The Birth of the Fantasy Amplifier
howard rheingold's | tools for thought
Google's directory entry for Smalltalk leads to some interesting articles, especially this one. This deals with Dr Alan Kay and his obsession with making computers easy enough for children to understand and use as "fantasy amplifiers") - handheld, full-color, stereophonic, artificially intelligent, information representation toys ... available in their millions. Rheingold's style is a little breathless and the article has dated (it was written in 1985 but revamped recently for re-publication), but it defines the "why" of Smalltalk rather well, and the gulf between the aspirations of the PARC team in the '70s and their achievements in the last two decades.
Google's directory entry for Smalltalk leads to some interesting articles, especially this one. This deals with Dr Alan Kay and his obsession with making computers easy enough for children to understand and use as "fantasy amplifiers") - handheld, full-color, stereophonic, artificially intelligent, information representation toys ... available in their millions. Rheingold's style is a little breathless and the article has dated (it was written in 1985 but revamped recently for re-publication), but it defines the "why" of Smalltalk rather well, and the gulf between the aspirations of the PARC team in the '70s and their achievements in the last two decades.
posted by Jerry at 6:31 PM
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