The World Tech Made

“We are as gods and might as well get used to it.” So began Stewart Brand’s introduction to the first issue of The Whole Earth Catalog, an encyclopedic compendium of resources for back-to-the-land living that became a foundational document of Silicon Valley’s techno-utopian culture. The Catalog departed from typical countercultural fare in seeking to impart technological know-how to commune dwellers. It included the use of handheld calculators and treatises on information theory among its recommended essentials for self-sufficient living. Such skills and knowledge, Brand explained, were hoarded by big corporations, government agencies, schools, and churches. It was time to return power to the