# Computer Lib / Dream Machines

Ted Nelson's two-books-in-one manifesto for personal computing and hypertext, insisting that ordinary people must understand and control computers.

## Summary

[Ted Nelson](/wiki/ted-nelson.md)'s self-published *Computer Lib / Dream Machines* fused a populist call — "you can and must understand computers now" — with a visionary sketch of hypertext and interactive media. Written before the personal computer existed as a product, it argued that computing power should belong to individuals, not institutions.

## Why it matters

Nelson coined "hypertext" and championed a document graph that everyone could author and own — a foundational idea for the Web and a clear antecedent of the Independent Internet's ownership and equity principles. The book is a cultural pillar of [decentralization](/wiki/decentralization.md) as a movement, not just a technique.

> Part of the AP0110.ORG source library. See the [wiki overview](/wiki.md).

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## Backlinks

Pages that link here:

- [Ted Nelson](/wiki/ted-nelson.md) — Information theorist who coined 'hypertext' and 'hypermedia' and argued, decades before the personal computer, that computing power must belong to individuals.