To get the medium’s magic to work for one’s aims rather than against them is to attain literacy.
ALAN KAYTo get the medium’s magic to work for one’s aims rather than against them is to attain literacy.
ALAN KAYSimple things should be simple and complex things should be possible.
ALAN KAYHaving an intelligent secretary does not get rid of the need to read, write, and draw, etc.
ALAN KAYBad criticism drives good criticism out of circulation. You just can’t criticize anything.
ALAN KAYThat language was Joss, which predated Basic and was beautiful.
ALAN KAYTechnology is anything invented after you were born, everything else is just stuff.
ALAN KAYAnd when they decided to beef up their OSs, they went to (different) very old bad mainframe models of OS design to try to adapt to personal computers.
ALAN KAYThe most disastrous thing that you can ever learn is your first programming language.
ALAN KAYThe protean nature of the computer is such that it can act like a machine or like a language to be shaped and exploited.
ALAN KAYThe hard nerds are the ones who used to have the slide rules at their belt; now they have calculators.
ALAN KAYIf 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 KAYBut once the threshold is reached, then everyone demands to do whatever it is.
ALAN KAYThey don’t like the idea of having different points of view.
ALAN KAYSchool is basically about one point of view — the one the teacher has or the textbooks have.
ALAN KAYIf you’re utopian, you’re never satisfied.
ALAN KAYA change in perspective is worth 80 IQ points. Perspective is worth 80 IQ points. Point of view is worth 80 IQ points
ALAN KAY