---
title: "Man Who Coined the Term “Cyberspace” Says He Can’t Send Emails"
description: "William Gibson, widely credited with coining the term \"cyberspace\" and imagining the internet, says he can't send emails due to a glitch."
date: "2021-10-29"
modified: "2021-10-29"
authors:
  - name: "Jon Christian"
    job_title: "Executive Editor"
    link: "https://futurism.com/authors/jonc"
url: "https://futurism.com/the-byte/william-gibson-emails"
categories:
  - "Future Society"
tags:
  - "computers"
  - "email"
  - "the digest"
  - "william gibson"
---

# Man Who Coined the Term “Cyberspace” Says He Can’t Send Emails

![William Gibson, widely credited with coining the term "cyberspace" and imagining the internet, says he can't send emails due to a glitch.](<https://futurism.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/sendemail.jpg>)
*\<em\>Image: Getty / Futurism\</em\>*

## Emailmancer

Influential sci-fi author William Gibson, [widely credited with coining](<https://onditmagazine.medium.com/did-william-gibson-invent-cyberspace-fad4dea5de27>) the term "cyberspace" and imagining an ahead-of-its time vision of the internet back in his 1984 novel "Neuromancer," is having computer trouble.

"Current contact info," he [tweeted today](<https://twitter.com/GreatDismal/status/1454096933216153610>). "If you email me, I receive it, but a glitch is making it impossible for me to email you my reply. If you text me at my usual number, no problem! So I am TEXT ONLY, til further!"

## Irate Dismal

It's ironic, sure, but Gibson has [often been a slow adopter](<https://www.thedailybeast.com/agency-author-william-gibson-says-we-are-all-science-fiction-writers-now>) of technologies he predicted before they existed.

And even though he dreamed up one of the most lasting visions of the internet a decade before it went mainstream, he remains unimpressed with the way it's played out in real life.

"Cyberspace, as described in 'Neuromancer,' is nothing at all like the Internet that we live with, which consists mostly of utterly banal and silly stuff," he [told *NPR* last year](<https://www.npr.org/2020/03/19/810570879/william-gibson-says-todays-internet-is-nothing-like-what-he-envisioned>).

**More on William Gibson:** *[Billionaire SpaceX Tourist Places Las Vegas Bet From Outer Space](<https://futurism.com/the-byte/billionaire-spacex-tourist-las-vegas-bet-space>)*

## Author
I'm responsible for editing, assigning, and scouting at Futurism, as well as occasionally writing for the site. That work involves keeping an eye on a wide range of narratives and issues, but over the past few years I've become increasingly interested in how AI is shaping the future of media, the web, and information itself. My day-to-day often involves collaborating on reporting and commentary projects bylined by my colleagues, but I try to find time to do my own reporting as well; stories I've broken for Futurism have been cited by publications including the New York Times, the Washington Post, the New Yorker, Wired, Ars Technica, New York Magazine, the Columbia Journalism Review, Bloomberg, and more. I grew up in Southern Vermont and attended Vanderbilt University. Prior to Futurism, I contributed to outlets including the Boston Globe, Vice, Wired, Slate, the Atlantic, the Outline, Ars Technica and more, and did stints in farming and food service. I currently live in Brooklyn, New York, and in my free time I enjoy pinball, word games, cycling, running, and music production.

### Author social links  
[Bluesky](<https://bsky.app/profile/jonchristian.net>)