4 ms·

Yes: "When asked, “How could you possibly have done the first interactive graphics program, the first non-procedural programming language, the first object ori

Yes: "When asked, “How could you possibly have done the first interactive graphics program, the first non-procedural programming language, the first object oriented software system, all in one year?” Ivan replied: “Well, I didn’t know it was hard.” (Alan Kay, Doing with Images Makes Symbols, 1987)" http://scihi.org/ivan-sutherland-computer-graphics/ http://scihi.org/ivan-sutherland-computer-graphics/

giancarlostoro 7y ago
Ah I was going to guess it might of been Alan Kay, but I wasn't too sure. Thanks for confirming! I read it as a comment a while back here on HN and forgot to bookmark it.
- yesbabyyes 7y ago
  According to the link above, it was a fellow named Ivan Sutherland.
  - giancarlostoro 7y ago
    Whoops I read this wrong, my mistake, thanks for the clarification.
    - yesbabyyes 7y ago
      For sure! I just came across the interesting story of Marvin Pipkin, who, upon starting a job at General Electric, was given a "fool's errand" by his new team, as a practical joke: He was tasked with finding a way of frosting light bulbs from the inside, without making them too brittle. Not being aware his assignment was a type of joke, he went about the task as if it was something that could be done and had been done before. The first electric light bulb frosted on the inside with sufficient strength for ordinary handling that could be sold to the public was invented by Pipkin in 1925. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marvin_Pipkin https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marvin_Pipkin
      - giancarlostoro 7y ago
        That is awesome! That's what I took away from that story. Nothing is impossible, only if you believe it is. Might be hard problem with limitations, but you could work it.
      - code_duck 7y ago
        That's interesting. As a glassblower I don't understand why that ever would have been a difficulty. I suppose they were trying to etch the glass previously, rather than to apply a coating. Huh, it turns out his solution was acid etching the inside of the bulb, which was what I assumed they tried that didn't work.
- BubRoss 7y ago
  It wasn't Alan Kay, it was Ivan Sutherland who was a father of computer graphics.

giancarlostoro 7y ago

Ah I was going to guess it might of been Alan Kay, but I wasn't too sure. Thanks for confirming! I read it as a comment a while back here on HN and forgot to bookmark it.

yesbabyyes 7y ago
According to the link above, it was a fellow named Ivan Sutherland.
- giancarlostoro 7y ago
  Whoops I read this wrong, my mistake, thanks for the clarification.
  - yesbabyyes 7y ago
    For sure! I just came across the interesting story of Marvin Pipkin, who, upon starting a job at General Electric, was given a "fool's errand" by his new team, as a practical joke: He was tasked with finding a way of frosting light bulbs from the inside, without making them too brittle. Not being aware his assignment was a type of joke, he went about the task as if it was something that could be done and had been done before. The first electric light bulb frosted on the inside with sufficient strength for ordinary handling that could be sold to the public was invented by Pipkin in 1925. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marvin_Pipkin https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marvin_Pipkin
    - giancarlostoro 7y ago
      That is awesome! That's what I took away from that story. Nothing is impossible, only if you believe it is. Might be hard problem with limitations, but you could work it.
    - code_duck 7y ago
      That's interesting. As a glassblower I don't understand why that ever would have been a difficulty. I suppose they were trying to etch the glass previously, rather than to apply a coating. Huh, it turns out his solution was acid etching the inside of the bulb, which was what I assumed they tried that didn't work.
BubRoss 7y ago
It wasn't Alan Kay, it was Ivan Sutherland who was a father of computer graphics.