf] or various [tilde][tilde] communities.
+
+For anyone who loves the history of computing I strongly recommend this book.
