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So at the end of the presentation, Steve came up to me and said: Is the iPhone worth criticizing? And I said: Make the screen five inches by eight inches, and you’ll rule the world.

Alan Kay

An important technology first creates a problem and then solves it.
ALAN KAY

Create First Important Problem Solve Technology
This tends to result in very dumbed-down products that are easy to get started on, but are generally worthless and/or debilitating.
ALAN KAY

Debilitation Dumb Easy General Product Result Tend Worthless
The tree of research must be fed from time to time with the blood of bean-counters, for it is its natural manure.
ALAN KAY

Bean Blood Countries Manure Must Nature Research Time Tree
But Basic happened to be on a GE timesharing system that was done by Dartmouth, and when GE decided to franchise that, it started spreading Basic around just because it was there, not because it had any intrinsic merits whatsoever.
ALAN KAY

Around Basic Decide Done Franchise Happen Spread Timeshare
I don’t know how many of you have ever met Dijkstra, but you probably know that arrogance in computer science is measured in nano-Dijkstras.
ALAN KAY

Arrogance Computer Ever Know Many Measure Met Nanao People Science
People are willing to pay you if you’re any good at all, and you have plenty of time for screwing around.
ALAN KAY

Anything Else Fabulous People Place Where Will
But once the threshold is reached, then everyone demands to do whatever it is.
ALAN KAY

Demand Everyone Once Reach Threshold
The idea that hardware on networks should just be caches for movable process descriptions and the processes themselves goes back quite a ways.
ALAN KAY

Back Catch Description Hardware Idea Movable Network Process Quiet
Scratch the surface in a typical boardroom and we’re all just cavemen with briefcases, hungry for a wise person to tell us stories.
ALAN KAY

Boardroom Briefcase Cavemen Hungry Just Person Scratch Surface Typical Wise
We cannot predict the future, but we can invent it.
ALAN KAY

Future Invent IT Predict
Science requires a society because even people who are trying to be good thinkers love their own thoughts and theories.
ALAN KAY

Even Good Love Own People Require Science Society Theory Thinker Thought Try
I fear – as far as I can tell – that most undergraduate degrees in computer science these days are basically Java vocational training.
ALAN KAY

Basically Far Jar Java Program Tell Undergraduate Vocational
The result is – document destruction – we’re really not going to be able to prove beyond a truth the negatives and some of the positive conclusions that we’re going to come to.
ALAN KAY

Able Beyond Come Conclusion Destruction Document Negative Positive Prove Result
The flip side of the coin was that even good programmers and language designers tended to do terrible extensions when they were in the heat of programming, because design is something that is best done slowly and carefully.
ALAN KAY

Best Careful Coin Designer Even Extension Flip Good Heat Language Programme Side Tend Terrible
Every technology really needs to be shipped with a special manual – not how to use it but why, when, and for what.
ALAN KAY

Every Technology How Manual Need Ship Special Use
If we value the lifelong learning of arts and letters as a springboard for personal and societal growth, should any less effort be spent to make computing a part of our lives?
ALAN KAY

Growth Learn Letter Makem Live Personal Societal Spent Springboard Value

So at the end of the presentation, Steve came up to me and said: Is the iPhone worth criticizing? And I said: Make the screen five inches by eight inches, and you’ll rule the world.

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So at the end of the presentation, Steve came up to me and said: Is the iPhone worth criticizing? And I said: Make the screen five inches by eight inches, and you’ll rule the world.

Related Topics

Popular Authors

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