Background:

Alan Kay is one of the founders of the Xerox Palo Alto Research Center (PARC) where he led one of several groups that together developed modern workstations (and the forerunners of the Macintosh), and is best known for his contributions to the world of personal computing. Below are some of Alan's most notable contributions:

• The idea of personal computing
• Object-oriented programming (OOP)
• Sketchpad - A drawing program that helped define how we interact with computers today.
• Ethernet - frame-based computer networking technologies for local area networks (LANs).
• The GUI (Graphical User Interface) - A now ubiquitous computer/user interface system.
• Smalltalk - An object-oriented programming language that eventually led to the development of the Mac and MS Windows operating systems.
• Squeak - An object-oriented, reflective programming language implemented from Smalltalk.
• The Croquet Project - An international effort to promote the development of Croquet, a multi-user, 2-D/3-D online open source platform.
• The $100 laptop - An inexpensive computer for children, intended for world-wide distribution to promote modern forms of education.
• Laser printing
• Network client-servers

Kay's Major Contributions:

Below are several major contributions that Alan Kay either helped to develop, or invented them himself. These significant additions to our electronic world paved the way for modern day computing.

• The overlapping-window Interface - A graphical user interface (GUI) that uses overlapping windows to display information on a computer screen. A windowing system enables the computer user to work with several programs at the same time. Each program runs in its own window, which is an area of the screen, typically a rectangle. The overlapping window interface allows the user to perform standard operations such as moving or resizing a window, sending a window to the foreground or background and minimizing or maximizing a window.
• The laptop computer - A small mobile computer as powerful as a desktop computer, but small enough to tuck under the arm or carry in a briefcase. Originally nicknamed by Alan as the "DynaBook", the idea for this small portable computer came about in 1968 after a visit with Seymour Papert at the MIT Artificial Intelligence Laboratory. During his visit, Alan watched as Seymour taught children how to use the LOGO program (a functional programming language) and realized that the the computer played a vital role in their learning process. This realization prompted the thought of a "micro-computer the size of a book that could be used in place of paper."
• Desktop Publishing (DTP) - Combines a personal computer and page layout software to create publication documents on a computer for either large scale publishing or small scale local multifunction peripheral output and distribution. Users create page layouts with text, graphics, photos and other visual elements using software such as QuarkXPress, Adobe InDesign, Microsoft Publisher or Apple Pages.

The Dynabook - Revisited:

The following exerpt is from an interview with Alan Kay entitled "The Dynabook Revisited". In this interview, Alan Kay focuses primarily on the subject of the human relationship with the Book and the Computer. Alan is asked why the Dynabook isnt a reality yet. Kay best answers this question at the end of the interview:

B&C : "If we go back to the first question, which is what's missing, why isn't the Dynabook a reality -- what's missing is that the population to use them isn't there yet. We haven't taught people how to use them."

AK : "Exactly. Because the music is not inside the piano"

By far, this is my favorite quote from Alan Kay. Here he is implying that the piano is merely a tool through which the pianist can express himself. In other words the music comes from the pianist, not the piano. In the same way, the computer is also a tool used to express the concert of ideas and thoughts that come from within the keyboardist. Alan put it best when he said “the computer is an instrument whose music is ideas."

Additional food for thought:

In 1968, Alan Kay dreamt of a portable computer whose initial function was to further educate our children. From that dream came the creation of the very laptop that I am using to write this webpage.

Think about that for a second… Nearly 48 years ago this laptop was merely a thought in Alan Kay’s mind. Now here we are with our super portable laptop computers, some small enough to fit into our coat pocket.

One simple thought "A Dynamic Book, the Dyna… Book…" spawned a new age of micro-computing that lead to the development of its modern day equivalent, the LapTop. The Dynabook was Alan’s vision to revolutionize the way children were educated. That vision impassioned him to develop a technology that would eventually change our micro-computing future.

I think this speaks of how powerful thoughts and ideas can be.

From one mans vision came modern computing luxuries such as minimizing our email window to read the latest news from our favorite website, or even sitting in our living rooms with a notebook computer on our lap while surfing the net via a wireless connection and etc…. These may seem like simple, trivial abilities to our very computer literate generation, but 40 or 50 years ago they were thought of as impossibilities and science fiction by some.

In the end, it is my goal that the reader walk away from this article with a heightened sense of appreciation for the hard work that went into designing and developing the computing systems we use and take for granted each day. A potential bi-product of that new found appreciation could be a higher respect for the man who made it all possible, the father of personal computing, Alan Kay.

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"What hath God wrought"

Informative Links:

• The early history of Smalltalk by Alan Kay - An exhaustive report in which Alan explains the origins of Smalltalk and its history throughout the years.
• Tracing the Dynabook: A Study of Techno-cultural Transformations - Written in 2006, this is a thesis by John W. Maxwell in which he traces the origins of the personal computer, starting with Alan Kay’s Dynabook. In this document the reader will find a virtual motherload of information about Kay and what prompted him to develop the Dynabook, as well what his vision was and how that vision was somewhat skewed by the natural path his invented technology took with the general public. Its 286 pages offer an almost invaluable wealth of information. It is a “heavy” read, however it is time well invested.
• A personal Computer for Children of All Ages – by Alan C. Kay (PDF) - This is a PDF document outlining the idea of personal portable computers for children. This report was created by Alan Kay while he was with the Xerox Palo Alto Research Center. Although it is a somewhat crude copy of the original report, it does serve as a great point of reference for those interested in Alan’s work in the field of portable computers. In addition, this it also contains several sketches and drawings of the Dynabook, just as Alan envisioned it back in the 1970’s. I found the pictures absolutely fascinating in the sense that the drawings he produced roughly 37 years ago bare a striking resemblance to the notebooks of today.
• Alan Kay Bibliography - This is an extensive bibliography detailing Alan Kay’s achievements from as early as 1968 to as recent as 2006. Along with the bibliographic tables the reader is also provided with links to a wide variety of documentation regarding his achievements over the years. This website is a great source for quick hard facts about Kay and his numerous contributions to society.
• Alan Kay videos at Google - Here you will find 11 videos in which Alan speaks on quite a few of the topics I mentioned on this page. A great source for additional information about Alan and the work he has done over the years.