i couldn't resist. i was already getting annoyed by going through all that papers (slauti has cleaned up now), still hearing adele goldberg, telling me: simply ask. so i did. i asked her following question: "what was it, alan kay was talking about 1970, that is quoted as: "I only hired people that got stars in their eyes when they heard about the notebook computer idea."?? did he talk about what later became known as dynabook or can i say he had the idea of the notetaker in mind?? (well, the formulation sucks, and i have to admit i got kind of obsessed with that point, but what the hack. the important thing is, i got an answer and another piece in my hand to tell the story right.)

her reply:

Hi Mariann, I am delighted to hear from you. (couldn't leave that out g)

Here is my answer to the question, to the best of my knowledge. First, Alan's vision since 1972 was expressed as "The Dynabook". He had a cardboard mockup of the physical idea...a flat device the size of a notebook binder in width and height, but very thin (like the thin technology size portables of today). There was no lid...more like a pad of paper whose surface was a touchable screen. It had wireless communications capability. He always stated that the problem was the software for the Dynabook--how to have good software that let people access and manipulate information, including the ability for these people to write programs. Hence the years of work in Smalltalk were a combination of exploring media, integration of media, and programming environment.

Hope this helps Adele

and who the hell is listening "matrix"? i thought people are always missing it?? adele wrote she already received a message as a result of my radio report. is this good or bad news? anyhow, she promised me a forward. let's wait.

so, and please excuse me if i take a step aside from the actual story; so: you are practising living history. first time i heard this term was during my studies, history, when "living history" was the name for a certain kind of scientific investigation, it meant interviewing "witnesses" and putting their words into the perspective of the whole story. actually the only persons interviewed were survivors of the 3rd Reich, but still, it was called ascientific method with all the theoretic and methodic writings behind.

anyway, just a few days ago, when i agreed to take care of the child of a friend some days ago, i put the child's seat into our car and fastened it and made sure the seat belt fit, and after 10 minutes of hard work i turned around and asked her: Do you remember when we were childs? seatbelts were a new invention, and special seats for childs were unheard of, do you remember? - and i could tell from her face that she had a hard time remembering, and i went on to tell her: you know, when i was 4 or five years old, i used to sit on the driver's lap and "help" with steering the car. and she said: yes, so did i, but imagine, i forgot all about that until you mentioned it, so:

living history got a new meaning for me at that point, conserving the memory of the things that seem so obvious at some point, but get diffused and forgotten over time...

just a little point with a long explanation, what i want to say is "get it while you can".

so? what?

so what?

so, i think, those questions, asked or mailed, are important preservers of the intentions and securities at a certain point of time, and while some may think they (and their answers) became obsolete with new developments, in a way i'm still sure that they can tell us something... sometime

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concerning your question "who listens to matrix", i dont know... i always intend to, but still, i always miss it... ever tought of an online reminder system?