''Nerds 2.0.1: A Brief History of the Internet'' – also known as ''Glory of the Geeks'' – is a 1998 American

PBS The Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) is an American public broadcaster and non-commercial, free-to-air television network based in Arlington, Virginia. PBS is a publicly funded nonprofit organization and the most prominent provider of educat ...

television documentary that explores the development of the

ARPANET The Advanced Research Projects Agency Network (ARPANET) was the first wide-area packet-switched network with distributed control and one of the first computer networks to implement the TCP/IP protocol suite. Both technologies became the tec ...

, the

Internet The Internet (or internet) is the Global network, global system of interconnected computer networks that uses the Internet protocol suite (TCP/IP) to communicate between networks and devices. It is a internetworking, network of networks ...

, and the

World Wide Web The World Wide Web (WWW or simply the Web) is an information system that enables Content (media), content sharing over the Internet through user-friendly ways meant to appeal to users beyond Information technology, IT specialists and hobbyis ...

from 1969 to 1998. It was created during the

dot-com boom The dot-com bubble (or dot-com boom) was a stock market bubble that ballooned during the late-1990s and peaked on Friday, March 10, 2000. This period of market growth coincided with the widespread adoption of the World Wide Web and the Intern ...

of the late 1990s. The documentary was hosted and co-written by Robert X. Cringely (Mark Stephens), and is the sequel to the 1996 documentary, '' Triumph of the Nerds.'' It was first broadcast as ''Glory of the Geeks'' in three episodes on

Channel 4 Channel 4 is a British free-to-air public broadcast television channel owned and operated by Channel Four Television Corporation. It is state-owned enterprise, publicly owned but, unlike the BBC, it receives no public funding and is funded en ...

in the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

, and as ''Nerds 2.0.1'' by

in the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

Production

The documentary has three segments. The segment Networking the Nerds is about the professionals who worked to expand the

since the 1960s and internet advances by the United States government. Connecting the Suits details the founders of

3Com 3Com Corporation was an American digital electronics manufacturer best known for its computer network products. The company was co-founded in 1979 by Robert Metcalfe, Howard Charney and others. Bill Krause joined as President in 1981. Metcalfe ex ...

Novell Novell, Inc. () was an American software and services company headquartered in Provo, Utah, that existed from 1980 until 2014. Its most significant product was the multi-platform network operating system known as NetWare. Novell technolog ...

, and

Cisco Systems Cisco Systems, Inc. (using the trademark Cisco) is an American multinational corporation, multinational digital communications technology conglomerate (company), conglomerate corporation headquartered in San Jose, California. Cisco develops, m ...

. The last segment, Wiring the World, is about the history of the World Wide Web.Weinstein, David. “Nerds 2.0.1: A Brief History of the Internet.” Journalism History, vol. 24, no. 4, Dec. 1998, p. 171. EBSCOhost

Apple Inc. Apple Inc. is an American multinational corporation and technology company headquartered in Cupertino, California, in Silicon Valley. It is best known for its consumer electronics, software, and services. Founded in 1976 as Apple Comput ...

founder

Steve Jobs Steven Paul Jobs (February 24, 1955 – October 5, 2011) was an American businessman, inventor, and investor best known for co-founding the technology company Apple Inc. Jobs was also the founder of NeXT and chairman and majority shareholder o ...

is among those featured in the documentary. The documentary aired in 1998 on PBS and Channel 4. It aired on the Australian television channel Ovation in 2002.Ellis, Scott. “Pay TV Highlights.” The Sun-Herald, August 11, 2002. EBSCOhost

Reception

David Weinston of the journal '' Journalism History'' said, "As on his earlier PBS history of the personal computer, ''Triumph of the Nerds'' (1996), Cringely's whimsical narration, quick edits, varied music, hand-held camera moves, and animated graphics keep ''Nerds 2.0.1'' funny, fast moving and unpredictable." Charles Ashbacher wrote in the journal '' Mathematics and Computer Education'', "In this tape, Cringely and company get the background of the Internet right, and this is a tape that should be in all libraries, public and institutional."Ashbacher, Charles. “Nerds 2.0.1: A Brief History of the Internet.” Mathematics & Computer Education, vol. 36, no. 3, Fall 2002, p. 301. EBSCOhost Scott Ellis said in a review of the documentary's 2002 Australian television broadcast that "it's a very informative and funny run through who was responsible for the great ideas – or who just fluked an advance that changed our world and gave us the net." Nigerian computer scientist Philip Emeagwali wrote a criticism of the documentary's website listing 48 white males out of 50 internet pioneers, with none of them being black. Emeagwali said, "Since white males control the media, 96 percent of the Internet pioneers were white males. The documentary ''Nerds 2.0.1'' reminded me of the African proverb: 'Only when lions have historians will hunters cease to be heroes.

Book

The documentary led to the publication of a 1998 book by director Stephen Segaller with the same title. The book has four sections that detail the development of the internet during the 1960s to 1998. Each interview was combined to create a historical narrative flow throughout the book.Koch, C. (2007). Nerds: A brief history of the internet. Choice, 44(10), 1656. Its setup is similar to a documentary. Jim Trageser of the '' American Reporter'' said that "entire swaths of the history of the Internet, and the online world in general, are missing from this book" such as "the omission of the BBS phenomenon." C. Kock of ''

Choice Reviews Choice is a publishing unit of the Association of College and Research Libraries (ACRL). It includes the magazine ''Choice'' as well as other products including the ''Choice Reviews'' database. The magazine was established in 1964. It is consid ...

'' said, "Segaller has managed to offer an entertaining and very detailed picture of the world of the "nerds and geeks," as he refers to those whom he considers responsible for the commercial and communication monolith called the Internet." A ''

Publishers Weekly ''Publishers Weekly'' (''PW'') is an American weekly trade news magazine targeted at publishers, librarians, booksellers, and literary agents. Published continuously since 1872, it has carried the tagline, "The International News Magazine of ...

'' review says, "Whether you call the pioneers it portrays 'nerds' or any other name, Segaller's book makes an impressive argument for their significance."

Home video

The documentary was released in a three-VHS tape set. A legal off-air recording of the documentary was released on DVD by DECS Tape Services.

References

External links