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If people could understand what computing was about, the iPhone would not be a bad thing. But because people don’t understand what computing is about, they thin
by dkarl 9y ago
If people could understand what computing was about, the iPhone would not be a bad thing. But because people don’t understand what computing is about, they think they have it in the iPhone, and that illusion is as bad as the illusion that Guitar Hero is the same as a real guitar. That’s the simple long and the short of it.
Some kids learn guitar. Some kids fantasize about learning guitar. Apple makes machines that enable the computing equivalent of both of these things.
You're never going to turn all listeners into musicians, all readers into writers, all theater-goers into actors. You can't even get everyone to dance at a wedding with an open bar. Technology can play a role in getting a few more people over the line, but Alan Kay's head is way too far in the clouds for him to even see the problem that way.
Honestly, I think what he's done is dissociated himself from his own snobbery. He talks about technology failing humanity, but he's really saying he doesn't like people. He doesn't like how most people think and live. Why else would he constantly be disappointed in technology failing to turn all of humanity into always-on cultural creatives? It's like he looks at books and says, well, the dream for books is for everyone to read challenging literature, but at the beach or on the subway you see mostly "Eat Pray Love" and Stephen King, so clearly books have failed.
People are doing the same dumb shit with books and technology that they did without it. They choose passive consumption. When I complain about it, I'll blame it on technology so I don't sound like a misanthrope.
He constantly talks about creating, learning, and education, but he doesn't bring any attention to any current work supporting these activities. He doesn't say, look, here's this great work being done for kids, and it's limited because the iPad needs this feature. He doesn't say, look, here's this great computing system I use to support my own work, and it be a lot better with this specific kind of OS or hardware support. Instead of talking about how the Apple hardware is holding back current work, he's talking about how it fails to implement his own ideas from thirty years ago.
You'd think he could find SOME new idea to promote and celebrate, if only to point out what he thinks progress looks like, but apparently Apple has snuffed out every worthwhile avenue of improvement by a few unfortunate unfortunate hardware choices.
Hell, where's even the usesthis interview with Alan Kay?
- dilemma 9y agoHis "vision" is too self-centered and he expects people to live after his ideals but in fact people have better things to do than create art, or whatever. >They choose passive consumption The same person is likely an active producer in one area, and a passive consumer in others. I know I am.
- coldtea 9y ago>His "vision" is too self-centered and he expects people to live after his ideals but in fact people have better things to do than create art, or whatever. That's what you see around you, talking to most people?
- deleted 9y ago[deleted]
- scroot 9y agoThe topic is Apple because the interviewer is a journalist who was writing a book about the iPhone. Plenty of other resources online show him praising work he likes (Bret Victor, for example) and systems that he thinks are in the right direction. It just wasn't in the bounds of the interview topic. As for the "not turning all readers into writers," well, what can we say? One would hope that all readers are literate enough to write. Now, we don't expect all literate people to be professional writers, but this is not in line with what Kay is arguing anyway. He's saying that being literate in computing should mean being able to wield computing in order to aid human thinking -- for everyone. He's calling out our current systems, saying that their availability and use, though ubiquitous, do not constitute such literacy.
- TeMPOraL 9y agoIn particular, even though we don't expect all literate people to produce professional-quality writing, we do hope they can use their writing skills to solve their own problems. Be it filling forms, writing letters, posting "lost cat" messages on trees, whatever. That's what I think computing should be. Giving people ability to solve even more complex problems themselves, even more effectively.
- Geee 9y agoShould kids just look at sand castles?
- coldtea 9y ago>Honestly, I think what he's done is dissociated himself from his own snobbery. He talks about technology failing humanity, but he's really saying he doesn't like people. He doesn't like how most people think and live. And why should he? Millions voted for Trump. Heck, millions also voted for Hillary. Neo-nazis, tele-evangelists, climate change denial, PC, twerking and Justin Bieber are all things. Does that sound like a society we should like how "most people think and live"? >Why else would he constantly be disappointed in technology failing to turn all of humanity into always-on cultural creatives? Because he actually loves people and doesn't want to see them squander their potential? >He constantly talks about creating, learning, and education, but he doesn't bring any attention to any current work supporting these activities. He doesn't say, look, here's this great work being done for kids, and it's limited because the iPad needs this feature. Err, he literally does just this in the interview.