Customer Reviews

Nerds 2.0.1: A Brief History of the Internet [VHS]

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Parts of these tapes already look like the old Volkswagen in the Woody Allen movie "Sleeper." For instance, the students who started Excite are all caught in their gloriously self-centered success, which didn't last long, it turns out, but did stoke them each with millions.

Cringely is eloquent, in words and in deeds. The shot of him driving in a convertible along a freeway, while holding forth about the internet as a big pipeline, is a great way to cast an image. His patient tracing of how the internet emerged from simple attempts to hook one computer to another, and get them to communicate meaningful information is also very well done, and penetrates to the level of the PhD thesis written in 1959 that laid out the binary math basis for it all in the first place.\

The tension between the hippie beginnings of the communitarian internet, and the later proprietary commercialization of the medium is also profiled, with subthemes like how to lose control of your company, played out in interviews with 3Com's Metcalfe, who also articulated "Metcalfe's law."

These videos stand on their own feet, but also on the shoulders of the book, written by Stephen Segaller, who wrote it, amazingly, for PBS. So look, some good things can come out of PBS after all(!). Segaller's book is, as you might suspect, much more detailed, but only the video takes you to Microsoft's campus, or shows you the inventor of an early wireless internet, Norm Abramson, years later standing on a beach holding a surfboard with his current corporate logo plastered in dead-center. Perhaps another symbol of hippie-goes-Ferrari. The book and the video also touch on the fascinating history of Cisco, and the bitterness of former husband and wife Sandy Lerner and Len Bosack, toward their first V.C., Don Valentine. The video has Sandy sitting in front of her English country mansion, and also Len, speculating on the existence of sentient beings elsewhere in the universe.

So most of these people were and still are complete nerds, and but for their work, we too would have to be nerds to use our computers. So thanks, nerds, for being nerds, so I don't have to be.

This video series is an excellent addition to the material available on computer history. It moves at a fast pace and provides interviews with many of the key people in the industry. It does not cover every aspect of computer history, but it does fill in some gaps that other references missed. I encourage anyone interested in computer history to add this video series to their library. Excellent footage, nicely put together. -- Mark Greenia, author of "History of Computing: An Encyclopedia of the People and Machines that Made Computer History" (CDROM).

Cringely manages to succinctly and incisivly present the origins of the internet in a manner which both informs and entertains.

It should be compulsory viewing for everyone who works in the high tech industry.

Fantastic view of a topic that has changed all of our lives. The video is very entertainig and a good source of information. Would recommend this to anyone wanting to learn more about the roots of the internet.

This is a very exciting video about the origin, history, developments, success and failures of the Internet. It has good detail in the topics and companies that refers, but it does not touch every important(historical level) company in the net. Perhaps less time for "excite" and jokes, and more time to relevant companies and phenomena.

I belive this is one of the greatest video on the subject of internet and world wide web. It gives a clear picture of the internet and world wide web. It commends the work of great research scientists who were not recognised for their initial achievements. It gives an idea how the internet emerged and how big companies like 3com, Cisco came into existence. This is great story of all the nerds who worked hard (not for money) to achieve good things in their research. Finally I believe money is nothing and it all comes because of hardwork and luck.

When it comes to the production of videos that explain technical developments in terms that anyone can understand, Robert X. Cringely is the best. He describes the circumstances in human terms, where everyone can at least virtually place themselves in the position of the people who made the decisions that made the Internet. Occasionally winking at the camera, the story is fast-paced and complete.
The recent collapse of the Internet only companies notwithstanding, the early funding that led to the Internet is a successful government project on a par with rural electrification and the interstate highway system. No one really disputes that the Internet will continue to be more global, both in physical and personal terms. Few young people realize that it grew as a research project and no one predicted that it would be of great value. Even while they were building it, most of the people involved didn't really expect it to be used all that much. Therefore, this tape is ideal for any class involving the history of the computer.
Although it was produced several years ago, there are few segments where the passage of time has aged them. Those particular segments are the ones that deal with the growth of the Internet as a commercial medium. However, since the focus is more on the history rather than the future, they are of minimal consequence.
Government is often bashed as being pathetically inept in doing new things. The Internet is probably going to be the most successful government research project of all time, so sometimes they get it right. In this tape, Cringely and company get the background of the Internet right and this is a tape that should be in all libraries, public and institutional.

I've been using this series in my Web Design class for three years. The video is packed with good information and is clearly presented. I have not found a better video covering the history on the WWW.

Down side? It looks dated and is a bit cheesy at times. It would be great to see an updated version.

This was a gift for someone who already had the Nerds video, but I ruined it for him. Everything must be OK, since he has made no comments.

First, Cringley is great, and makes a great documentary. Howerver, years later, in 2007, this documentary is pretty hilarious. What a trip down memory lane before the apocalyptic meltdown of 2000. Its funny hearing, that Excite and Amazon are valued at over "1 billion dollars". I loved the history of how the Internet was actually created by DARPA. Definately worth watching.