Editing Ted Nelson

{{short description|American pioneer of information technology, philosopher, and sociologist}}
{{other people}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=February 2012}}
{{Infobox scientist
| name              = Ted Nelson
| image             = Ted Nelson cropped.jpg
| caption           = Nelson in 2011
| birth_date        = {{birth date and age|1937|6|17}}
| birth_place       = [[Chicago]], [[Illinois]], U.S.
| death_date        = 
| death_place       = 
| field             = Information technology, philosophy, and sociology
| work_institutions = [[Project Xanadu]]
| alma_mater        = [[Swarthmore College]] ([[B. A.|BA]])<br />[[University of Chicago]]<br />[[Harvard University]] ([[M. A.|MA]])<br />[[Keio University]] ([[PhD]])
| known_for         = [[Hypertext]]
}}
{{Cyber anthropology|theorists}}
'''Theodor Holm Nelson''' (born June 17, 1937) is an American pioneer of [[information technology]], philosopher, and sociologist. He coined the terms ''[[hypertext]]'' and ''[[hypermedia]]'' in 1963<ref>{{cite book |first=Theodor Holm |last=Nelson |title=Proceedings of the 1965 20th national conference |chapter=Complex information processing |pages=84–100| date=August 1965 |publisher=ACM |doi=10.1145/800197.806036|isbn=9781450374958 |s2cid=2556127 |doi-access=free }}</ref> and published them in 1965.<ref name="ELMCIP">{{cite web|url=http://elmcip.net/node/7367|title=Complex Information Processing: A File Structure for the Complex, the Changing, and the Indeterminate|publisher=Electronic Literature as a Model of Creativity and Innovation in Practice|first=Theodor Holm |last=Nelson |access-date=May 16, 2025 |archive-date=July 7, 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130707050841/http://elmcip.net/node/7367|url-status=live}}<!-- is this the same paper as the previous one? YES. I think so, the author seems misattributed. YOU'RE RIGHT! I'M CORRECTING IT NOW. --></ref> According to his 1997 ''[[Forbes]]'' profile, Nelson "sees himself as a literary romantic, like a [[Cyrano de Bergerac]], or 'the [[Orson Welles]] of software'."<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.forbes.com/asap/1997/0825/134.html|title=Ted Nelson - Forbes.com|website=www.forbes.com|access-date=August 24, 2018|archive-date=August 20, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200820204902/https://www.forbes.com/asap/1997/0825/134.html|url-status=live}}</ref>

== Early life and education ==
Nelson is the son of [[Emmy Awards|Emmy Award]]–winning director [[Ralph Nelson]] and [[Academy Awards|Academy{{nbsp}}Award]]{{nbnd}}winning actress [[Celeste Holm]].<ref>{{cite news|title=Love and Inheritance: A Family Feud |newspaper=The New York Times|author=John Leland|author-link=John Leland (journalist)|date=July 2, 2011 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2011/07/03/nyregion/love-and-inheritance-celeste-holms-family-feud.html|access-date=July 3, 2011 |url-access=limited|archive-date=June 17, 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220617073440/https://www.nytimes.com/2011/07/03/nyregion/love-and-inheritance-celeste-holms-family-feud.html |url-status=live}}</ref> His parents' marriage was brief and he was mostly raised by his grandparents, first in Chicago and later in [[Greenwich Village]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.ibiblio.org/pioneers/nelson.html|title=Internet Pioneers: Ted Nelson |publisher=Ibiblio|access-date=July 3, 2011|archive-date=November 15, 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221115132953/http://www.ibiblio.org/pioneers/nelson.html|url-status=live}}</ref>

Nelson earned a [[Bachelor of Arts|B.A.]] in philosophy from [[Swarthmore College]] in 1959. Following a year of graduate study in sociology at the [[University of Chicago]], Nelson began graduate work in Social Relations, then a department at Harvard University, specializing in sociology, and ultimately earned a M.A in sociology from the Department of Social Relations in 1962.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www2.iath.virginia.edu/elab/hfl0155.html|title=Ted Nelson and Xanadu |last1=Keep |first1=Christopher |last2=McLaughlin |first2=Tim|last3=Parmar|first3=Robin|work=The Electronic Labyrinth |publisher=University of Alberta|date=July 2000 |access-date=28 September 2022|archive-date=September 28, 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220928055953/http://www2.iath.virginia.edu/elab/hfl0155.html|url-status=live}}</ref> After Harvard, Nelson worked as a photographer and filmmaker for a year at [[John C. Lilly]]'s Communication Research Institute in Miami, Florida, where he briefly shared an office with [[Gregory Bateson]]. From 1964 to 1966, he was an instructor in sociology at Vassar College.

During college and graduate school, Nelson began to envision a computer-based writing system that would provide a lasting repository for the world's knowledge, and also permit greater flexibility of drawing connections between ideas. This came to be known as [[Project Xanadu]].<ref name="inter6364">{{cite book |last1=Barnet |first1=Belinda |editor1-last=Dechow |editor1-first=Douglas |editor2-last=Struppa |editor2-first=Daniel |title=Intertwingled: The Work and Influence of Ted Nelson |date=2015 |publisher=Springer International Publishing |isbn=978-3-319-16925-5 |page=63-64 |edition=1 |chapter-url=https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-3-319-16925-5_9 |access-date=17 May 2025 |language=en |chapter=The Importance of Ted’s Vision|series=History of Computing |doi=10.1007/978-3-319-16925-5_9 }}</ref>

Much later in life, in 2002, Nelson obtained his [[doctor of Philosophy|PhD]] in media and governance from [[Keio University]].

==Project Xanadu==
{{Main|Project Xanadu}}
Nelson first conceived of what would become Project Xanadu in the early 1960s, with the goal of creating a computer network with a simple user interface. He started referring to this project to others using the name Xanadu in 1966.<ref name="inter6364" /> The effort is documented in the books ''[[Computer Lib/Dream Machines]]'' (1974), ''The Home Computer Revolution'' (1977) and ''[[Literary Machines]]'' (1981). Much of his adult life has been devoted to working on Xanadu and advocating for it. 

Throughout his career, Nelson supported his work on the Xanadu project through a variety of administrative, academic, and research positions and consultancies, including stints at [[Harcourt Brace and Company]]<ref name="inter6364" /> [[Brown University]] (a tumultuous consultancy on the Nelson-inspired [[Hypertext Editing System]] and [[File Retrieval and Editing System]] with Swarthmore friend [[Andries van Dam]]'s group; c. 1967–1969),{{Citation needed|date=January 2023}} [[Bell Labs]] (hypertext-related defense research; 1968–1969),<ref name=":vita" /> [[CBS Laboratories]] ("writing and photographing interactive slideshows for their AVS-10 instructional device"; 1968–1969),<ref name=":vita">{{Cite web|url=http://hyperland.com/TNvita|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20150506080854/http://hyperland.com/TNvita|archive-date = May 6, 2015|title = Ted Nelson - Curriculum Vitae}}</ref> the [[University of Illinois at Chicago]] (an interdisciplinary staff position; 1973–1976)<ref name=":vita" /> and Swarthmore College (visiting lecturer in computing; 1977).<ref name=":vita" />

Nelson also conducted research and development under the auspices of the Nelson Organization (founder and president; 1968–1972) and the Computopia Corporation (co-founder; 1977–1978). Clients of the former firm included [[IBM]], Brown University, [[Western Electric]], the [[University of California]], the [[Jewish Museum (Manhattan)|Jewish Museum]], the Fretheim Chartering Corporation and the [[Milliken & Company|Deering-Milliken Research Corporation]]. He has alleged that the Nelson Organization was envisaged as a clandestine funding conduit for the [[Central Intelligence Agency]], which expressed interest in Project Xanadu at an early juncture; however, the promised funds failed to materialize after several benchmarks were met.

From 1980 to 1981, he was the editor of ''[[Creative Computing (magazine)|Creative Computing]]''. At the behest of Xanadu developers [[Mark S. Miller]] and Stuart Greene, Nelson joined [[San Antonio, Texas]]-based [[Datapoint]] as chief software designer (1981–1982), remaining with the company as a media specialist and technical writer until its [[Asher Edelman]]-driven restructuring in 1984. Following several San Antonio-based consultancies and the acquisition of Xanadu technology by [[Autodesk]] in 1988, he continued working on the project as a non-managerial Distinguished Fellow in the [[San Francisco Bay Area]] until the divestiture of the Xanadu Operating Group in 1992–1993.

After holding visiting professorships in [[media (communication)|media]] and [[information science]] at [[Hokkaido University]] (1995–1996), [[Keio University]] (1996–2002), the [[University of Southampton]] and the [[University of Nottingham]], he was a fellow (2004–2006) and visiting fellow (2006–2008) of the [[Oxford Internet Institute]] in conjunction with [[Wadham College, Oxford]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.oii.ox.ac.uk/people/ted-nelson/|title=OII &#124; Dr Ted Nelson|access-date=April 24, 2018 |archive-date=March 16, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180316214120/https://www.oii.ox.ac.uk/people/ted-nelson|url-status=live}}</ref> More recently, he has taught classes at [[Chapman University]] and the [[University of California, Santa Cruz]].

{{Anchor|The Curse of Xanadu}} <!-- [[Gary Wolf (journalist)]] and [[Project Xanadu]] both link to this section - please do not delete this anchor -->
The Xanadu project failed to flourish, for a variety of reasons which are disputed. Journalist [[Gary Wolf (journalist)|Gary Wolf]] published an unflattering history of Nelson and his project in the June 1995 issue of ''[[Wired (magazine)|Wired]]'', calling it "the longest-running [[vaporware]] project in the history of computing".<ref name="wired3_6">{{cite magazine|title=The Curse of Xanadu |author=Gary Wolf |magazine=[[Wired (magazine)|Wired]]|date=June 1995 |url=https://www.wired.com/wired/archive/3.06/xanadu.html |access-date=July 3, 2011|volume=3|issue=6|url-access=limited |archive-date=March 20, 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140320194124/http://www.wired.com/wired/archive/3.06/xanadu.html|url-status=live}}</ref> On his own website, Nelson expressed his disgust with the criticisms, referring to Wolf as "Gory Jackal", and threatened to sue him.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://ted.hyperland.com/whatsay|title=What they say|publisher=Ted.hyperland.com|access-date=2011-05-26 |archive-date=January 16, 2006|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060116220933/http://ted.hyperland.com/whatsay/|url-status=live}}</ref> He also outlined his objections in a letter to ''Wired'',<ref>{{cite magazine |url=https://www.wired.com/wired/archive/3.09/rants.html |title=Letters about "The Curse of Xanadu" |magazine=Wired|date=2009-01-04 |access-date=2011-05-26|volume=3|issue=9|url-access=limited|archive-date=July 16, 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130716111412/http://www.wired.com/wired/archive/3.09/rants.html|url-status=live}}</ref> and released a detailed rebuttal of the article.<ref>{{cite web |year=2010 |title=Errors in "The Curse of Xanadu," by Gary Wolf |url=http://vinci.org/rlv/c/xanadu2/index.html |url-status=unfit |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181215115030/http://vinci.org/rlv/c/xanadu2/index.html |archive-date=December 15, 2018 |access-date=May 25, 2011 |work=vinci.org |quote=Errors in 'The Curse of Xanadu', by Gary Wolf}}</ref>

As early as 1972, a demonstration iteration developed by Cal Daniels failed to reach fruition when Nelson was forced to return the project's rented [[Data General Nova]] [[minicomputer]] due to financial exigencies. Nelson has stated that some aspects of his vision were fulfilled by [[Tim Berners-Lee]]'s invention of the [[World Wide Web]], but he disliked the World Wide Web, [[XML]], and  embedded [[markup language|markup]] – regarding Berners-Lee's work as a gross over-simplification of his original vision: <blockquote>HTML is precisely what we were trying to PREVENT— ever-breaking links, links going outward only, quotes you can't follow to their origins, no [[version management]], no rights management.<ref>{{cite web|title=Ted Nelson's Computer Paradigm Expressed as One-Liners |author=Ted Nelson |year=1999 |url=http://xanadu.com.au/ted/TN/WRITINGS/TCOMPARADIGM/tedCompOneLiners.html |access-date=July 3, 2011|archive-date=March 24, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230324021442/http://xanadu.com.au/ted/TN/WRITINGS/TCOMPARADIGM/tedCompOneLiners.html|url-status=live}}</ref></blockquote>

[[Jaron Lanier]] explained the difference between the World Wide Web and Nelson's vision, and the implications: 
<blockquote>A core technical difference between a Nelsonian network and what we have become familiar with online is that [Nelson's] network links were two-way instead of one-way. In a network with two-way links, each node knows what other nodes are linked to it. ... Two-way linking would preserve context. It's a small simple change in how online information should be stored that couldn't have vaster implications for culture and the economy.<ref>Jaron Lanier, ''Who Owns the Future'', New York: Simon & Schuster, 2013. p. 227</ref></blockquote>

==Other projects==
In 1957, Nelson co-wrote and co-produced what he describes as a pioneering rock musical entitled "Anything and Everything"; it was performed at [[Swarthmore College]].<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://archive.org/details/TheFirstRockMusicalRemembered |title="Anything & Everything" |first=Russ Ryan (poster and album label cartoons) |last=Ted Nelson (book and lyrics) and Dick Caplan (music) |date=November 23, 1957 |website=Internet Archive}}</ref> Two years later, during his senior year at Swarthmore, Nelson made an experimental humorous student film, ''The Epiphany of Slocum Furlow'', in which the titular hero discovers the meaning of life. Musician and composer [[Peter Schickele]], also a student at Swarthmore College, scored the film.<ref>{{cite web |title=The Epiphany of Slocum Furlow |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rFgul6rwNbQ |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211211/rFgul6rwNbQ|archive-date=2021-12-11|url-status=live|publisher=Student film available on YouTube |author=Ted Nelson |year=1959|access-date=November 2, 2013}}{{cbignore}}</ref>

In 1965, Nelson presented the paper "Complex Information Processing: A File Structure for the Complex, the Changing, and the Indeterminate" at the [[Association for Computing Machinery|ACM]] National Conference, in which he coined the term "hypertext".<ref name="ELMCIP"/>

In 1976, Nelson co-founded and briefly served as the advertising director of the "itty bitty machine company", or "ibm", a small computer retail store that operated from 1977 to 1980 in [[Evanston, Illinois]]. In 1978, he had a significant impact upon [[IBM]]'s thinking when he outlined his vision of the potential of personal computing to the team that three years later launched the [[IBM PC]].<ref>{{cite web|author=John Markoff|url=https://bits.blogs.nytimes.com/2007/12/11/when-big-blue-got-a-glimpse-of-the-future|title=When Big Blue Got a Glimpse of the Future|publisher=bits.blogs.nytimes.com|date=December 11, 2007|access-date=July 3, 2011|url-access=registration|archive-date=July 24, 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110724232608/http://bits.blogs.nytimes.com/2007/12/11/when-big-blue-got-a-glimpse-of-the-future/|url-status=live}}</ref>

From the 1960s to the mid-2000s, Nelson built an extensive collection of direct advertising mail he received in his mailbox, mainly from companies selling products in IT, print/publishing, aerospace, and engineering. In 2017, the [[Internet Archive]] began to publish it online in scanned form, in a collection titled "Ted Nelson's Junk Mail Cartons".<ref>{{Cite news |url=http://ascii.textfiles.com/archives/5206|title=Ted Nelson's Junk Mail (and the Archive Corps Pilot) |date=2017-05-31|work=ASCII by Jason Scott |access-date=2017-07-30|language=en-US|archive-date=December 2, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191202114128/http://ascii.textfiles.com/archives/5206|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.vice.com/en/article/why-is-the-internet-archive-painstakingly-preserving-one-mans-junk-mail/|title=Why Is the Internet Archive Painstakingly Preserving One Man's Junk Mail?|website=Motherboard|date=July 25, 2017|language=en-us|access-date=2017-07-30|archive-date=July 29, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170729043917/https://motherboard.vice.com/en_us/article/59p89z/why-is-the-internet-archive-painstakingly-preserving-one-mans-junk-mail |url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |url=https://archive.org/details/tednelsonjunkmail&tab=about |title=Ted Nelson's Junk Mail Cartons|website=Internet Archive |language=en |access-date=2017-07-30}}</ref>

==ZigZag==
{{Main|ZigZag (software)}}
As of 2011, Nelson was working on a new information structure, ZigZag,<ref>{{cite web|author=Ted Nelson |url=http://xanadu.com/zigzag |title=ZigZag and Its Structure|publisher=Xanadu.com|access-date=2011-05-26|archive-date=December 18, 2007 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071218200246/http://xanadu.com/zigzag/|url-status=live}}</ref> which is described on the Xanadu project website, which also hosts two versions of the Xanadu code. He also developed XanaduSpace, a system for the exploration of connected parallel documents (an early version of this software may be freely downloaded).<ref>{{cite web|author=Ted Nelson|url=http://xanarama.net/|title=XanaduSpace|publisher=Xanarama.net|date=June 25, 2007|access-date=July 3, 2011|archive-date=June 25, 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110625184656/http://xanarama.net/|url-status=live}}</ref>

==Influence and recognition==
In January 1988 [[Byte (magazine)|''Byte'' magazine]] published an article about Nelson's ideas, titled "Managing Immense Storage".<ref>{{cite magazine |last1=H. Nelson |first1=Theodor |title=Managing Immense Storage |magazine=[[Byte (magazine)|Byte: The Small Systems Journal]] |date=January 1988 |volume=13 |issue=1 |pages=225–238}}</ref> 

In 1998, at the Seventh WWW Conference in [[Brisbane]], Australia, Nelson was awarded the [[Yuri Rubinsky Memorial Award]].

In 2001, he was knighted by France as [[Ordre des Arts et des Lettres|Officier des Arts et Lettres]]. In 2007, he celebrated his 70th birthday by giving an invited lecture at the [[University of Southampton]].<ref>70th Birthday Lecture: {{YouTube|iE2A95HXP4Y|Intertwingularity: where ideas collide}}</ref> In 2014, ACM [[SIGCHI]] honored him with a Special Recognition Award.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.sigchi.org/about/awards/2014-sigchi-awards|title=ACM SIGCHI 2014 awards page|access-date=April 26, 2014|archive-date=July 5, 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140705202806/http://www.sigchi.org/about/awards/2014-sigchi-awards|url-status=dead}}</ref>

In 2014, Nelson was conferred with a Doctor of Science degree, honoris causa, by [[Chapman University]]. The ceremony took place during the 'Intertwingled' conference, featuring Nelson and other prominent figures in the field, including Apple Computer founder [[Steve Wozniak]] and former Association for Computing Machinery president [[Wendy Hall]]. At the conference, Nelson stated confidence in the potential of his Xanadu system, saying 'The world would have been a better place if I had succeeded, but I ain't dead yet.'<ref>{{cite web|url=https://news.chapman.edu/2014/04/28/in-honor-of-ted-nelson-computer-pioneers-connect-at-intertwingled/|title=In honor of Ted Nelson, computer pioneers connect at 'Intertwingled'|date=April 28, 2014|author=Dawn Bonker|publisher=[[Chapman University]]|access-date=2023-09-03|archive-date=September 3, 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230903154339/https://news.chapman.edu/2014/04/28/in-honor-of-ted-nelson-computer-pioneers-connect-at-intertwingled/|url-status=live}}</ref>

===Neologisms===
Nelson is credited with coining several new words that have come into common usage especially in the world of computing. Among them are:
* [[hypertext]] and [[hypermedia]] in 1963 and first published in 1965
* [[transclusion]]
* [[virtuality (software design)|virtuality]]
* [[intertwingularity]]
* [[teledildonics]] (devised by Nelson in 1975 before its later popularization by [[Howard Rheingold]])

==Publications==
Nelson publishes some of his books through his self-owned Mindful Press.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.aus.xanadu.com/itimes/998 |title=Other Publications From Mindful Press |website=www.aus.xanadu.com |access-date=November 2, 2013 |archive-date=November 3, 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131103205408/http://www.aus.xanadu.com/itimes/998 |url-status=dead}}</ref>
* ''Life, Love, College, etc.'' (1959)
* ''[[Computer Lib/Dream Machines]]: New freedoms through computer screens—a minority report'' (1974), [[Microsoft Press]], revised edition 1987 with forward by [[Stewart Brand]]: {{ISBN|0-914845-49-7}}<ref>{{cite news|author=L. R. Shannon |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1988/02/16/science/peripherals-a-book-that-grew-up.html |title=Peripherals: A Book That Grew Up |newspaper=New York Times |date=February 16, 1988 |access-date=July 3, 2011|url-access=limited|archive-date=January 27, 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100127210447/http://www.nytimes.com/1988/02/16/science/peripherals-a-book-that-grew-up.html?|url-status=live}}</ref>
* ''The Home Computer Revolution'' (1977)
* ''[[Literary Machines]]: The report on, and of, Project Xanadu concerning word processing, electronic publishing, hypertext, thinkertoys, tomorrow's intellectual revolution, and certain other topics including knowledge, education and freedom'' (1981), Mindful Press; publication dates as listed in the 93.1 (1993) edition: 1980–84, 1987, 1990–93
* ''The Future of Information'' (1997)
* {{cite journal |last1= |first1= |title=A Cosmology for a Different Computer Universe: Data Model, Mechanisms, Virtual Machine and Visualization Infrastructure |journal=Journal of Digital Information |date=4 January 2004 |volume=5 |issue=1 |url=https://jodi-ojs-tdl.tdl.org/jodi/article/view/jodi-129 |access-date= |publisher=[[British Computing Society]] |location=Southampton, UK |language=en |issn=1368-7506 |archive-date=9 October 2004 |archive-url=https://archive.today/20041009214354/http://www.ics.uci.edu/~ejw/csr/nelson_pg.html |url-status=live}}
* ''Geeks Bearing Gifts: How The Computer World Got This Way'' (2008; [https://web.archive.org/web/20200514060756/http://geeks-bearing-gifts.com/gbgContents.html Chapter summaries])
* ''POSSIPLEX: Movies, Intellect, Creative Control, My Computer Life and the Fight for Civilization'' (2010), autobiography, Mindful Press.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://events.sfgate.com/san-francisco-ca/events/show/145055245-ted-nelson-speaks-about-possiplex |work=The San Francisco Chronicle|date=October 8, 2010|title=Ted Nelson Speaks About Possiplex|access-date=July 3, 2011 |url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110716044523/http://events.sfgate.com/san-francisco-ca/events/show/145055245-ted-nelson-speaks-about-possiplex|archive-date=July 16, 2011|df=mdy-all}}</ref>

==References==
{{Reflist |32em}}

==External links==
{{Wikiquote}}
* [http://ted.hyperland.com/ Ted Nelson's homepage]
* [http://xanadu.com.au/ted/ Ted Nelson's homepage at xanadu.com.au]
* [https://www.youtube.com/user/TheTedNelson Ted Nelson on YouTube]
* [http://transliterature.org/ Transliterature – A Humanist Design] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130718151249/http://transliterature.org/ |date=July 18, 2013 }}
* {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20041009214354/http://www.ics.uci.edu/~ejw/csr/nelson_pg.html |date=October 9, 2004 |title=Orality and Hypertext }}: An Interview with Ted Nelson, 1999.
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20140326012739/http://filefestival.org/site_2007/filescript_pop.asp?cd_pagina=311&id=2&cd_materia=207 Software and Media for a New Democracy] a talk given by Ted Nelson at the [http://www.file.org.br File festival] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141218144412/http://www.file.org.br/ |date=December 18, 2014 }} Symposium/November/2005.
* [https://www.wired.com/wired/archive/13.08/tech.html "We Are the Web". ''Wired'' article, recalling interview with Nelson], August 2005.
* {{YouTube|ohiKTVVtDJA|Transclusion: Fixing Electronic Literature}}, a talk given by Ted at [[Google]], January 29, 2007.
* [https://archive.org/details/possiplexvideo Ted Nelson Possiplex Internet Archive book reading video], October 8, 2010.
* [http://openvault.wgbh.org/catalog/326388-the-machine-that-changed-the-world-interview-with-ted-nelson-1990 Ted Nelson original interview footage from PBS's Machine That Changed the World], 1990.
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20140526032523/http://blip.tv/howardrheingold/doug-engelbart-ted-nelson-come-to-dinner-4042213 Video excerpts of a dinner at Howard Rheingold's home with Doug Englebart and Ted Nelson], August 18, 2010.
* {{Triangulation|164|Ted Nelson}}, August 18, 2014.

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Nelson, Ted}}
[[Category:Ted Nelson| ]]
[[Category:1937 births]]
[[Category:American educators]]
[[Category:American expatriates in the United Kingdom]]
[[Category:21st-century American philosophers]]
[[Category:20th-century American philosophers]]
[[Category:American sociologists]]
[[Category:American philosophers of technology]]
[[Category:Fellows of Wadham College, Oxford]]
[[Category:Harvard University alumni]]
[[Category:Living people]]
[[Category:American people of Swedish descent]]
[[Category:American people of Norwegian descent]]
[[Category:Swarthmore College alumni]]
[[Category:Keio University alumni]]
[[Category:Officiers of the Ordre des Arts et des Lettres]]