Early internet culture was born from countercultural ethos, not commerce

Evidence

Early internet culture boasted an immaculate countercultural pedigree. Its lineage began with Stewart Brand—a disciple of Ken Kesey and his Merry Pranksters—who founded the techno-utopian magazine Whole Earth Catalog. Brand believed that tools and technology were critical for expanding human consciousness. (Kesey agreed; personal computing would be “the next thing after acid.”) The Whole Earth Catalog, later described by Steve Jobs as “a sort of Google in paperback form,” offered a vision of interconnected knowledge and creativity. Brand then became the First Man of Tech: He attended Burning Man, gave a talk at the first TED conference, coined the phrase “Information wants to be free,” built early online communities like the WELL (Whole Earth ‘Lectronic Link), and influenced thinkers who would shape early online media, including institutions like Salon, Craigslist, the Electronic Frontier Foundation, and Wired. — W. David Marx, Blank Space, 161

Categorization

• XREF: Connects to the broader thesis about the death of the sellout and how countercultures get incorporated; later chapters likely return to Brand’s lineage as the origin of the ‘information wants to be free’ ethos that shaped early online culture before monetization flattened it. — connects to: San Francisco web culture grew directly out of rave culture — Alice E. Marwick, Status Update: Celebrity, Publicity,…, 129; Countercultural non-monetization ideals are converted into justifications for precarious tech labor. — Alice E. Marwick, Status Update: Celebrity, Publicity,…, 140