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<div>One of the nice side benefits is that HP already does lots of
open source stuff and was extremely supportive of keeping Viewpoints
Research Institute (the nonprofit we set up after Disney) open and
flourishing. Squeak and Croquet will always be open source. I think
there is lots of potential in this new relationship.</div>
<div><br></div>
<div>Cheers,</div>
<div><br></div>
<div>Alan</div>
<div><br></div>
<div>------</div>
<div>At 4:53 AM -0500 11/26/02, Gary Fisher wrote:</div>
<blockquote type="cite" cite><font size="-1">Wow!</font></blockquote>
<blockquote type="cite" cite> </blockquote>
<blockquote type="cite" cite><font size="-1">I can't think of any
company or group of companies which has done more to get computing
technology into the hands of people than HP/DEC/Compaq, nor a more
appropriate setting for "The Future: Part Two" to move
from ideaspace to reality. If you think the past ten years have
been exciting, hang onto your hats -- the best part of the ride
is just ahead!</font></blockquote>
<blockquote type="cite" cite> </blockquote>
<blockquote type="cite" cite><font size="-1">Gary</font></blockquote>
<blockquote type="cite" cite> <br>
<blockquote>----- Original Message -----</blockquote>
<blockquote><b>From:</b> <a href="mailto:jumpstart@csi.com">William
Cole</a></blockquote>
<blockquote><b>To:</b> <a
href="mailto:m.rueger@acm.org">m.rueger@acm.org</a> ; <a
href="mailto:andreas.raab@gmx.de">andreas.raab@gmx.de</a> ; <a
href="mailto:squeak-dev@lists.squeakfoundation.org"
>squeak-dev@lists.squeakfoundation.org</a></blockquote>
<blockquote><b>Sent:</b> Monday, November 25, 2002 11:52
PM</blockquote>
<blockquote><b>Subject:</b> Alan Kay to Join HP</blockquote>
<blockquote><br></blockquote>
<blockquote>November 26, 2002<br>
<br>
A Computing Pioneer of the 1970's Joins Hewlett-Packard<br>
<br>
By STEVE LOHR<br>
<br>
Alan Kay, a personal computing
innovator who was a leader of Xerox's<br>
pioneering Palo Alto Research Center in the 1970's, has joined<br>
Hewlett-Packard as a senior
researcher.<br>
<br>
His arrival at Hewlett-Packard Laboratories, which the company is<br>
announcing today, comes at a time when the company is hoping that
research<br>
can point to new markets in personal computing and give the company an
edge<br>
against Dell Computer - the pacesetter in today's personal<br>
computer business and a company known more for operational excellence
than<br>
product innovation.<br>
<br>
Hiring Dr. Kay is an investment in Hewlett-Packard's innovation
strategy.<br>
Throughout his career, Dr. Kay has worked on the design concepts
and<br>
underlying technology to improve the interaction between people
and<br>
computers. In the late 1960's, when computing was done on
room-size<br>
mainframe computers, Dr. Kay described a concept computer he called
the<br>
Dynabook. It would weigh little more than a book; rest on the
user's<br>
lap; and come with a flat-panel screen, a keyboard and a stylus, since
it<br>
would recognize handwriting. It would communicate wirelessly.<br>
<br>
The computer industry has been pursuing the Dynabook ever since.
The<br>
recently introduced Tablet PC models, made by PC companies like<br>
Hewlett-Packard and running Microsoft software, is the latest
entry.<br>
<br>
At the Xerox research center, better known as PARC, Dr. Kay led the
team<br>
that put a graphics-capable display, overlapping windows, icons and
a<br>
point-and-click user interface into a working computer called the
Alto.<br>
Apple's Macintosh and Microsoft's Windows are descendants of the
Alto.<br>
<br>
Dr. Kay and a few PARC colleagues, notably Dan Ingalls and Adele
Goldberg,<br>
also developed Smalltalk, an influential programming language that<br>
uses blocks of code, known as objects, that are put together, like
the<br>
cells that make up the human body, to build applications.<br>
<br>
At Hewlett-Packard, Dr. Kay, who is 62, intends to continue pursuing
his<br>
goal of improving the experience of computing. "The goal is to
show<br>
what the next big relationship between people and computing is likely
to<br>
be," Dr. Kay said in an interview.<br>
<br>
The best way to do that, Dr. Kay explained, is to build prototypes
that<br>
will "show ideas in motion."<br>
<br>
"The trick for a person like me," he added, "is that
you get people most<br>
excited by something that looks like a product. And I'm betting that
some of<br>
it will be interesting to H.P."<br>
<br>
With the PC business in the doldrums, many executives and analysts say
they<br>
believe that the industry is entering maturity. Dr. Kay disagrees.<br>
Personal computing, he insisted, is "ripe for new markets - I
don't think<br>
the real computing revolution has happened yet."<br>
<br>
Dr. Kay declined to discuss his ideas precisely. Starting at Xerox
PARC, he<br>
has focused on trying to make computing an engaging medium for
play</blockquote>
<blockquote>and learning, and he has often worked with children. After
PARC, Dr. Kay<br>
held research positions at Atari, Apple and Disney, where his
five-year<br>
contract ended in September 2001. Since then, he has worked mainly at
a<br>
nonprofit organization he helped found, the Viewpoints Research<br>
Institute, which seeks to find ways to use computing to improve
education<br>
for children as well as their understanding of complex systems
like<br>
software.<br>
<br>
Since he left Disney, Dr. Kay has been approached by other
technology<br>
companies besides Hewlett-Packard. But the person who recruited him
at<br>
Hewlett-Packard, Patrick Scaglia, who heads Internet and computing<br>
platforms research, had studied under the same professor, Dave Evans,
at<br>
the University of Utah, which was a wellspring of early computer
graphics<br>
research.<br>
<br>
"Ultimately, it comes down to the vibes and trust," Dr. Kay
said of his<br>
decision to join Hewlett-Packard.</blockquote>
</blockquote>
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