Introduction:
John Schock introduces Alan Kay, highlighting his contributions to personal computing and his commitment to providing powerful personal tools for children of all ages.

The Paradigm Shift:
Schock emphasizes the significance of personal workstations as a new paradigm in computing, enabling a different way of interacting with technology. He credits Kay with leading this shift and inspiring others to achieve more than they thought possible.

Vision and Expression:
Kay’s ability to articulate his vision and create memorable targets and images is discussed. Examples include the pursuit of the Holy Grail, the Dinah Book, and various machine concepts like the Reading Machine and the Kiddy Comp.

Motivational Expressions:
Schock recalls Kay’s memorable expressions, such as software being like a waffle where the first one is discarded, and the exhortation to “burn the disc packs” to break free from conventional thinking.

Creating Images and Targets:
Kay’s talent for creating motivating images and establishing targets is highlighted. Schock shares an anecdote about Kay describing a local watering hole as “a nice place, sort of a plush sewer.”

The Complexity of Audiovisual Equipment:
Kay expresses concern about the complexity of audiovisual equipment used in presentations, noting the absence of computers in assisting the presentation.

Playstations:
Kay introduces the concept of “Playstations,” suggesting that his interests lie in advancing forms of play and drawing inspiration from Walt Disney’s Fantasia.

Personal Background and Interests:
Alan Kay’s diverse upbringing, with a father who was a physiologist and a mother who was an artist and musician, influenced his fascination with combining multiple senses. The movie Fantasia captivated Kay, sparking his desire to create his own immersive experiences.

Discovery of Science Fiction and Memex:
Kay’s exploration of science fiction, particularly Robert Heinlein’s books, introduced him to intriguing concepts like the tachistoscope and memex. Through extensive library research, Kay discovered Vannevar Bush’s article “As We May Think,” which outlined the idea of a personal workstation called memex.

Bush’s Proactive Vision:
Kay recognized that Bush’s approach to envisioning technology was proactive rather than reactive. Bush focused on what should happen and then justified it with feasible technology.

Inspiration for the DynaBook:
Kay’s personal work habits, which involved frequenting all-night restaurants and taking showers, led him to envision a portable and waterproof personal workstation. Kay’s vision for the DynaBook differed from Bush’s desk-based concept, as Kay realized that he could not work effectively at a desk.

Success Stories vs. Failure and Directions:
Alan Kay emphasizes that practical research involves setting goals, but far out research is about establishing directions that act like a magnetic field, guiding researchers toward unexplored territories.

The Significance of Directions:
Unlike goals that can be achieved and surpassed, directions are enduring and provide a compass for research endeavors. Kay views the directions set at PARC as still relevant, even though the specific goals have become obsolete.

The Gzork and Early Programming Experiences:
Kay recalls programming on the 6600 console, a powerful yet simple machine that inspired his desire for a compact computer with similar capabilities.

Missed Opportunities in Early Object-Oriented Programming:
Kay shares his experience of repeatedly encountering concepts like object-oriented programming but failing to fully grasp their significance during his initial years of programming.

Air Training Command’s File Structure:
Kay describes a file structure used in the Air Force’s Air Training Command, which consisted of three sections: relative pointers, Burroughs 220 machine code, and records. This structure allowed for modular programming and encapsulation, but Kay did not initially recognize its object-oriented nature.

Macro Assemblers and Early Object-Oriented Techniques:
Kay mentions that macro assemblers of the time supported object-oriented techniques, and he utilized them without fully understanding their potential.

Missed Realization of Object-Oriented Programming’s Power:
Kay acknowledges that he missed the true power of object-oriented programming during his early encounters with the concept.

The Burroughs B5000:
The Burroughs B5000 was an innovative computer that tried to create an environment for a higher-level language. It was the first hardware to attempt making store into a procedure, although it did so incorrectly. The idea of store as a procedure was not widely considered at the time.

Alan Kay’s Discovery of Sketchpad:
Alan Kay discovered Sketchpad, a pioneering graphics system and non-procedural programming system, at the University of Utah. Sketchpad allowed users to manipulate objects on a virtual canvas using constraints and rules, making it an early example of object-oriented programming. Sketchpad was also the first system to feature windows and dynamic instances of objects.

Key Features and Innovations of Sketchpad:
Sketchpad was the first graphics system to feature non-procedural programming, allowing users to manipulate objects using constraints and rules. It was the first true object-oriented programming system, enabling dynamic instances of objects and masters (classes). Sketchpad was also the first system to have windows, displaying a large virtual canvas. It used brute force to render every dot on the screen, resulting in a blinking effect.

The Vision and Masterpiece of Sketchpad:
Sketchpad’s vision was so pure and innovative that it remains relevant today. It was a masterpiece created by a single individual, Ivan Sutherland, who gathered ideas from various sources. The thesis for Sketchpad was unique in that every illustration was generated by the thesis program itself.

Doug Engelbart’s Contribution:
Doug Engelbart was another influential figure at the University of Utah. He traveled with a special 16-millimeter movie projector that could stop frames to share his ideas and communicate with others.

Early Innovations:
Alan Kay discusses the influence of Doug Engelbart’s NLS system and its groundbreaking concepts. Engelbart’s stop-frame movie presentation showcased the system’s capabilities, emphasizing the difficulty of explaining its features in a dynamic setting.

Doug Engelbart’s Contributions:
Engelbart aimed to create a system that complemented human abilities, while Kay focused on enabling mutual augmentation between humans and systems. The Fall Joint Computer Conference of 1968 left a lasting impression on attendees, thanks to ARPA’s generous funding and commitment to showcasing the NLS concept.

Butler Ramson’s Impact:
Kay acknowledges the significant influence of Butler Ramson and the SDS 940 machine on his career. Ramson’s focus on crash recovery resulted in a remarkably stable system that rarely lost data, even during frequent crashes.

The Flex Machine:
Kay worked on the Flex machine from 1967 to 1969, inspired by Dave Evans and influenced by Wes Clark’s link. The Flex machine featured a tablet and a 2D windowing system, as well as a simulation language derived from Simula. Kay realized that Simula could create similar objects to Sketchpad, simplifying the solution of constraint problems.

Simula’s Influence:
Kay’s study of Simula led to a profound revelation, enabling the creation of objects with generic behavior. The Flex machine’s code structure resembled Simula, featuring scheduling queues, instances, and classes.

The Flex Machine:
Alan Kay’s Flex machine was technically successful, but it failed in practical applications. The machine had three virtual processors implemented by one microcode. It featured an urgency scheduling coax, allowing transceivers to vote for priority access.

Revelation from Seymour Papert:
Kay realized the importance of teaching children programming early on. Seymour Papert’s work inspired Kay to change his perspective on personal computers.

Personal Computers for Children:
Kay believed personal computers should be accessible to children. Children should not wait until they are adults to learn how to use them.

Criteria for a Full-Fledged Medium:
A personal computer should be accessible to children. It should be used for mundane tasks, like grocery shopping.

Advanced Systems Design Course:
Bob Barton’s Advanced Systems Design course challenged students’ preconceived notions. Barton encouraged students to question everything, including established authorities.

McLuhan’s Influence:
Kay found McLuhan’s ideas significant, particularly the notion that people often overlook the profound impact of their surroundings.

Dave Evans’ Influence:
Dave Evans, Kay’s mentor, believed graduate school should be a transient place and encouraged students to learn how to negotiate. Evans invited graduate students to high-level negotiation meetings to expose them to real-world scenarios.

ARPA Contractors Meeting:
Taylor, head of ARPA, invited graduate students to provide suggestions at a contractors meeting. Warnock suggested that graduate students from different universities should meet regularly to discuss research. Kay presented the flex machine, and Warnock showed his algorithm at the meeting.

Plasma Panel at the University of Illinois:
Kay and other graduate students saw the first plasma panel, a one-inch flat screen display, at the University of Illinois. The display sparked ideas about combining it with a flex machine for input and output.

Origin of the Dynabook Concept:
The idea of the Dynabook, a portable computer accessible to children, emerged around the summer of 1968. The concept involved integrating a CRT display with a flex machine, creating a compact and portable device. The Dynabook was envisioned to be simple and user-friendly, enabling children to use it effectively.

GRAIL’s Exceptional Design:
GRAIL was meticulously engineered and remarkably elegant. Kay was captivated by its design and functionality, recognizing its potential even with limited resources. He emphasized the importance of studying GRAIL’s design principles for contemporary computing.

GRAIL’s Tactile Interface and Modeless Design:
GRAIL provided a tangible, intuitive user experience, allowing users to interact directly with the system’s elements. Its modeless design eliminated the need to terminate ongoing tasks before initiating new actions, enhancing user interaction and productivity. Kay highlighted the significance of modeless design as a fundamental concept in user interaction.

Flowcharts and Hypertext:
GRAIL’s flowchart-based interface allowed users to construct and modify diagrams effortlessly. Kay recognized the system’s hypertext-like capabilities and multidimensional nature, enabling users to dive through symbols and simulate diagrams.

Influence on Dynabook and PARC’s Research:
Kay’s exposure to GRAIL influenced his vision for the Dynabook, a portable personal computer. He strived to emulate GRAIL’s tactile and organic user experience, aiming for a seamless and intuitive interaction. PARC researchers frequently screened GRAIL’s demonstration video to inspire their own work and avoid replicating its flowchart-centric approach.

Conclusion:
Alan Kay’s encounter with GRAIL greatly shaped his thinking about computing and user interaction. He recognized GRAIL’s groundbreaking design, tactile interface, and modeless operation, drawing inspiration for his subsequent research and development efforts. GRAIL’s legacy continues to inform contemporary discussions on user experience and interface design.

Background:
Alan Kay’s talk consists of three parts. This segment is the end of the first part and a brief introduction to the second part. Kay admits that his current explanation is different from his original thinking, refined after 15 years of explaining these ideas.

Bob Taylor’s Influence:
Bob Taylor played a significant role in shaping the culture and environment at Xerox PARC. Taylor had two goals in mind: to create a distinct and comfortable workspace. Beanbag chairs were used to foster a relaxed atmosphere, discouraging people from abruptly standing up to criticize others.

Park’s Unique Setup:
Park, the workspace at PARC, was organized in a unique way. Beanbag chairs were used for seating, creating a casual and comfortable atmosphere. The setup made it difficult to stand up and confront someone, promoting a more passive and collaborative environment.

Pendry Papers and Display Transducers:
Kay wrote a paper called “Display Transducers” as part of the Pendry Papers, an effort to communicate with Xerox. The paper included a drawing illustrating two methods for creating a display transducer. Xerox had a promising projection technology called light valve technology, which Kay also included in the drawing.

Importance of the Drawing:
The drawing in the paper represented a significant point for Kay.

The Dynabook as a Service:
The Dynabook is not a physical device but rather a service that provides information access from anywhere on Earth. It is inspired by Ivan Sutherland’s head-mounted display and the idea of computation independent of location.

Minicom Design:
Minicom was a design idea developed in collaboration with Gordon Bell and Alan Newell. It explored the concept of a small, powerful device capable of handling complex tasks. The idea was presented at a joint computer conference, where it faced criticism from Herb Grosch but was supported by Fred Brooks.

Polos Terminal and Mouse:
Polos was a system developed by Bill English’s team, featuring a unique terminal design. The original Engelbart mouse existed but was not suitable for drawing. Polos’ team designed a different mouse, but it also lacked drawing capabilities.

Development of the Character Generator:
Butler Lamson, Bill English, and Roger Bates collaborated to create a $200,000 worth of hardware. The old character generator operated at 40 megahertz of video in 1972 and could perform various functions similar to a television screen. It allowed image capture through a television camera.

Comparison of Drawing Methods:
An experiment was conducted to compare drawing in a notebook to drawing on the system. The results showcased the first bitmap painting system created by Steve Purcell.

User-Centered Design:
Kay and his colleagues realized the importance of designing technology for real people, particularly children.

Visual Perception and Illusion:
Kay illustrates how our perception can deceive us, such as the upside-down image example, where even after knowing the trick, an emotional reaction persists.

The Dream of Our Own Fashioning:
Kay argues that we don’t live in reality but in a dream of our own creation.

The Thumb Experiment:
Kay demonstrates how our perception of size is influenced by our beliefs, using the example of comparing the sizes of two thumbs or quarters held at different distances.

Reconstruction Based on Beliefs:
Kay explains that we see a reconstruction of reality based on our beliefs, rather than what our eyes see.

Theatrical Performances and User Interface:
Understanding user interface as a form of theater helped Kay and his team advance their design approach.

Misperception of Upside-Down Faces:
There are two distinct modules in the brain: one for face-like things and one for eyes and mouth. When presented with an upside-down face, the face recognition module recognizes it as a face, while the eyes and mouth module detects something wrong, causing discomfort. This reaction is rooted in an evolutionary survival mechanism.

Piaget’s Stages of Development:
Piaget proposed three main stages of development in children: a doing stage, an image stage, and a symbol stage. In the doing stage, objects are primarily understood through physical interaction. In the image stage, children begin to develop mental representations of objects and events. In the symbol stage, children start using symbols and language to represent and manipulate information.

Bruner’s Theory of Separate Mentalities:
Bruner challenged Piaget’s idea of distinct stages, proposing instead that children have separate mentalities that shift in dominance over time. One of Bruner’s experiments involved a child misjudging the amount of water in different containers. When the child was shown that the water was poured from one container to another, they initially believed the amount had changed. However, when the taller container was covered, the child realized that the amount of water must be the same, demonstrating a shift in their mental approach.

Bruner’s Theory of Three Mentalities:
Jerome Bruner proposed that individuals progress through three distinct mentalities: enactive, iconic, and symbolic. Enactive: Learning through physical experiences and actions. Iconic: Learning through visual representations and images. Symbolic: Learning through abstract symbols and language.

Bruner’s Curriculum and Insights:
Bruner emphasized the significance of learning in the appropriate sequence. Symbolic learning is powerful but only in the right context. Logic is a weak method when applied in unsuitable contexts. Children should engage in concrete activities to build a solid foundation for symbolic learning.

Hadamard’s Survey of Mathematicians:
Jacques Hadamard’s survey revealed that top mathematicians primarily rely on visualizations, not symbolization. Many mathematicians, including Einstein, operated in the iconic mentality, relying on kinesthetic or muscular sensations to solve complex problems.

Creative Thinking and Multiple Schemes:
Creative individuals often move seamlessly between different schemes of thinking. The ability to shift perspectives and representations enhances creativity and problem-solving abilities.

Enactive Learning and Logo:
Seymour Papert’s experiments demonstrated that young children can draw perfect circles using Logo by physically moving their bodies. Logo’s egocentric, inertial coordinate systems allowed children to use their innate understanding of spatial relationships.

The Importance of Context:
The right context can significantly enhance an individual’s performance and understanding. Being in the wrong context can lead to ineffective efforts and limited progress. Shifting contexts can provide new perspectives and solutions to problems.

Francis Bacon’s Two Ways of Explaining:
Francis Bacon identified two approaches to explaining concepts: prose and aphorism. Prose involves detailed explanations that may discourage involvement, while aphorisms draw people in and encourage self-completion.

Point of View and IQ:
Being in the right context can boost an individual’s apparent IQ by 80 points. The appropriate context enables effective thinking, leading to intelligent and capable actions.

The Inner Game of Tennis and User Interface:
Tim Galway’s book “The Inner Game of Tennis” advocated for a relaxed and intuitive approach to learning tennis. A user interface demonstration showcased Galway’s effective teaching method, enabling a 55-year-old beginner to learn tennis in just 20 minutes.

Principles of the Inner Game:
Focus the mind’s attention where it will not interfere with the body’s natural ability to hit the ball. Avoid overthinking and trying to consciously control every movement. Stay relaxed and calm, allowing the body to move freely and instinctively. Pay attention to the ball’s trajectory and the sound it makes when hitting the racket. Use rhythm and visualization to improve coordination and timing.

Learning the Serve:
The serve is like a dance, with a specific rhythm and flow. Visualize yourself performing the serve before physically attempting it. Focus on the rhythm and the feeling of the serve rather than the mechanics.

Overcoming Fear and Pressure:
Don’t worry about missing or making mistakes. Stay focused on the ball and the task at hand, rather than the outcome of the game. Embrace the challenge and enjoy the process of playing tennis.

Expert Perspective:
Alan Kay emphasizes the importance of bypassing the initial learning phase and quickly moving players into intermediate-level play. This approach allows players to experience the joy and satisfaction of playing tennis sooner, which motivates them to continue improving. The goal is to create user interfaces that minimize the initial learning curve and allow users to engage in the desired activity without unnecessary obstacles.

Pioneering User Interface Design:
Alan Kay emphasizes the need for intuitive and user-friendly interfaces that don’t require extensive learning, like MS-DOS, to perform basic tasks.

Bridging Concrete and Symbolic Operations:
Kay acknowledges the challenge of transitioning users from concrete operations, like deleting individual files, to symbolic operations, like deleting multiple files. He sees this as a crucial aspect of user interface design.

The Birth of the Alto:
Kay shares a photograph of the first Alto screen, captured in April 1973, marking the beginning of a transformative era in computing.

Inspiration from the HP-35 Calculator:
The HP-35 calculator served as an inspiration for the Alto, prompting Kay and his team to explore the possibilities of a more capable device.

Character Generator and Font Design:
Kay showcases the character generator built by Roger Bates, designed by Butler and Bill English, and Ben Law’s font design program, demonstrating the advanced typography capabilities of the Alto.

Handwriting and Phonetic Fonts:
Kay highlights the use of handwriting and phonetic fonts, emphasizing the system’s flexibility and adaptability to different user needs.

The World’s First Painting Program:
Kay introduces the world’s first painting program, designed by him and implemented by Steve Purcell, showcasing the Alto’s groundbreaking graphics capabilities.

Control via Character Recognizer:
Kay mentions the use of a character recognizer, developed by John Shock, for controlling the painting program, demonstrating the innovative input methods explored on the Alto.

Early Dynabook Concepts and Demonstrations:
The Dynabook system allowed users to create custom brush shapes and engage in spray painting. Early versions of the system exhibited analog mouse symptoms such as occasional jumps and small brushes. Flicker was present due to the use of Bolex and 16 millimeter filming equipment.

Space War’s Influence on Smalltalk:
The desire to fit Space War onto half a page served as a driving force behind the development of Smalltalk.

Music and Animation Capabilities:
Alan Kay demonstrated music programming capabilities on the Nova 800 machine. The goal was to expand the number of voices from four to twelve, enabling the creation of organ-like sounds. Animation was also explored, with early examples dating back to August, using the old character generator.

Research on Display Dot Size:
Studies were conducted to determine the optimal dot size for displays. A non-linear transformation was discovered, with a significant improvement in dot visibility when increasing from 50 to 100 dots per inch. The worst possible display resolution was found to be 50 dots per inch, which coincidentally matches IBM’s resolution.

Conclusion:
Alan Kay acknowledges the contributions of two influential individuals, marking the end of his presentation.

The Roots of Smalltalk:
Smalltalk’s development was led by Adele Goldberg, Dan Ingalls, and Alan Kay, with Kay writing the original evaluator. The language was designed to be arbitrarily powerful using just half a page of code. It was initially implemented in 700 lines of BASIC and later ported to the Alto computer.

The First Overlapping Window:
Alan Kay demonstrated the first-ever overlapping window on the Alto computer. The implementation involved writing one page of Smalltalk code and months of additional coding by Diana Mary. This innovation allowed for draggable windows, a concept that Kay strongly advocated for.

Frame Programs and the Power of Smalltalk:
Smalltalk’s capabilities were further showcased through a frame program using Grail ideas. This program featured moving handles and stretching handles, demonstrating the flexibility and extensibility of the language. Kay emphasized the importance of showers as a creative space, highlighting the value of unstructured thinking.

Modeless Editing and the Minnie Mouse Editor:
Larry Tesler developed the Minnie Mouse editor to demonstrate the concept of modeless editing. The editor, written in Smalltalk, allowed for seamless editing without switching modes. Tesler showcased the creation and manipulation of Lisp cons pairs using Smalltalk’s message-based syntax.

Generic Printing and Distributed Functionality:
Smalltalk’s print functionality was implemented as a generic method, allowing any class to define its own print behavior. This distributed approach enabled automatic printing for new classes without requiring additional coding. Tesler’s editor demonstrated dynamic updates and printing, highlighting the language’s flexibility.

Performance and Capabilities of the Alto Computer:
Kay refuted claims that the Alto computer was slow, emphasizing its impressive graphics capabilities. The Alto could render 120 square inches of graphics with transparencies at 10 frames per second using only 300 words of microcode. Kay suggested that adding 1K of microcode RAM annually could have significantly enhanced the Alto’s performance.

Adele Goldberg’s Role in Teaching High-Level Programming Languages to Young Children:
Adele Goldberg developed an innovative method for teaching high-level programming languages to young children using a tangible object called “Box.” Children could create instances of the Box class, give them names, and manipulate them using messages. This approach was highly effective, allowing children to quickly grasp the concepts of object-oriented programming and create complex programs.

Creation of the First Tool by a Child:
Marion Goldeen, a young child, created the first tool, a painting program, using Adele Goldberg’s teaching methods. The program allowed children to select shapes and brushes from a menu and manipulate them on the screen. The program demonstrated the power of object-oriented programming and the potential for children to create their own applications.

Advantages of Object-Oriented Programming for Children:
Object-oriented programming reduced the amount of code required to create complex programs, making it more accessible to children. The use of tangible objects like “Box” helped children visualize and understand the concepts of object-oriented programming. Object-oriented programming allowed children to see how structures go together, reducing the burden on their short-term memories.

Collaboration with Radia Pearlman:
Adele Goldberg collaborated with Radia Pearlman from MIT to teach object-oriented programming to very young children. This collaboration demonstrated the effectiveness of object-oriented programming for teaching programming concepts to children of all ages.

Suzuki Method and Pedagogical Philosophy:
Children were introduced to music and art skills early, fostering motor skill dexterity and hand-eye coordination, making learning as natural as language development.

Rachel’s Musical Journey:
Rachel, an average kid, started piano lessons at age five and later took Suzuki method violin lessons at age six. The Suzuki philosophy aimed to develop musical and artistic skills early, emphasizing natural learning.

Convivial Tools and User Interface Design:
A convivial tool is one that allows users to interact with it naturally and intuitively. The music editing system was continuously revised to create a user-friendly interface for editing notes and timbres.

Susan Hammett’s Painting Program:
Susan Hammett, a 12-year-old child, created an application program called “MacDraw.” The program featured a menu, color selection, object resizing, and object duplication capabilities. It demonstrated the potential of children to create sophisticated applications.

Steve Putz’s Circuit Diagram System:
Steve Putz, a 15-year-old with an interest in ham radio, developed a system to create circuit diagrams. The system included a menu, a pop-up menu for frequently used items, and the ability to rotate components. It showcased Steve’s ingenuity in designing a tool that streamlined the process of drawing circuit diagrams.

Novice Programming:
A child’s program showcased the potential for progress in novice programming, surpassing the capabilities of PhD-level systems at the time. The program included features like floating text and real-time editing, demonstrating the power of the Alto.

Tomber Editor:
The Tomber editor, developed by a team led by Alan Kay, enabled real-time music creation on the Alto. It featured 12-voice polyphony for FM synthesis, comparable to high-end synthesizers of the time, and required minimal additional hardware.

Purcell’s Animation Primitives and Shazam:
Purcell’s animation primitives provided a foundation for creating animations on the Alto. Shazam, developed by Ron Becker, Eric Martin, and Tom Horsley, allowed animators to draw cells and define their movements in real time.

Hardware vs. Software:
Alan Kay emphasizes the importance of software-based functionality over dedicated hardware. He believes that hardware is merely software crystallized early, and that crystallizing functions late allows for greater flexibility and innovation.

Steve Purcell’s Animation System:
With only five pages of Smalltalk code, Steve Purcell created a user interface for an animation system on the Alto computer in the summer of 1974. The system allowed for real-time dynamic graphics insertion and squashing effects. It cleverly used transparent cells superimposed over the main animation to achieve these effects.

12-Year-Old Girl’s Contribution:
One of the 12-year-old girls who loved horses at PARC added a feature to the animation system that allowed images to be combined into single animated images, similar to Sketchpad. This demonstrated that kids could understand and modify large programs written by others, even if they couldn’t program them themselves.

The Dynabook and Networks:
Alan Kay reflects on the Dynabook concept and believes that if someone had implemented Vannevar Bush’s original vision from 1945 without adding extra features, it would still be relevant today. However, he acknowledges that networks like the Ethernet changed the environment for personal computing, with the press protocol for printing dominating the machines on the network. He predicts that browsing techniques developed at PARC will become obsolete due to the vast services and capabilities offered by networking.

Genesis Bomb Special Effects Sequence:
Alan Kay presents a special effects sequence created by the computer science group at Lucasfilm, showcasing what could be achieved with increased computing power. The sequence depicts the explosion of a Genesis Bomb on an airless planet, creating life and transforming the planet’s surface. Kay emphasizes that this vision could be realized in the future with advancements in personal computing technology.

The Imitation of Creation:
Alan Kay concludes his talk by stating that the computer arts are the imitation of creation itself, while the visual arts are the imitation of life. He thanks the audience for their attention and ends the presentation.