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Eugene, DDJ's technical editor, can be reached at
Lanier's anecdote was one of many at
Engelbart's Unfinished
Revolution
industry luminaries gathered to examine and honor Engelbart's
achievements and vision. Hosted by the
Institute for the Future and the
Silicon Valley Archives, and moderated by Institute for the Future
director Paul Saffo, the theme of the day was not Engelbart's
inventions (most notably the mouse), but the social change that
Engelbart has advocated, but which have been largely ignored.
Participating in the conference were Engelbart and many of his former
SRI colleagues, including Bill
English, Jeff Rulifson (currently director of the Technology
Development Group at Sun Microsystems), and Charles Irby, who went on
to lead the design of the Star at Xerox PARC and the Nintendo 64 at
SGI. Other participants included hypertext gurus Ted Nelson and Andy
van Dam, Smalltalk-creator Alan Kay, and nanotechnologist K. Eric
Drexler.
Video clips of Engelbart's December 1968 presentation of the NLS
(short for "oN Line System") at an American Federation of Information
Processing Society (AFIPS) conference -- perhaps the most famous
computer demo in history -- were shown throughout the day. NLS
introduced such novelties as networked, interactive computers, the
mouse, and the chording keyboard, most of which moved into the
mainstream in the ensuing 30 years.
As impressive as Engelbart's technological achievements were, they
were only part of his vision. Engelbart has spent his life pursuing
what he calls the "augmentation of human intellect," or "boosting the
collective IQ." Organizations, says Engelbart, can improve their
productivity and the quality of their work by improving the human
process and using the right support technologies. Engelbart recently
founded a non-profit organization,
help organizations achieve these goals.
This other half of Engelbart's "unfinished revolution" was the center
of discussion throughout the day, and many lamented the glacial pace
of social change. Engelbart, commenting on the slow acceptance of
some of his technical advances, noted, "Prevailing paradigms affect
acceptable research paths. But these paradigms don't move fast
enough."
Ted Nelson delivered the most entertaining talk of the day,
punctuating his points with one-liners that had the audience laughing
throughout. After lamenting the limitations of paper, Nelson went on
to criticize current directions in user-interface and software
design. "Why are video games designed better than office software?"
asked Nelson. "The answer is preposterously simple. Video games are
designed by people who want to play video games. People who design
office software want to do something else on the weekends." Other
speakers included Stewart Brand, who described the
long now foundation's work on
building a 10,000-year clock, and Alan Kay, who emphasized the
"romance" of Engelbart's demonstration and work.
While the goal of the conference was ostensibly to discuss the
"unfinished revolution," all speakers paid homage to Engelbart. While
Engelbart received lavish praise, however, he seemed more overwhelmed
by the almost universal embracing of his ideas by those attending the
conference, and at several points, he became tearful. By the end of
the day, it was clear that if Engelbart's vision is never fully
achieved, it won't be out of lack of effort, but because his vision
continues to be well ahead of its time.
Revolution
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December 01, 1998
URL:http://drdobbs.com/beyond-the-mouse-engelbart-and-social-ch/184410815
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