Alan Kay

Quotes are word for word from the source.

• Inventing the future

  “The best way to predict the future is to invent it.”

  Our noteAlan Kay speaking at a 1971 meeting of PARC.

• Software and hardware

  “People who are really serious about software should make their own hardware.”

  Our noteA talk given at a Creative Think seminar.

• Value of perspective

  “A change in perspective is worth 80 IQ points.”

  Our noteA talk given at a Creative Think seminar.

• Defining technology

  “Technology is anything that wasn't around when you were born.”

  Our noteA press conference held in Hong Kong.

• Hiring for weaknesses

  “I hired finishers because I'm a good starter and a poor finisher.”

  Our noteA conversation about personal work style and hiring.

• Software structural integrity

  “Most software today is very much like an Egyptian pyramid with millions of bricks piled on top of each other, with no structural integrity, but just done by brute force and thousands of slaves.”

  Our noteDiscussing the state of modern software engineering.

• Short term thinking

  “Basically, a lot of the problems that computing has had in the last 25 years comes from systems where the designers were trying to fix some short-term thing and didn't think about whether the idea would scale if it were adopted.”

  Our noteReflecting on long-term problems in system design.

• Nature of creativity

  “Most creativity is a transition from one context into another where things are more surprising.”

  Our noteExplaining how creative transitions work in science and art.

• Careful design

  “The flip side of the coin was that even good programmers and language designers tended to do terrible extensions when they were in the heat of programming, because design is something that is best done slowly and carefully.”

  Our noteDiscussing why design should be separated from the heat of coding.