Nerds 2.0.1: A Brief History of the Internet
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| Nerds 2.0.1 VHS Cover | |
| Format | Video (TV) |
|---|---|
| Genre | Documentary |
| Origin | USA |
| Language | English |
| Release Date | 19 September - 3 October 1998 |
| Running Time | 180 min |
| Production | |
| Created by | NA |
| Directed by | Stephen Segaller |
| Produced by | Robert X. Cringely, John Gau, and Stephen Segaller |
| Written by | Robert X. Cringely, John Gau, and Stephen Segaller |
| Screenplay by | Robert X. Cringely, John Gau, and Stephen Segaller |
| Distributed by | PBS |
| Narrated by | Robert X. Cringely |
| Starring | Robert X. Cringely, Steve Ballmer, Bill Gates, Steve Jobs |
| Music by | Michael Bard |
| Cinematography by | Greg Bond, Wendy Revak, Brett Wood |
| Edited by | Bruce Barrow |
| Production Company | John Gau Productions, Oregon Public Broadcasting |
| Location(s) | Various |
| Original Channel | Channel 4, PBS |
| Additional Information | |
| Based on | Accidental Empires |
| Topics | Technology, Computers, Hacking |
| Follows | Triumph of the Nerds, The: The Rise of Accidental Empires |
| Precedes | Steve Jobs: The Lost Interview |
| Associated Video | NA |
| Website | pbs.org/opb/nerds2.0.1 |
Nerds 2.0.1: A Brief History of the Internet - a.k.a. Glory of the Geeks - is a 1998 American PBS television documentary that explores the development of the Arpanet, the Internet, and the World Wide Web in from 1969 to 1998. It was created during the dot-com boom 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 weekly episodes between September 19 and October 3, 1998 on Channel 4 in the United Kingdom, and as Nerds 2.0.1 on consecutive days between November 9 and 11, 1998 by PBS in the United States.
Synopsis
Join Robert X Cringely in this much-anticipated sequel to Triumph of the Nerds, as he turns his well-informed and irreverent eye on the intriguing history of the Internet. Go deep into the bowels of the Pentagon to witness the birth of the Internet and follow its rapid rise to the cutting edge of the World Wide Web. On his journey, Cringely interviews the unknown nerds who laid the Internet's foundations, visits the Silicon Valley of India and grills the founders of the networking companies who have made millions from this fascinating new technology.
Triumph of the Nerds won legions of computer-skeptical and computer-naive viewers with its mix of minutiae and hip techniques. Going one step further into the digital maze, Nerds 2.0.1: A Brief History of the Internet operates as a sequel of sorts to the surprise docu-hit. Just as its precursor chronicled the rise of empires built on computer software, Nerds 2.0.1 collects interviews from key players in the development of the Internet. Fashionably hip in its visual feel, the film begins by amassing data on the net's crowning, collaborative irony: conceived in the Pentagon during the counterculture's smokiest high point by members--dare it be said--of the military industrial complex, the Net developed on the axis of university research networks and Deadhead (as in the Grateful Dead) electronic bulletin boards. Much of the rest has become history, but Internet and computer industry pundit Robert X. Cringley makes the narrative a jumping, attractive embrace of being a nerd. Interviews with Bill Gates, Mark Andreesen, and Steve Case make these three hours (three tapes slipcased in a nice box) fly by.
Episodes
As broadcast by Channel 4/PBS:
- Networking the Nerds (September 19, 1998/November 9, 1998)
- Serving the Suits (September 26, 1998/November 10, 1998)
- Wiring the World (October 3, 1998/November 11, 1998)
Partial cast
- Marc Andreessen
- Steve Ballmer
- Paul Baran
- Andy Bechtolsheim
- Tim Berners-Lee
- Len Bosack
- Stewart Brand
- Vannevar Bush
- Steve Case
- Vint Cerf
- Steve Crocker
- Will Crowther
- John Doerr
- Larry Ellison
- Doug Engelbart
- Bill Gates
- James Gosling
- Steve Jobs
- Bill Joy
- Bob Kahn
- Vinod Khosla
- Len Kleinrock
- Sandy Lerner
- J.C.R. Licklider
- Drew Major
- John McAfee
- Scott McNealy
- Bob Metcalfe
- Ted Nelson
- Ray Noorda
- Severo Ornstein
- Jonathan Postel
- Howard Rheingold
- Larry Roberts
- Eric Schmidt
- Jon Shirley
- Ivan Sutherland
- Bob Taylor
- Larry Tesler
- Ray Tomlinson
- Don Valentine
Downloads
| Film | User | Format | Link | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nerds 2.0.1 - Episode 01 (1998) | NA | XviD | Archive.org | |
| Nerds 2.0.1 - Episode 02 (1998) | NA | XviD | Archive.org | |
| Nerds 2.0.1 - Episode 03 (1998) | NA | XviD | Archive.org |
