You can and must understand computers NOW

This is the subtitle to Ted Nelson’s 1974 book, Computer Lib. Nelson wrote this when computers were locked away in institutions, inaccessible to ordinary people. He wanted that to change. And a lot has changed since the 70s. Now, you’re likely using a personal computer to read this. Accessing computers is easier than ever. You know how to use them. How well do you understand them?

Our interactions with computers are mediated through software and platforms that other people have made, feeds with infinite scrolling and walled gardens we’re not meant to leave. This has shaped what you do and what you see as possible. This was not inevitable. Many people believed computing should be something you shape, not just something you use.

Dream Machines (1974) — The flip side of Ted Nelson's Computer Lib is called Dream Machines and contains some of his speculative ideas of what computers could be: a universal, interconnected medium for non-linear writing, publishing, and collaboration

Mother of all Demos (1968) — Douglas Engelbart's 'Mother of All Demos' (1968) showed what a computer could do when designed to extend human capability

In Tools for Conviviality (1973), Ivan Illich argued that technology should expand your capability, not create dependency

Alan Kay envisioned Dynabook (1972), a portable personal computer used for interactive learning and expression

At times, these visions have felt tangible. There have been many tools— some lost to time— that allowed everyday people to create.

HyperCard (1987) was many people's first time creating tools with software.

Flash (1996) gave people the ability to make and share games, animations, and weird interactive art

Dynamicland (2018) is building a collaborative computing environment free from screens

Claude Code (2025) has allowed people to create software from prompts

Despite these, computers have not been a mass liberating force. They’ve created consumers, not empowered individuals. This is not because these tools lack potential or power. They have it in spades. The reason is that most people do not understand computers. By understanding them, we can unlock their potential.

I’d like to help you become literate in computing. This is different from learning how to code: it’s understanding what computers are capable of. Computers are a general purpose tool. A tool that can create other tools. To use them well is to understand tools: what can they do? How do you interact with them?

You’re probably most used to using a touchscreen or mouse and keyboard to control computers, but there was a time when these choices were not obvious. Someone created those options for you. Other possibilities exist. Today it’s becoming easier to use natural language and voice or video to control software.

Underneath all of these interactions is data. Computers are a medium of data. Everything that a computer is able to do comes from data. If you are able to represent something with data, you can compute with it. The possibilities are endless.

There’s just as much to learn. It’ll be helpful to start by understanding how computers work at their most basic levels, bits and bytes and all. From there we can look at how different types of commonly used software work, like databases. I’m also excited to keep space to speculate about what computers can still become. You can do this too.

You can and must understand computers NOW.