The potential of end-user programmable worlds: present and future.

In Vernor Vinge's 1981 science fiction classic True Names, a global multi-user virtual world underlies the functioning of government and business. Some control this world in a literal-minded filing cabinet sort of fashion, and others with more colorful metaphors. Either style of interaction is a form of end-user programming. The power of cyberspace lies in the creativity and programming talent of its inhabitants.