Monday, December 24, 2012

Facebook?! Twitter?! Instagram?! We Did That 40 Years Ago

<p>It all feels so new, doesn't it? Facebook. FaceTime. Google+ hangouts. Hashtagging your memories on Twitter and Instagram.</p><p>But this holiday season, as you and your enormous collection of Apple gadgets spend all your extra time connecting with distant friends and family over the latest and greatest social media services, it's worth remembering that all this social stuff was a long time coming.</p><p>Before Facebook and Facetime and Google+ and Twitter, there was Plato and the Bell Picturephone and the Dynabook and the Xerox LiveBoard. Social media is nothing new. It just has better packaging -- and better marketing.</p><p>LiveBoard doesn't ring a bell? You've never heard of Plato? It's time for a little history lesson (just click on the images above). Before you sit back with your eggnog and your iPad and your Tumblr, take a few spare holiday moments to appreciate the social media creations of decades past. Your Tumbling iPad wouldn't be here without Alan Kay's DynaBook. You'd be left with nothing but eggnog -- and a holiday hangover.</p><p><a href="http://www.wired.com/wiredenterprise/2012/12/social-media-history/">Keep reading...</a></p>

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