Alan Kay: Computer Applications – A Medium for Creative Thought (1972) [video] | Hacker News Reader

Alan Kay: Computer Applications – A Medium for Creative Thought (1972) [video]

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113 pointsjarmitage15 comments

Delighted to see this finally make the front page. I submitted it just a few days ago, but it was quickly buried: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=10309001

My favorite part starts at 40:50: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WJzi9R_55Iw&feature=youtu.be...

Paraphrasing:

“Our goal is not to measure "answers right per test", or "test passed per year", but rather Sistine Chapel Ceilings per lifetime.”

That gives me goosebumps every time I think about it.

This is a strange quote, since a Sistine-Chapel-Ceiling can only be painted by an individual with great skill and thousands of hours of deliberate practice.

Well, the context is educating children. Particularly, Kay's premise was that kids are naturally creative, curious, and artistic. He was concerned with process of developing a child along their "stylistic" axis, which opposed the conventional process of education that "beats the style out of them".

Artistic skill is the product of thousands of hours of deliberate practice. But, there's an idea that the motivation for that kind of practice comes from a desire to develop a style that's all your own.

He is still around. Wiki gives his post-PARC resume: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alan_Kay Most recently he has been running a small research institute: http://www.vpri.org/html/work/NSFproposal.pdf

I believe Alan Kay is now running an open research group out sponsored by SAP. I think it includes smarties like Bret Victor and Vi Hart.

Source: http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2015-01-29/sap-looks-...

Here's a presentation from a few VPRI researchers from June 2015:

Introduction and Overview - Alan Kay

2D Rendering (Gezira & Nile) - 17:05 - Dan Amelang

Domain-Specific Languages (OMeta) - 34:20 - Alessandro Warth

Imperative & Declarative Programming (Programming as Planning, Executable Specifications) - 59:38 - Hesam Samimi

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HAT4iewOHDs

One could say Alan Kay is still around, much like one could say giant redwood and sequoia trees are 'still around'.

Always glad to see someone discover one of the greats. :)

(edit) Oh wait, you probably already knew he existed. Tried to read too much into your post.

It's still strange wording. It's like saying Beethoven was 'still around' in the 1810's.

I don't know of a more prestigious group working on a more important area than CDG.

I really liked Alan Kay's talk from 2015: The Power of Simplicity https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NdSD07U5uBs

Wow! An Alan Kay talk from the heyday of PARC. This is really something.

For anyone serious about our field, this is a must read (watch).

"Space War." Ahead of his time? ;)

The music reminds me Jethro Tull and King Crimson.

Yes, it's a Jethro Tull tune called Bouree.

s/computer/dynamic medium/g

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