The protean nature of the computer is such that it can act like a machine or like a language to be shaped and exploited.
ALAN KAYBut once the threshold is reached, then everyone demands to do whatever it is.
More Alan Kay Quotes
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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.
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They don’t like the idea of having different points of view.
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There’s an element of surprise, and especially in science, there is often laughter that goes along with the “Aha.”
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When was the last time a technology with a scale like that was so error-free?
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Java is the most distressing thing to hit computing since MS-DOS.
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The only way you can predict the future is to build it.
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Scratch the surface in a typical boardroom and we’re all just cavemen with briefcases, hungry for a wise person to tell us stories.
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That language was Joss, which predated Basic and was beautiful.
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Understanding- -like civilization, happiness, music, science and a host of other great endeavors–is not a state of being, but a manner of traveling.
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This is not secret knowledge. It’s just secret to this pop culture.
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A change in perspective is worth 80 IQ points. Perspective is worth 80 IQ points. Point of view is worth 80 IQ points
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There’s a real sense in which MS and Apple never understood networking or operating systems (or what objects really are).
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Basic would never have surfaced because there was always a language better than Basic for that purpose.
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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.
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Lisp isn’t a language, it’s a building material.
ALAN KAY