Alan Kay, 2015: Power of Simplicity
Kenneth Friedman
Why leaders watch it
Argues that big research horizons and sound fundamentals drive invention, with lessons on how to fund and lead research.
Alan Kay's 2015 talk on the power of simplicity, arguing that systems become simpler by building on more sophisticated fundamental building blocks and that big research horizons drove invention at Xerox PARC. It ranges across computing, tools and scaling software.
Takeaways
- Set big, long-range goals for research
- Build on strong fundamentals to simplify
- Great environments enable invention
Topics: Innovation & creativity, Vision & purpose
Related
- How to Invent the Future II - Stanford CS183F: Startup School · Stanford Online
- How to Invent the Future I - Stanford CS183F: Startup School · Stanford Online
- Founder School Session: The Future Doesn't Have to Be Incremental · DEMO
- "Simple Made Easy" - Rich Hickey (2011) · Strange Loop Conference
- AWS re:Invent 2019: Optimizing Aerospace manufacturing operations & supply chain with AWS (MFG201) · AWS Events
- A Philosophy of Software Design | John Ousterhout | Talks at Google · Talks at Google
- Stanford Seminar - The Soul of a New Machine: Rethinking the Computer · Stanford Online
- Building Software Systems At Google and Lessons Learned · Stanford
- Walt Disney's E.P.C.O.T. Film (1966) · The Original EPCOT
- Ted Nelson struggles with uncomprehending radio interviewer, 1979 · TheTedNelson
- Resilience is a Choice | Jeff Harmon | TEDxHarvard Square · TEDx Talks
- Joe Armstrong & Alan Kay - Joe Armstrong interviews Alan Kay · Erlang Solutions