31–40 of 54 posts
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It's astonishing (and sad) how few opportunities exist for basic research.
Donald Braben's book touches on what's changed pretty well I felt (published by Stripe press too): https://www.amazon.com/Scientific-Freedom-Civilization-Donal...
Both seem to have worked at/with Dynamicland previously, though not mentioned on this site. https://omar.website/posts/notes-from-dynamicland-geokit/ https://cwervo.com/projects/dynamicland-experiments/
The moment I saw papercraft, computer vision, and a projector, I thought this had to have some relation. I’ve never been able to resolve a clear position for myself on Dynamicland. I’ve long admired Brett Victor’s work, and I have only the fondest appreciation for the project's philosophy and the enthusiasm with which Victor writes about it. The only problem is that I’ve never been able to figure out even the first t…
I think the point of these projects is to find an alternative approach to interfacing with technology. Why not combine paper and computers?
We make the assumption that interfacing to technology is limited to keyboards, mice and fingers but there is no reason for us to limit ourselves to these approaches.
Anyone using punchcards would be amazed by keyboards and so we will be amazed by interfaces that are beyond our imagination.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
The moment I saw papercraft, computer vision, and a projector, I thought this had to have some relation. I’ve never been able to resolve a clear position for myself on Dynamicland. I’ve long admired Brett Victor’s work, and I have only the fondest appreciation for the project's philosophy and the enthusiasm with which Victor writes about it. The only problem is that I’ve never been able to figure out even the first t…
Came here to say the same - Bret Victor is doing similar things[1]. I think the point of these projects is to find an alternative approach to interfacing with technology. Why not combine paper and computers? We make the assumption that interfacing to technology is limited to keyboards, mice and fingers but there is no reason for us to limit ourselves to these approaches. Anyone using punchcards would be amazed by key…
Typewriters, proper, pre-existed alongside punchcards for many decades before being incorporated into computer interfaces as keyboards. The fact that they did pre-exist computer keyboards may have led to them becoming the default so fast. While keyboards are amazing, they certainly weren't beyond imagination.
I guess you can say that QR codes, projectors, and cameras predate this Folk computer idea as well. But they are also far less intuitive. Using a typewriter well requires knowing basic literacy and a few new functions (carriage return, line feed, shift, etcetera). Graduating from a typewriter to a keyboard requires learning some additional functionality.
What current devices are teaching the basic functionality needed to jumpstart adaptation to this Folk computer interface?
Is this a paper computer? If so, the first page of the site does a poor job of explaining what it is, and even then going to “make a button” page it’s still not that clear. Where is the about page or some kind of introduction?
This is almost the opposite of what I envisioned when reading the title "folk computer", which makes me think of a computing experience that's fundamentally simple, convivial, and transparent to users, something like what's captured by the concept of "permacomputing". While the ideas explored here are no doubt interesting and probably important to consider, they seem like they require an enormous amount of abstractio…
When Omar's post about Dynamicland [1] hit the front page last month, I was frustrated by how little information was available about the project. It seems that the folks behind Dynamicland were very against sharing anything online [2] due to concerns about "including everybody".
On the one hand, I admire their vision. But on the other hand, it doesn't feel obvious to me that holding back something like Dynamicland would help it ultimately become "available everywhere." Even their answer of "come visit us in person" isn't relevant anymore since their physical space is closed.
I'm very excited about this approach - even if it isn't open source, they've shared far more information about the way the system works. I'm sure this will inspire others and ultimately blossom into something much greater.
Edit: actually, it's open source here: https://git.folk.computer/folk
[0]: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=39242467
[1]: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=38979412
[2]: https://gist.github.com/shaunlebron/4b9a9a986fca1e7abd0bfcad...
Earlier quoted context omitted.
The moment I saw papercraft, computer vision, and a projector, I thought this had to have some relation. I’ve never been able to resolve a clear position for myself on Dynamicland. I’ve long admired Brett Victor’s work, and I have only the fondest appreciation for the project's philosophy and the enthusiasm with which Victor writes about it. The only problem is that I’ve never been able to figure out even the first t…
Came here to say the same - Bret Victor is doing similar things[1]. I think the point of these projects is to find an alternative approach to interfacing with technology. Why not combine paper and computers? We make the assumption that interfacing to technology is limited to keyboards, mice and fingers but there is no reason for us to limit ourselves to these approaches. Anyone using punchcards would be amazed by key…
As someone who uses punchcards regularly, I don't understand what you mean. People used a keyboard to punch cards since the 1930s or earlier. You type on a keyboard and the keypunch puts the holes in the card.
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PARC, though awesome for society, was a massive commercial failure for Xerox. As tech nerd, I love the lore of The PARC and went to visit it as soon as I moved to the Bay Area. However, I assume it would be taught as a lesson of what not to do in a business context: Investing in pure research often yields innovations that are opposed to existing business lines or simply too far out to see as useful by management. Tha…
Uh no. Xerox made billions from the laser printer. And yes they missed capturing all the profit but it was crazy profitable. https://www.forbes.com/sites/gregsatell/2015/03/21/how-parc-...
Still, it shows my point, that research that reaches too far from the company’s core biz is difficult to recognize as a success. The laser printer, was a better printer and it was an improvement to Xerox existing scan+print business.
Bell Labs also had a lot of commercial success.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
Came here to say the same - Bret Victor is doing similar things[1]. I think the point of these projects is to find an alternative approach to interfacing with technology. Why not combine paper and computers? We make the assumption that interfacing to technology is limited to keyboards, mice and fingers but there is no reason for us to limit ourselves to these approaches. Anyone using punchcards would be amazed by key…
> Anyone using punchcards would be amazed by keyboards As someone who uses punchcards regularly, I don't understand what you mean. People used a keyboard to punch cards since the 1930s or earlier. You type on a keyboard and the keypunch puts the holes in the card.