Dynabook: Difference between revisions
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{{short description|Early portable computer concept}} |
{{short description|Early portable computer concept}} |
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{{about|the children's computer concept|the mass-market laptop manufacturer formerly called Toshiba|Dynabook Inc.}} |
{{about|the children's computer concept|the mass-market laptop manufacturer formerly called Toshiba|Dynabook Inc.}} |
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{{Use mdy dates|date=November 2023}} {{Use American English|date=November 2023}} |
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{{Infobox information appliance |
{{Infobox information appliance |
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| name = Dynabook |
| name = Dynabook |
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| releasedate = Concept 1972<ref name="Kay,1972">{{cite web|last= Kay|first=Alan|title=A Personal Computer for Children of All Ages|url= http://www.mprove.de/diplom/gui/kay72.html |year=1972|quote=A standalone |
| releasedate = Concept 1972<ref name="Kay,1972">{{cite web|last= Kay|first=Alan|title=A Personal Computer for Children of All Ages|url= http://www.mprove.de/diplom/gui/kay72.html |year=1972|quote=A standalone 'smart terminal' that uses one of these chips for a processor (and includes memory, a keyboard, a display and two cassettes) is now on the market for about $6 000}}</ref> |
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The KiddiComp concept, envisioned by [[Alan Kay]] in 1968 while a PhD candidate,<ref>{{cite web|title = Why the iPhone makes 2008 seem like 1968 all over again| url = http://www.open2.net/blogs/scitechnature/index.php/2008/01/23/why_the_iphone_makes_2008_seem_like_1968 |first= |
The '''KiddiComp''' concept, envisioned by [[Alan Kay]] in 1968 while a PhD candidate,<ref>{{cite web | title = Why the iPhone makes 2008 seem like 1968 all over again | url = http://www.open2.net/blogs/scitechnature/index.php/2008/01/23/why_the_iphone_makes_2008_seem_like_1968 | first = Mike | last = Richards | publisher = Open2 | date = January 23, 2008 | access-date = September 2, 2011 | archive-date = November 12, 2011 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20111112071358/http://www.open2.net/blogs/scitechnature/index.php/2008/01/23/why_the_iphone_makes_2008_seem_like_1968 | url-status = dead }}</ref><ref>{{cite web| url = http://openp2p.com/pub/a/p2p/2003/04/03/alan_kay.html |title= Daddy, Are We There Yet? A Discussion with Alan Kay |first= Daniel H. |last = Steinberg | publisher= O'Reilly |date=April 3, 2003 |website=OpenP2P.com |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171115113554/http://openp2p.com/pub/a/p2p/2003/04/03/alan_kay.html |archive-date= Nov 15, 2017 }}</ref> and later developed and described as the '''Dynabook''' in his 1972 proposal "A personal computer for children of all ages",<ref name= "Kay,1972" /> outlines the requirements for a conceptual portable educational device that would offer similar functionality to that now supplied via a [[laptop]] computer or (in some of its other incarnations) a [[tablet computer|tablet or slate computer]] with the exception of the requirement for any Dynabook device offering near eternal battery life. Adults could also use a Dynabook, but the [[target audience]] was children. |
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Part of the motivation and funding for the Dynabook project came from the need for portable military [[maintenance, repair, and operations]] [[documentation]].{{citation needed | date =June 2010}} |
Part of the motivation and funding for the Dynabook project came from the need for portable military [[maintenance, repair, and operations]] [[documentation]].{{citation needed | date =June 2010}} The prospect of eliminating the need to move large amounts of difficult-to-access paper in a dynamic military theater led to significant [[United States Department of Defense|US Department of Defense]] funding. |
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Though the hardware required to create a Dynabook is here today, Alan Kay still thinks the Dynabook hasn't been invented yet, because key software and educational [[curriculum|curricula]] are missing.{{citation needed | date =June 2010}} When [[Microsoft]] came up with its tablet PC, Kay was quoted as saying "Microsoft's Tablet PC, the first Dynabook-like computer good enough to criticize".<ref>{{cite news |url= http://www.newsweek.com/2001/04/29/bill-gates-says-take-this-tablet.html |title=Bill Gates Says, Take This Tablet |first= Steven | last =Levy |publisher= [[Newsweek]] |date=April 30, 2001}}</ref> |
Though the hardware required to create a Dynabook is here today, Alan Kay still{{When|date=July 2023}} thinks the Dynabook hasn't been invented yet, because key software and educational [[curriculum|curricula]] are missing.{{citation needed | date =June 2010}} When [[Microsoft]] came up with its tablet PC in 2001, Kay was quoted as saying "Microsoft's [[Microsoft Tablet PC|Tablet PC]], the first Dynabook-like computer good enough to criticize".<ref>{{cite news |url= http://www.newsweek.com/2001/04/29/bill-gates-says-take-this-tablet.html |title=Bill Gates Says, Take This Tablet |first= Steven | last =Levy |publisher= [[Newsweek]] |date=April 30, 2001}}</ref> |
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[[Toshiba]] |
In 1989, [[Toshiba]] released a [[sub-notebook]] computer called DynaBook, inspired by the concept. Kay was personally gifted a unit and was a guest of Toshiba.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2006-12-18 |title=Archived computingjapan Articles |url=https://www.japaninc.com/archived_computingjapan_articles?cpjurl=/cpj/magazine/issues/1999/oct99/docs/oct99_dynabook.html |access-date=2024-11-20 |website=www.japaninc.com |language=en}}</ref> The company released notebook computers under the DynaBook brand in Japan; in 2018, [[Sharp Corporation|Sharp]] acquired a majority stake in Toshiba's PC business, now named [[Dynabook Inc.]] and has marketed notebooks worldwide under the Dynabook name.<ref>{{Citation | title = 東芝のPC、シャープ売却後も名前は「TOSHIBA」 | url = https://www.asahi.com/articles/ASL7B4H4CL7BULFA01Q.html | publisher= 朝日新聞 (Asahi Shimbun)}}.</ref><ref>{{Citation | title = Sharp to Buy Toshiba's Personal Computer Business, License Brand | url = https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2018-06-05/sharp-to-buy-toshiba-s-personal-computer-business-license-brand | newspaper= Bloomberg| date = 5 June 2018 }}</ref> |
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== Original concept == |
== Original concept == |
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[[File:Alan Kay and the prototype of Dynabook, pt. 5 (3010032738).jpg|thumb|Alan Kay holding the mockup of Dynabook |
[[File:Alan Kay and the prototype of Dynabook, pt. 5 (3010032738).jpg|thumb|Alan Kay holding the mockup of Dynabook, 2008]] |
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Describing the idea as |
Describing the idea as "A Personal Computer For Children of All Ages", Kay wanted the Dynabook concept to embody the learning theories of [[Jerome Bruner]] and some of what [[Seymour Papert]]— who had studied with developmental psychologist [[Jean Piaget]] and who was one of the inventors of the [[Logo programming language]] — was proposing. This concept was created two years before the founding of [[Xerox PARC]]. The ideas led to the development of the [[Xerox Alto]] prototype, which was originally called "the interim Dynabook".<ref>{{Citation|title= Computer History Museum|url= http://www.computerhistory.org/events/index.php?id=1221864610|contribution= 40th Anniversary of the Dynabook|access-date= 2008-11-04|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20081108034256/http://www.computerhistory.org/events/index.php?id=1221864610|archive-date= 2008-11-08|url-status= dead}}.</ref><ref name="Laptop">{{Citation|title=The Laptop Celebrates 40 Years |date= Nov 2008|url= http://blog.wired.com/gadgets/2008/11/museum-celebrat.html|newspaper=Wired}}.</ref><ref name="Personal Dynamic Media2">{{cite journal|last2= Goldberg |first2=Adele|date= March 1977|title= Personal Dynamic Media | journal=Computer | volume=10 | issue= 3 | pages=31–41 | doi = 10.1109/c-m.1977.217672 | last1 = Kay | first1=Alan C. | s2cid=15070347}}</ref> It embodied all the elements of a graphical user interface, or [[Graphical user interface|GUI]], as early as 1972. The software component of this research was [[Smalltalk]], which went on to have a life of its own independent of the Dynabook concept. |
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The hardware on which the programming environment ran was relatively irrelevant. |
The hardware on which the programming environment ran was relatively irrelevant. |
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At the same time, Kay tried in his 1972 article to identify existing hardware components that could be used in a Dynabook, including screens, processors and storage memory. For example: |
At the same time, Kay tried in his 1972 article to identify existing hardware components that could be used in a Dynabook, including screens, processors and storage memory. For example: |
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{{ |
{{Blockquote | A standalone 'smart terminal' that uses one of these chips for a processor (and includes memory, a keyboard, a display and two cassettes) is now on the market for about $6000.<ref name="Kay,1972"/>}} |
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The Dynabook vision was most fully laid out in Kay’s 1977 article "Personal Dynamic Media", co-authored with collaborator (and [[Smalltalk]] co-inventor) [[Adele Goldberg (computer scientist) |
The Dynabook vision was most fully laid out in Kay’s 1977 article "Personal Dynamic Media", co-authored with collaborator (and [[Smalltalk]] co-inventor) [[Adele Goldberg (computer scientist)|Adele Goldberg]].<ref name= "Personal Dynamic Media2"/> |
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In 2019, Kay gave a detailed answer a question on [[Quora]], about the origins of the Dynabook concept.<ref name= "KayQuora">{{cite web |last1=Kay |first1=Alan |title=Alan Kay's answer to American computer pioneer Alan Kay's concept, the Dynabook, was published in 1972. How come Steve Jobs and Apple iPad get the credit for tablet invention? |
In 2019, Kay gave a detailed answer to a question on [[Quora]], about the origins of the Dynabook concept.<ref name= "KayQuora">{{cite web | last1=Kay | first1=Alan | title=Alan Kay's answer to American computer pioneer Alan Kay's concept, the Dynabook, was published in 1972. How come Steve Jobs and Apple iPad get the credit for tablet invention? | url= https://www.quora.com/American-computer-pioneer-Alan-Kay-s-concept-the-Dynabook-was-published-in-1972-How-come-Steve-Jobs-and-Apple-iPad-get-the-credit-for-tablet-invention/answer/Alan-Kay-11 | website = [[Quora]] | accessdate=21 April 2019}}</ref> |
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== Later works == |
== Later works == |
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⚫ | Since the late 1990s, Kay has been working on the [[Squeak]] programming system, an [[Open-source model|open source]] Smalltalk-based environment which could be seen as a logical continuation of the Dynabook concept.<ref>{{Cite news |author=WIRED Staff |title=Alan Kay Honored |url=https://www.wired.com/2004/06/alan-kay-honore/ |access-date=2024-05-12 |work=Wired |language=en-US |issn=1059-1028}}</ref> |
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{{unreferenced section|date=May 2012}} |
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⚫ | |||
He |
He was actively involved in the [[One Laptop Per Child]] project, which uses [[Smalltalk]], Squeak, and the concepts of a computer for learning.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Q&A: Adele Goldberg on the Legacy of Smalltalk - IEEE Spectrum |url=https://spectrum.ieee.org/qa-adele-goldberg-on-the-legacy-of-smalltalk |access-date=2024-05-12 |website=[[IEEE]] |language=en}}</ref><ref name="Laptop" /> |
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== References == |
== References == |
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* {{Citation | url = http://www.tomshardware.com/news/alan-kay-steve-jobs-ipad-iphone,10209.html | title = Did Steve Jobs Steal The iPad? Genius Inventor Alan Kay Reveals All | first = Wolfgang | last = Gruener | newspaper = [[Tom's Hardware]] | date = April 17, 2010}}. |
* {{Citation | url = http://www.tomshardware.com/news/alan-kay-steve-jobs-ipad-iphone,10209.html | title = Did Steve Jobs Steal The iPad? Genius Inventor Alan Kay Reveals All | first = Wolfgang | last = Gruener | newspaper = [[Tom's Hardware]] | date = April 17, 2010}}. |
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* {{Citation | url = http://www.mprove.de/diplom/gui/Kay72a.pdf | title = A Personal Computer for Children of All Ages | first = Alan C | last = Kay |date=Aug 1972 | publisher = M Prove | place = [[Germany|DE]]}}. |
* {{Citation | url = http://www.mprove.de/diplom/gui/Kay72a.pdf | title = A Personal Computer for Children of All Ages | first = Alan C | last = Kay |date=Aug 1972 | publisher = M Prove | place = [[Germany|DE]]}}. |
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* {{cite AV media |last1= Kay |first1= Alan C |title= The Dynabook—Past Present and Future, Excerpts from The ACM Conference on the History of the Personal Workstations |url= https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GMDphyKrAE8 |website= youtube.com |publisher= [[Computer History Museum]] |language= en |format= video |date= January 10, 1986}} |
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* {{Citation | url = http://www.mrl.nyu.edu/~noah/nmr/cd_samples/Kay_Talk.mov | contribution = Sketchpad, Grail and the Interim Dynabook | first = Alan C | last = Kay | author-mask = 3 | format = QuickTime | type = movie clip | title = The History of the Personal Workstation | date = 27 May 1986 }}{{Dead link|date=December 2019 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}. |
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* {{Citation | url = http://www.atariarchives.org/bcc3/showpage.php?page=5 | title = The World in your Own Notebook | newspaper = The Best of Creative Computing | volume = 3 | page = 5 | publisher = Atari archives}}. |
* {{Citation | url = http://www.atariarchives.org/bcc3/showpage.php?page=5 | title = The World in your Own Notebook | newspaper = The Best of Creative Computing | volume = 3 | page = 5 | publisher = Atari archives}}. |
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* {{Citation | url = http://thinkubator.ccsp.sfu.ca/Dynabook | title = Thinkubator | contribution = From the Dynabook to Squeak – A Study in Survivals | publisher = SFU | place = [[Canada|CA]] | url-status = dead | |
* {{Citation | url = http://thinkubator.ccsp.sfu.ca/Dynabook | title = Thinkubator | contribution = From the Dynabook to Squeak – A Study in Survivals | publisher = SFU | place = [[Canada|CA]] | url-status = dead | archive-url = https://archive.today/20121204161734/http://thinkubator.ccsp.sfu.ca/Dynabook | archive-date = 2012-12-04 }}. |
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* {{Citation | url = http://thinkubator.ccsp.sfu.ca/Dynabook | title = Thinkubator | contribution = Tracing the Dynabook: A Study of Technocultural Transformations | type = PhD dissertation | publisher = SFU | place = [[Canada|CA]] | url-status = dead | |
* {{Citation | url = http://thinkubator.ccsp.sfu.ca/Dynabook | title = Thinkubator | contribution = Tracing the Dynabook: A Study of Technocultural Transformations | type = PhD dissertation | publisher = SFU | place = [[Canada|CA]] | url-status = dead | archive-url = https://archive.today/20121204161734/http://thinkubator.ccsp.sfu.ca/Dynabook | archive-date = 2012-12-04 }} about the Dynabook project and vision |
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* {{Citation | url = http://www.ubergizmo.com/15/archives/2005/02/toshibas_lowcos.html | title = Toshiba's dynabook R – a lowcost (185$) tablet PC | newspaper = Uber gizmo |date=Feb 2005}}. |
* {{Citation | url = http://www.ubergizmo.com/15/archives/2005/02/toshibas_lowcos.html | title = Toshiba's dynabook R – a lowcost (185$) tablet PC | newspaper = Uber gizmo |date=Feb 2005}}. |
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* {{Citation | url = |
* {{Citation | url = https://techland.time.com/2013/04/02/an-interview-with-computing-pioneer-alan-kay/ | title = An Interview with Computing Pioneer Alan Kay | newspaper = Time | date = April 2, 2013}}. |
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{{Xerox}} |
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[[Category:History of human–computer interaction]] |
[[Category:History of human–computer interaction]] |
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[[Category:User interfaces]] |
[[Category:User interfaces]] |
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[[Category:Xerox computers]] |
[[Category:Xerox computers]] |
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[[Category:History of computing hardware]] |
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[[Category:Early laptops]] |
Latest revision as of 15:49, 25 November 2024
Developer | Alan Kay |
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Release date | Concept 1972[1] |
The KiddiComp concept, envisioned by Alan Kay in 1968 while a PhD candidate,[2][3] and later developed and described as the Dynabook in his 1972 proposal "A personal computer for children of all ages",[1] outlines the requirements for a conceptual portable educational device that would offer similar functionality to that now supplied via a laptop computer or (in some of its other incarnations) a tablet or slate computer with the exception of the requirement for any Dynabook device offering near eternal battery life. Adults could also use a Dynabook, but the target audience was children.
Part of the motivation and funding for the Dynabook project came from the need for portable military maintenance, repair, and operations documentation.[citation needed] The prospect of eliminating the need to move large amounts of difficult-to-access paper in a dynamic military theater led to significant US Department of Defense funding.
Though the hardware required to create a Dynabook is here today, Alan Kay still[when?] thinks the Dynabook hasn't been invented yet, because key software and educational curricula are missing.[citation needed] When Microsoft came up with its tablet PC in 2001, Kay was quoted as saying "Microsoft's Tablet PC, the first Dynabook-like computer good enough to criticize".[4]
In 1989, Toshiba released a sub-notebook computer called DynaBook, inspired by the concept. Kay was personally gifted a unit and was a guest of Toshiba.[5] The company released notebook computers under the DynaBook brand in Japan; in 2018, Sharp acquired a majority stake in Toshiba's PC business, now named Dynabook Inc. and has marketed notebooks worldwide under the Dynabook name.[6][7]
Original concept
[edit]Describing the idea as "A Personal Computer For Children of All Ages", Kay wanted the Dynabook concept to embody the learning theories of Jerome Bruner and some of what Seymour Papert— who had studied with developmental psychologist Jean Piaget and who was one of the inventors of the Logo programming language — was proposing. This concept was created two years before the founding of Xerox PARC. The ideas led to the development of the Xerox Alto prototype, which was originally called "the interim Dynabook".[8][9][10] It embodied all the elements of a graphical user interface, or GUI, as early as 1972. The software component of this research was Smalltalk, which went on to have a life of its own independent of the Dynabook concept.
The hardware on which the programming environment ran was relatively irrelevant.
At the same time, Kay tried in his 1972 article to identify existing hardware components that could be used in a Dynabook, including screens, processors and storage memory. For example:
A standalone 'smart terminal' that uses one of these chips for a processor (and includes memory, a keyboard, a display and two cassettes) is now on the market for about $6000.[1]
The Dynabook vision was most fully laid out in Kay’s 1977 article "Personal Dynamic Media", co-authored with collaborator (and Smalltalk co-inventor) Adele Goldberg.[10]
In 2019, Kay gave a detailed answer to a question on Quora, about the origins of the Dynabook concept.[11]
Later works
[edit]Since the late 1990s, Kay has been working on the Squeak programming system, an open source Smalltalk-based environment which could be seen as a logical continuation of the Dynabook concept.[12]
He was actively involved in the One Laptop Per Child project, which uses Smalltalk, Squeak, and the concepts of a computer for learning.[13][9]
References
[edit]- ^ a b c Kay, Alan (1972). "A Personal Computer for Children of All Ages".
A standalone 'smart terminal' that uses one of these chips for a processor (and includes memory, a keyboard, a display and two cassettes) is now on the market for about $6 000
- ^ Richards, Mike (January 23, 2008). "Why the iPhone makes 2008 seem like 1968 all over again". Open2. Archived from the original on November 12, 2011. Retrieved September 2, 2011.
- ^ Steinberg, Daniel H. (April 3, 2003). "Daddy, Are We There Yet? A Discussion with Alan Kay". OpenP2P.com. O'Reilly. Archived from the original on November 15, 2017.
- ^ Levy, Steven (April 30, 2001). "Bill Gates Says, Take This Tablet". Newsweek.
- ^ "Archived computingjapan Articles". www.japaninc.com. December 18, 2006. Retrieved November 20, 2024.
- ^ 東芝のPC、シャープ売却後も名前は「TOSHIBA」, 朝日新聞 (Asahi Shimbun).
- ^ "Sharp to Buy Toshiba's Personal Computer Business, License Brand", Bloomberg, June 5, 2018
- ^ "40th Anniversary of the Dynabook", Computer History Museum, archived from the original on November 8, 2008, retrieved November 4, 2008.
- ^ a b "The Laptop Celebrates 40 Years", Wired, November 2008.
- ^ a b Kay, Alan C.; Goldberg, Adele (March 1977). "Personal Dynamic Media". Computer. 10 (3): 31–41. doi:10.1109/c-m.1977.217672. S2CID 15070347.
- ^ Kay, Alan. "Alan Kay's answer to American computer pioneer Alan Kay's concept, the Dynabook, was published in 1972. How come Steve Jobs and Apple iPad get the credit for tablet invention?". Quora. Retrieved April 21, 2019.
- ^ WIRED Staff. "Alan Kay Honored". Wired. ISSN 1059-1028. Retrieved May 12, 2024.
- ^ "Q&A: Adele Goldberg on the Legacy of Smalltalk - IEEE Spectrum". IEEE. Retrieved May 12, 2024.
External links
[edit]- Gruener, Wolfgang (April 17, 2010), "Did Steve Jobs Steal The iPad? Genius Inventor Alan Kay Reveals All", Tom's Hardware.
- Kay, Alan C (August 1972), A Personal Computer for Children of All Ages (PDF), DE: M Prove.
- Kay, Alan C (January 10, 1986). The Dynabook—Past Present and Future, Excerpts from The ACM Conference on the History of the Personal Workstations (video). youtube.com. Computer History Museum.
- "The World in your Own Notebook", The Best of Creative Computing, vol. 3, Atari archives, p. 5.
- "From the Dynabook to Squeak – A Study in Survivals", Thinkubator, CA: SFU, archived from the original on December 4, 2012.
- "Tracing the Dynabook: A Study of Technocultural Transformations", Thinkubator (PhD dissertation), CA: SFU, archived from the original on December 4, 2012 about the Dynabook project and vision
- "Toshiba's dynabook R – a lowcost (185$) tablet PC", Uber gizmo, February 2005.
- "An Interview with Computing Pioneer Alan Kay", Time, April 2, 2013.