The Whole Earth Catalog Now Online

in Books | January 10th, 2009 14 Comments

Between 1968 and 1972, Stewart Brand published The Whole Earth Catalog. For Kevin Kelly, the Catalog was essentially “a paper-based database offering thousands of hacks, tips, tools, suggestions, and possibilities for optimizing your life.” For Steve Jobs, it was a “Bible” of his generation, a kind of Google 35 years before Google came along. (On a side note, I highly recommend the commencement speech where Jobs made those comments.) The very good news is that The Whole Earth Catalog and some related publications are now available online. You can read them for free, or download them for a fee. Start delving into things here.

While we’re on this subject, I should also highlight a project that has more recently occupied Stewart Brand’s time.  The Seminars About Long Term Thinking is a monthly speaking series hosted by Brand and organized by the Long Now Foundation, which hopes to provide a counterpoint to today’s “faster/cheaper” mind set and to promote “slower/better” thinking. You can access the thought-provoking seminars as a podcast (iTunes - Feed - Web Site) and otherwise find it hosted in our Ideas & Culture Podcast Collection. Have a good weekend.

via Boing Boing



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  1. William Shaw says . . . | January 20, 2009 / 12:15 am

    “In the beginning, Stewart Brand created the Whole Earth Catalog. And the earth was without the web, google or blogging (which the Whole Earth Catalog is credited with inspiring). Steve Jobs described it as “an amazing publication… one of the bibles of my generation… It was sort of like Google in paperback form, 35 years before Google came along: it was idealistic, and overflowing with neat tools and great notions”. ” Emma Ridgeway on Arts & Ecology blog at http://mtblog.typepad.com/arts_ecology

  2. We Are as Gods | Open Culture says . . . | August 24, 2009 / 10:50 pm

    [...] The Whole Earth Catalog Now Online [...]

  3. Steve Jobs on Life: “Stay Hungry, Stay Foolish” | Open Culture says . . . | January 18, 2011 / 11:48 am

    [...] foolish,” a line from The Whole Earth Catalog, the Bible of Steve Jobs’ generation, which became freely available online back in 2009… [...]

  4. What Technology Wants: Kevin Kelly @ Google | Open Culture says . . . | January 31, 2011 / 11:31 am

    [...] Kelly, the co-founder of Wired magazine and former editor/publisher of the Whole Earth Catalog (now free online), published a new book this past October: What Technology Wants. Reviewing his own book on [...]

  5. alvin aguirre says . . . | February 2, 2011 / 4:38 am

    in the cold war days and no pc’s the catalog became the guardian of technology.

  6. What Technology Wants/Kevin Kelly/Authors@Google/자막/대본  | Penguinstep Open Campus says . . . | February 5, 2011 / 7:46 am

    [...] Kelly, the co-founder of Wired magazine and former editor/publisher of the Whole Earth Catalog (now free online), published a new book this past October: What Technology Wants. Reviewing his own book on [...]

  7. The Best Magazine Articles Ever, Curated by Kevin Kelly | Open Culture says . . . | June 23, 2011 / 5:26 am

    [...] Kelly, web-pioneer, co-founder of Wired Magazine, former editor of the Whole Earth Catalog, and one of the best all-around living arguments for ditching college and traveling the world [...]

  8. Mike Gerald says . . . | July 31, 2011 / 4:35 am

    I am seeking to obtain a copy of an article in WEC written by noteworthy playright Ken Kesey about a visit to the
    Sutro Tunnel Saloon in Nevada. It was supposedly in the “first supplement” to
    WEC but I don’t see supplements listed as
    that, and perhaps it is included in #1050
    with the Kesey bus race bits? I would be
    very grateful to obtain such a copy.
    Mike Gerald

  9. opolot david vincent says . . . | September 20, 2011 / 5:27 am

    Wondering what the whole earth catalog is about but I am interested in the hacks, tips, tools, suggestions and possibilities for optimizing life.
    david vincent.

  10. surrey it support says . . . | October 6, 2011 / 11:47 am

    it support surrey…

    [...]The Whole Earth Catalog Now Online | Open Culture[...]…

  11. Self Help Guides Advice says . . . | March 17, 2012 / 12:02 pm

    Self Help Guides Advice…

    [...]The Whole Earth Catalog Now Online | Open Culture[...]…

  12. Connie Cook says . . . | September 28, 2012 / 1:38 pm

    I have a 1972 edition of the Last Whole Earth Catalog. It is in very very good condition. If anyone is interested in the catalog please feel free to contact me through e-mail. It is the most interesting catalog ever published. Steve Jobs was right it was the Google of our time.

  13. Assoc. Prof. P.Tarpowah Kear, Jr. says . . . | March 9, 2013 / 4:30 am

    I would be very grateful, if you could (where possible) kindly send me either a hard copy or electronic copy of the Whole Earth Catalogue.

    I could be reached, by posts, at the address:

    Assoc. Prof. P. Tarpowah Kear, Jr.
    Professional Officer for Pharmacy
    Dept. of Human Resources for Health Development
    West African Health Organsation (WAHO)
    175 Ave. Ouezzin Coulibaly
    01 BP 153 BOBO-DIOULASSO 01
    Burkina Faso

  14. Harlan Howard says . . . | April 23, 2013 / 6:19 pm

    Im fascinated with what it contains please send electronic copy

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