Lee Felsenstein: Big Ideas

Plutopia News Network

In this episode of the Plutopia News Network podcast, engineer Lee Felsenstein shares his experiences with the Homebrew Computer Club, a pioneering group of technology enthusiasts in Silicon Valley during the early days of personal computing. Felsenstein debunks the myth that the counterculture was solely responsible for the personal computer revolution, describing a diverse group of members, including engineers, doctors, and entrepreneurs. He reflects on the organic development of computing and his role in designing the Osborne 1, the first mass-produced portable computer. Felsenstein also discusses the broader social and community impact of technology, his efforts with the Community Memory project, and the role of online networks in shaping modern communication. As the podcast wraps up, he shares insights on open-source, decentralized platforms as potential alternatives to corporate-driven social media.

Lee Felsenstein:

This myth has developed that the hippies made the personal computer with the Homebrew Computer Club. No. There were hippies there, a few. There were some psychedelic rangers. There were more doctors, physicists, physicians who should have been engineers. There was, as I put it in the book, the usual batch of dweebs and slobs that populated Silicon Valley. There were the guys with white shoes who said, you know you can make money on this. Everybody said, okay, well, maybe show us. But it was quite a mixture of people.

Lee’s just-published new book is called Me and My Big Ideas – Counterculture, Social Media, and the Future.