<https://www.thenation.com/article/peoples-history-of-personal-computing-joy-...> Computers Were Supposed to Be Good Joy Lisi Rankin’s book on the history of personal computing looks at the technology’s forgotten democratic promise. Rankin contends that the myth of a “digital America dependent on the work of a handful of male tech geniuses” detracts from computing’s initial democratic promise: a project made by civilians for civilians. Society’s optimism about technology has waned, but some can’t help but valorize self-made men. Tesla CEO Elon Musk is a case in point: He’s still celebrated by some as a visionary and self-made billionaire (never mind that he is said to have roamed the streets of New York with emeralds from his father’s mine in his pocket), even as his boorishness has damaged his business. Tesla’s price has tanked as Musk’s Twitter conniptions have led to SEC fines, and a recent, bewildering appearance on the libertarian-leaning podcast The Joe Rogan Experience left some people questioning his judgment. [] Rankin’s book is a powerful and densely detailed account of how digital culture in the 1960s and ’70s shaped our contemporary experiences of technology as a tool for social connection. As the hat tip to Howard Zinn in the title indicates, Rankin’s book locates the forgotten heroes of the personal- and social-computing movement in school classrooms and the academy, as well as the industry’s darker side. Rankin observes that computing’s social and personal origins can be traced back to 1964, when the first large-scale computer time-sharing network was developed at Dartmouth. []