it may be 50 years that people don't have to share a mashine, the american computer history museum suggests, using it somehow as a definition for the personal computer. they organized a celebration where they invited alan kay to talk about dynabook. or as kay states: "the power of the context" and the "40th anniversary of an idea". it's actually a talk about heroes and landmarks in computing. recommended (if you ignore the moderator) | pointer via mivsek.

one think worth to celebrate is 40 years of engelbart's demo he gave at the 9th of december 1968. 3.45pm.

50 years ago: john mccarthy with lisp.

1962: the romance of interactive computing began with sutherland's sketchpad;

its the linc (wes clark, 1962), alan kay would give his vote for as "the first true personal computer", having the quote of wes clark on his slide: "the user should be able to see over the computer."

there have been lots of "single computers" around already in the mid 60's.

once i had a question about KiddieKomp, dynabook and notetaker. but i didn't ask alan kay, i asked adele goldberg instead ... hope she was invited, though.

reread kay's 93 or so paper on the early history of ST with all his i'm not satifieds and this is wrongs in it. personal computing. yeah.

that no one I ask knows Charles Thacker anymore is testimony to how the hardware guys have been phased out in these 40 years.