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Viewpoints Research Institute concluded its operations at the beginning of 2018

vpri.org

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Re: Viewpoints Research Institute concluded its operations at the beginning of 2018

#11

Post by toomim »

david927 wrote: post #7
beaconstudios wrote: post #2

For those who are unaware, this was headed by Alan Kay and was researching various concepts in human-computer interaction, including ideas about the future of coding ( http://www.vpri.org/work/ifnct.htm ). It's a real shame to see them close up shop, we need that kind of research to continue.

I know of a 10 room mansion in Tuscany, Italy that could house a group of future of coding researchers for a year, starting in September. It would work out to €500/month for room and board. But would anyone be up for it?

I'm interested, and building something like that in Hawaii.

Re: Viewpoints Research Institute concluded its operations at the beginning of 2018

#12

Post by DaiPlusPlus »

david927 wrote: post #7
beaconstudios wrote: post #2

For those who are unaware, this was headed by Alan Kay and was researching various concepts in human-computer interaction, including ideas about the future of coding ( http://www.vpri.org/work/ifnct.htm ). It's a real shame to see them close up shop, we need that kind of research to continue.

I know of a 10 room mansion in Tuscany, Italy that could house a group of future of coding researchers for a year, starting in September. It would work out to €500/month for room and board. But would anyone be up for it?

> It would work out to €500/month for room and board

€500/mo with food per month? That's suspiciously affordable. What's the catch?

(My Red Bull addiction is currently costing me ~$300/mo alone right now, seriously)

Re: Viewpoints Research Institute concluded its operations at the beginning of 2018

#13

Post by ironchief »

beaconstudios wrote: post #2

For those who are unaware, this was headed by Alan Kay and was researching various concepts in human-computer interaction, including ideas about the future of coding ( http://www.vpri.org/work/ifnct.htm ). It's a real shame to see them close up shop, we need that kind of research to continue.

Every org that hired Alan Kay as a fellow was closed

- Apple Advanced Technology Group

- Walt Disney Imagineering Fellows

- HP Advanced Software Research

- VPRI

Re: Viewpoints Research Institute concluded its operations at the beginning of 2018

#14

Post by loup-vaillant »

chillpenguin wrote: post #8
DennisP wrote: post #4

Dang. I used to look forward to the 20KLOC OS/GUI/IDE. I guess they never really achieved that. Maybe it was just time for Alan Kay to retire.

Is it true that they never achieved it? I thought they basically did. You can see the system in action in various talks by Alan Kay.

They did basically achieve it. There's one missing component though: the kernel. One big reason kernels have to be gigantic nowadays is the stupidly high diversity of hardware interfaces. Every USB device, every graphics card, network card, printer… has its own peculiar way of talking to the rest of the computer, and that shorcoming has to be compensated by bolting a driver on top. For each OS.

See Casey Muratory on the 30 million lines problem: https://caseymuratori.com/blog_0031

Solve that, and then ideas from VPRI can shine.

Re: Viewpoints Research Institute concluded its operations at the beginning of 2018

#15

Post by wrycoder »

DennisP wrote: post #4

Dang. I used to look forward to the 20KLOC OS/GUI/IDE. I guess they never really achieved that. Maybe it was just time for Alan Kay to retire.

This group blew up very suddenly, leaving a lot of unfinished work. They didn't even properly release the work they had done on GitHub or someplace similar. It's just not like Alan Kay to do that.

https://awarth.blogspot.com/

Note that Warth's name is missing from the 2012 STEPS report.

Piumarta went to Japan.

There's something we don't know.

For a bit of follow-on, there is Alex Warth's homepage:

http://www.tinlizzie.org/~awarth/

Re: Viewpoints Research Institute concluded its operations at the beginning of 2018

#16

Post by dreamcompiler »

DaiPlusPlus wrote: post #12
david927 wrote: post #7

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I know of a 10 room mansion in Tuscany, Italy that could house a group of future of coding researchers for a year, starting in September. It would work out to €500/month for room and board. But would anyone be up for it?

> It would work out to €500/month for room and board €500/mo with food per month? That's suspiciously affordable. What's the catch? (My Red Bull addiction is currently costing me ~$300/mo alone right now, seriously)

Compared with other popular European countries, Italy is cheap. But I don't know if it's that cheap.

Re: Viewpoints Research Institute concluded its operations at the beginning of 2018

#17

Post by david927 »

dreamcompiler wrote: post #16
DaiPlusPlus wrote: post #12

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> It would work out to €500/month for room and board €500/mo with food per month? That's suspiciously affordable. What's the catch? (My Red Bull addiction is currently costing me ~$300/mo alone right now, seriously)

Compared with other popular European countries, Italy is cheap. But I don't know if it's that cheap.

The room is €200; €300 was back-of-the-napkin for general meals and it could be low, but when you buy in bulk it can be quite inexpensive and Italy is definitely cheap.

Re: Viewpoints Research Institute concluded its operations at the beginning of 2018

#18

Post by david927 »

toomim wrote: post #11
david927 wrote: post #7

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I know of a 10 room mansion in Tuscany, Italy that could house a group of future of coding researchers for a year, starting in September. It would work out to €500/month for room and board. But would anyone be up for it?

I'm interested, and building something like that in Hawaii.

You’re currently building something like this in Hawaii? Let’s talk! My email is in my profile.

Re: Viewpoints Research Institute concluded its operations at the beginning of 2018

#19

Post by e12e »

wrycoder wrote: post #15
DennisP wrote: post #4

Dang. I used to look forward to the 20KLOC OS/GUI/IDE. I guess they never really achieved that. Maybe it was just time for Alan Kay to retire.

This group blew up very suddenly, leaving a lot of unfinished work. They didn't even properly release the work they had done on GitHub or someplace similar. It's just not like Alan Kay to do that. https://awarth.blogspot.com/ Note that Warth's name is missing from the 2012 STEPS report. Piumarta went to Japan. There's something we don't know. For a bit of follow-on, there is Alex Warth's homepage: http://www.tinlizzi…

I had a brief look at Alan Kay's most recent comments here - but couldn't find much about VPRI in particular - I was hoping maybe there'd been some post mortem that I'd missed - but doesn't appear so:

https://news.ycombinator.com/threads?id=alankay

Re: Viewpoints Research Institute concluded its operations at the beginning of 2018

#20

Post by david927 »

wrycoder wrote: post #15
DennisP wrote: post #4

Dang. I used to look forward to the 20KLOC OS/GUI/IDE. I guess they never really achieved that. Maybe it was just time for Alan Kay to retire.

This group blew up very suddenly, leaving a lot of unfinished work. They didn't even properly release the work they had done on GitHub or someplace similar. It's just not like Alan Kay to do that. https://awarth.blogspot.com/ Note that Warth's name is missing from the 2012 STEPS report. Piumarta went to Japan. There's something we don't know. For a bit of follow-on, there is Alex Warth's homepage: http://www.tinlizzi…

HARC also seemed to end suddenly. I was never able to get any details on why.
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