Robert X. Cringely's NerdTV Interview... amazing stuff
http://archive.org/details/nerdtv011
Doug Engelbart has died
71–80 of 99 posts
Re: Doug Engelbart has died
#72He predicted 'The Cloud' in 1976 and we're just catching up now, "Engelbart slipped into relative obscurity after 1976. Several of his researchers became alienated from him and left his organization for Xerox PARC, in part due to frustration, and in part due to differing views of the future of computing. Engelbart saw the future in collaborative, networked, timeshare (client-server) computers, which younger programme…
Hmm so a kind of liberal vs. socialist philosophy of technology. You just gave me a new perspective on things. Thanks!
I'd suggest checking out Wikipedia, Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy, and Encyclopedia Britannica on the term "communitarianism". It's far more relevant than applying the word "socialist" without meaning.
Re: Doug Engelbart has died
#73Nothing sad about well liked person, who accomplished a lot, dying at age 88. He won. RIP Doug Engelbart.
Re: Doug Engelbart has died
#74Doug Engelbart has been a huge inspiration to me even though I never met him. I'm amazed at how much his group at SRI was able to accomplish. I think his vision - augmenting human intellect to help solve the world's complex problems - is still a vision worth sharing. Doug did help change the world, and I'll remember him for it.
Re: Doug Engelbart has died
#75If you've never watched the retrospectively-named "Mother of All Demos", it's an extraordinary document of current-day technology that was somehow done in 1968. There are parts that just seem "wrong" — as seemingly-anachronistic as if Don Draper used a PowerPoint. Yet, there it is. http://archive.org/details/XD300-23_68HighlightsAResearchCnt... Edit: link had been to http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yJDv-zdhzMY but a u…
In the demo video, there are some noises in the background, I'm assuming from his workstation -- rather pleasant and atmospheric. Anyone know what they are? Is it a transmission artifact? Feedback intended for the user (maybe related to the chorded keyboard)? I've read several accounts of this presentation ( one is in _What the Dormouse Said_ ), but don't recall an explanation.
The account in What the Dormouse Said says the sound was intentional audio feedback:
"Engelbart referred to the on-screen cursor as a "bug" or a "tracking spot," and there were occasionally odd buzzing sounds in the background as he executed commands at the keyboard. The group had been experimenting with using the computer to generate different tones depending upon what was being executed, as a way of creating auditory feedback."
Looks like a pretty uniform buzz, too
Re: Doug Engelbart has died
#76Like others on here have posted. Doug's true worth was not in the innovations he procured or the things he built, but rather what he saw as the future of computing, humanity, and technology. The way he was able to reach into the future and pull out the best bits, and then execute was something that not many innovators can claim to. The ideas that were built at SRI are nothing short of legendary, and the core principles still carry on.
It may be a bit sad to think that so many don't know his name, blindly believing the mouse was invented by Xerox, that the Internet was invented by Tim-Berners Lee, but in the end, does it really matter? To Doug, all that mattered was being visionary and helping people. It would do good for all of us here at HN to follow his example. Humans only get one shot, and Dr. Doug Engelbart nailed it.
P.S., thanks PG for the black topbar. A fitting sign of respect for a very great man.
Re: Doug Engelbart has died
#77If you've never watched the retrospectively-named "Mother of All Demos", it's an extraordinary document of current-day technology that was somehow done in 1968. There are parts that just seem "wrong" — as seemingly-anachronistic as if Don Draper used a PowerPoint. Yet, there it is. http://archive.org/details/XD300-23_68HighlightsAResearchCnt... Edit: link had been to http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yJDv-zdhzMY but a u…
WOW! How have I never seen this before? 1968??? That is amazing. I'll have to come back and watch the entire video later this evening when I have the time.
I will say though that taking a look at it for just a few minutes is incredibly inspiring. It's a reminder that with enough passion and determination to push the boundaries of current technologies, anyone can become an innovator who sets in motion a wave of changes that effects the lives of everyone on this planet.
Re: Doug Engelbart has died
#78Earlier quoted context omitted.
They were both right. The web brought them together. We didn't have to choose after all. I have a fabulously powerful personal workstation on my desk, a slimmer, more modest one in my bag, a thin client in my pocket, and a bunch of upstream data centers that provide amazing services. Some people might hanker for a completely decentralized P2P model of the Internet, and BitTorrent shows this is still hugely relevant.…
I meant the part about centralized power being highly suspect. We have certainly seen all too well recently that that part is true.
True enough. I guess every generation needs their reminder.
Still, the meta-point holds: centralized power lacks robustness (e.g. to corruption and/or the stupidity of a relative few), but has big advantages over widely distributed systems in terms of communication latency and bandwidth that enable efficiency. We're sloshing around dynamically trying combinations, but we should expect to always see some centralized (opportunities for efficiency) and some distributed (opportunities for robustness) stuff going on.
Re: Doug Engelbart has died
#79A long time ago, 1995 or 1996, I fooled around with software that was written by one of Engelbart's team. It promised to augment the person running the program, to do for their brain what word-processing did for text. It was darn nifty, but a bit beyond me at the time. Couldn't get my boss interested, and I moved on. Does anyone have a clue what that could have been called? Edit: HyPerform, by N. Dean Meyer. I never…
May I ask what search terms you used? I tentatively thought it was "TheBrain", but that's a bit later, and I was working out if there's any link between Harlan Hugh and Engelbart.
'engelbart inspired augment software' without quotes.
Which led me to the wiki page for NLS which contains the line ...
"The HyPerform program sold by NDMA Inc. is a descendant of NLS and Augment."
Which made my brain go 'that's it' and google confirmed it.
Re: Doug Engelbart has died
#80A long time ago, 1995 or 1996, I fooled around with software that was written by one of Engelbart's team. It promised to augment the person running the program, to do for their brain what word-processing did for text. It was darn nifty, but a bit beyond me at the time. Couldn't get my boss interested, and I moved on. Does anyone have a clue what that could have been called? Edit: HyPerform, by N. Dean Meyer. I never…
I just read whatever I could about this, but do you have any further information? I'm fascinated.
All I've got is what I wrote, and what's on NDMA's site about it.
I wish I'd kept that floppy. It was a full working copy, and the printed instruction manual. I have no idea how I acquired it, at this late date.
Perhaps it was sitting around in the server 'room' where I was working: lots of engineers there (including my boss) and it seems like the kind of thing he'd have been interested in.