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The perfume part is important because it will help find the knowledge again to help get to the destinations the inner urges pick.

Alan Kay

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 KAY

Act Computer Exploit Language Like Machine Nature Protean Shape Such
Bad User on Device is a medium that can dynamically simulate the details of any other medium, including media that cannot exist physically.
ALAN KAY

Any Bad Detail Device Dynamical Medium Other Simulate User
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 hired finishers because I’m a good starter and a poor finisher.
ALAN KAY

Finisher Good Hire Poor Starter
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
We cannot predict the future, but we can invent it.
ALAN KAY

Future Invent IT Predict
In success there’s a tendency to keep on doing what you were doing.
ALAN KAY

Do Doing Kept Success Tendency
Technology is anything that wasn’t around when you were born.
ALAN KAY

Anything Around Born Technology
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
The future is not laid out on a track. It is something that we can decide.
ALAN KAY

Decide Future Laid Out Something Track
Simple things should be simple and complex things should be possible.
ALAN KAY

Complex Possible Simple Thing
If the pros at Sun had had a chance to fix Java, the world would be a much more pleasant place.
ALAN KAY

Chance Fix Java More Much Place Pleasant Pros Sun World
As in all the arts, a romance with the material must be well under way.
ALAN KAY

All Art Material Must Romance Way Well
People who are really serious about software should make their own hardware.
ALAN KAY

Hardware Old People Really Serious Software
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
Basic would never have surfaced because there was always a language better than Basic for that purpose.
ALAN KAY

Always Basic Better Language Purpose Surface

The perfume part is important because it will help find the knowledge again to help get to the destinations the inner urges pick.

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The perfume part is important because it will help find the knowledge again to help get to the destinations the inner urges pick.

Related Topics

Popular Authors

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