Whole Earth Catalog

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The Whole Earth Catalog was an American counterculture magazine and product catalog. It was published between 1968 and 1972 (occasionally until 2003) by Stewart Brand , the later inventor of the term " personal computer ".

The catalog contained essays and articles, but primarily focused on product reviews. The focus was on self-sufficiency , ecology , alternative education , the it-yourself (DIY) and holism .

On the third page of each issue, the creators explained the very simple selection system:

An item has been added to the catalog if it:

  1. useful as a tool
  2. is relevant for independent education,
  3. has high quality or costs little,
  4. has not already penetrated the general consciousness,
  5. and can be easily sent by post.

Although the Whole Earth Catalog listed and tested a wide range of products (clothing, books, tools, machines, seeds, etc.), the publisher did not sell any of the products themselves. Instead, the seller's contact information was listed alongside the item and its verification. As a result, numerous issues and updates were required to keep pricing and availability information current.

The catalog shaped and disseminated many approaches that are linked today with the 1960s and 1970s, such as those of the counterculture and the environmental movement . Later editions influenced the 1970s to 1990s.

Steve Jobs , founder of Apple Inc. , called the catalog one of the Bibles of his generation and an analog forerunner of search engines like Google on the Internet . He quoted from it the request "Stay hungry, stay foolish" (Eng., Dt. About stay hungry, stay foolish ).

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Back Issues - Whole Earth Catalog. Retrieved August 1, 2018 .
  2. ↑ a b House of World Cultures : hkw.de: The Whole Earth - Exhibition (March 1, 2014)
  3. ^ A Brief History of the Whole Earth Catalog. In: wholeearthcatalog.com. Retrieved August 1, 2018 .
  4. ↑ 'You've got to find what you love,' Jobs says. In: Stanford News. Stanford University, July 14, 2005, accessed August 1, 2018 .

Web links