Alan Kay wants to see more creativity

In a Fortune article, Alan Kay, who invented the “first” Tablet–the Dynabook at XEROX PARC–and is now a senior fellow at HP says, “The sad truth is that 20 years or so of commercialization have almost completely missed the point of what personal computing is about.”

The article continues: “Kay believes…computers should be tools for creativity and learning, and they are falling short. At Xerox PARC the aim of much of Kay’s research was to develop systems to aid in education. But business, instead, has been the primary user of personal computers since their invention. And business, he says, “is basically not interested in creative uses for computers.”

Actually, the Tablet PC has a very good chance at challenging this. The creative and education markets very well could help the Tablet break out. It’ll depend on the software developed for it. There’s lots more to do. ArtRage is one resounding hit in the creativity space…as well as MindManager and Alias’ Sketchbook. And on the education side, GoBinder and OneNote are tearing apart the classic views of how computers can be used in the classroom. I’m guessing that more and more content-oriented, education Tablet apps are going to be making their way to the download sites too.

One exciting future Alan envisions is a highly connected peer-to-peer one. I couldn’t agree more. I admit I’ve never been much of a P2P or collaboration person before, but with a Tablet in my hands mixed with its mobility I see how it fits so well with highly flexible, adhoc P2P networks. To pull this off, we’re going to need some very good OS tools and built-in OS user management support. They aren’t quite there yet, but maybe in the next five years or so.

But just as I was thinking Alan was completely in line with the Tablet, he threw a challenge out to all of us developers: Don’t just think in terms of ink and paper. Think simulations. Think interactivity.

I think he’s meaning something similar to Virtual U where you can simulate a whole university environment to explore different processes. Bob Sawyer, an acquaintance through Keith, co-founded the Virtual U product line and works with various organizations to customize their simulation engine to various domains. It’s quite clever.

Personally, I don’t think it’s that we should be turning products into game-like simulation engines, it’s that we should be developing products where the simulations are done as aids to help us work through problems. Put another way: Great applications should be designed where they let the human do what they do best and the computer does what it does best. For instance, the human is good at making overall decisions and the computer is great at crunching through millions and millions of calculations and possibilities. Finding the sweet spot between these two can lead to a great app.

One last clip. In an interview for the “The Book & Computer” Alan Kay is asked:
“…what’s missing, why isn’t the Dynabook a reality — what’s missing is that the population to use them isn’t there yet. We haven’t taught people how to use them.”

His answer? “The music is not inside the piano.” In other words, the Dynabook–or Tablet PC if you will, is just a tool. To teach music–or whatever–you need the right combination of tools and teachers. You need the right setting. Good point to remember.

But, hey, Alan. I’d still like to see a Tablet PC capable of storing and displaying sheet music as well as equipped with software that monitors how I”m playing an instrument and gives me feedback so I can adjust. In other words, I’d like a teacher in a box 🙂 Yes, the classroom teacher will give me the direction and guidance to play well. But I’d like to see Tablets and the software on them interactively reach out beyond the screen so I can practice more productively on my own.