black
grey
blue
red
brown
white

By the time I got to school, I had already read a couple hundred books.

Alan Kay

If you’re not failing 90% of the time, then you’re probably not working on sufficiently challenging problems.
ALAN KAY

Challenge Fall Probably Problem Sufficient Time Work
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
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
Art also has this element. Our job is to remind us that there are more contexts than the one that we’re in – the one that we think is reality.
ALAN KAY

Context Element Job More One Really Remind Think
The most disastrous thing that you can ever learn is your first programming language.
ALAN KAY

Disastrous Ever First Language Learn Most Program Thing
Simple things should be simple and complex things should be possible.
ALAN KAY

Complex Possible Simple Thing
The hard nerds are the ones who used to have the slide rules at their belt; now they have calculators.
ALAN KAY

Belt Calculator Hard Nerd One Rule Slide Use
Change is easy, except for the changed part.
ALAN KAY

Change Easy Except Part
To get the medium’s magic to work for one’s aims rather than against them is to attain literacy.
ALAN KAY

Against Aim Attain Literacy Magic Medium Rather Work
As in all the arts, a romance with the material must be well under way.
ALAN KAY

All Art Material Must Romance Way Well
Sun Microsystems had the right people to make Java into a first-class language.
ALAN KAY

Class First Java Language Make Microsystem People Right Sun
In computers, every ‘new explosion’ was set off by a software product that allowed users to program differently.
ALAN KAY

Allow Computer Differently Explosion Off Product Program Set Software Under
I made up the term “object-oriented,” and I can tell you I did not have C++ in mind.
ALAN KAY

Language Made Mind Object Orient Tell Term
Because the web has produced so much uninformed criticism. It’s kind of a Gresham’s Law-bad money drives the good money out of circulation.
ALAN KAY

Circulation Good Kind Money Out Produce Uniform
The Internet was done so well that most people think of it as a natural resource like the Pacific Ocean, rather than something that was man-made.
ALAN KAY

Internet Man Made Most Natural Ocean Pacific People Resource Something Think
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

By the time I got to school, I had already read a couple hundred books.

Related Topics

Popular Authors

By the time I got to school, I had already read a couple hundred books.

Related Topics

Popular Authors

More Alan Kay Quotes