The New Media Reader: Ch. 5-9

Chronology:

• 1960: Joseph Licklider publishes "Man-Computer Symbiosis"
• 1961: Allan Kaprow publishes "Happenings", and William Burroughs publishes "The Cut-Up Method of Brion Gysin"
  
• 1962: Joseph Licklider becomes the head of ARPA and Douglas Engelbart publishes "Augmenting Human Intellect"
• 1963: Ivan Sutherland publishes "Sketchpad A Man-Machine Graphical Communication System"

Summary:

• Licklider helped change the thinking of ARPA by redirecting funding from private companies to universities, helping to create the military industrial complex
• He attempted to display the importance of human/machine interaction
• A large number of interactive, new-age art displays were created by Kaprow in the 50s and 60s under the name "Happenings"
  
• The "cut-up method" was a form of a textual collage. It allowed the creator the ability to make poignant things of unrelated things.
• Engelbert invented the defining features of computers what would later become a mouse, a window and a word processor.
• Engelbert saw the rapid progress of technology, and how it could shift at any moment, he wanted, and saw the importance in, to create tools that made it easier for humans to interact with their digital counterparts.
• Sketchpad began the digital vision. It hinted at the ability for computer to simulate reality so humans could experiment in the digital sphere instead of the physical one.