great group: xerox parc
TRANSCRIPT
History
Founded in 1970 Run by Bob Taylor Brought in the best Computer Scientists from
around the country he had met through ARPA (one of them: Alan Kay)
A long process to get in, including a public presentation
Greatest collection of minds after Manhattan project (so say Bennis & Biederman)
What made it great?
Pyramid Structure – All scientists reported directly to Taylor
Didn't matter if they were unpleasant Free from administrative details, worked on the
projects they wanted Only one requirement: Weekly meeting to critique
each other Were shielded from main Xerox office by Taylor “Religious zeal” for their work – were reimagining the
computer
Alan Kay
Dissertation: Interactive computer which would “aid in the visualization and realization of provocative notions.”
(Consider what computers were then) Invited by Taylor to join PARC and work on
interactive computing At 30, one of the oldest people there
Awesome dude Exposed to art, music, literature –
connected a lot of dots
What Did Alan Kay Create?
The Alto - Alan Kay had visions for the new version of a computer, used theories of interaction and learning more than science
Object-Oriented Programming - A new paradigm for programming languages. Made them easier to learn and understand. Used in all major languages today
Graphic User Interface – Do you know how annoying it is to access files by terminal?
Dynabook (concept) - “Self-contained object manipulator... the size and shape of an ordinary notebook.”