First Principles · From an article
Origins · the entities behind the piece
The Mother of All Demos, 1968. What was shown but never built.
Every person, place, institution and idea this article touches — the reading list it generates.
8 written · 25 catalogued
People
12 Bill English American engineer (1929–2020) who co-invented the mouse with Engelbart and built the first prototype in 1964. Bill Paxton American researcher at SRI's Augmentation Research Center, one of the two remote faces in the 1968 demo. Douglas Engelbart American engineer (1925–2013) and pioneer of human–computer interaction. Jeff Rulifson American computer scientist, lead software architect of NLS and author of RFC 5. Alan Kaystub American computer scientist (b. 1940), architect of the personal computer as we know it. Andries van Damstub Dutch-American computer scientist (b. 1938), a founder of hypertext research. Ivan Sutherlandstub American computer scientist (b. 1938), creator of Sketchpad and pioneer of computer graphics. J.C.R. Lickliderstub American psychologist (1915–1990) who funded and foresaw interactive computing and networks. Steve Jobsstub American entrepreneur (1955–2011), co-founder of Apple. Steven Levystub American technology journalist (b. 1951), author of Hackers. Stewart Brandstub American writer and editor (b. 1938) of the Whole Earth Catalog. Vannevar Bushstub American engineer (1890–1974) who led U.S. wartime research and imagined the Memex.
Institutions
5 ARPA (now DARPA)stub The U.S. defense research agency that funded the ARPANET. Augmentation Research Center (ARC)stub Engelbart's laboratory at SRI, the team that built NLS and staged the 1968 demonstration. NASA (Ames Research Center)stub The U.S. space agency's Silicon Valley laboratory. SRI (Stanford Research Institute)stub An independent research institute founded in 1946, originally affiliated with Stanford. Xerox PARCstub Xerox's Palo Alto Research Center, founded in 1970.
Places
1Concepts
7 Macintosh The 1984 machine that carried the graphical interface onto an ordinary desk. SDS 940 The three-ton time-sharing mainframe that ran NLS from Menlo Park. Time-Sharing Many people on one machine at once — the precondition for interactive computing. Xerox Alto The first computer built around a graphical interface for one person — never sold commercially. Augmenting Human Intellectstub Engelbart's 1962 conceptual framework: the computer as amplifier of human capability rather than automator of calculation. Hypertextstub Text with links — Nelson's word, the web's foundation. NLS (oN-Line System)stub The integrated system Engelbart's team built and demonstrated in 1968 — combining the mouse, on-screen windows, hypertext links, and real-time collaborative editing into one working environment decades ahead of its time.