Most ideas come from previous ideas. The sixties, particularly in the ARPA community, gave rise to notions about "human-computer symbiosis" through interactive time-shared computers, graphics screens and pointing devices. Advanced computer languages were invented to simulate complex systems. The paradigm shift of modern personal computing, overlapping window interfaces, and object-oriented design came from seeing the work of the sixties as more than a "better old thing." The promise of exponential growth in computing/$/volume demanded that the sixties be regarded as "almost a new thing."
Early Smalltalk was the first complete realization of these new points of view as parented by its many predecessors in hardware, language and user interface design. It became the exemplar of the new computing because we were actually trying for a qualitative shift in belief structures—a new Kuhnian paradigm in the same spirit as the invention of the printing press.
The article covers the period from 1960 to 1980, detailing key milestones such as the FLEX Machine, Smalltalk-72, and the development of the Interim Dynabook. It highlights contributions from Dan Ingalls, Adele Goldberg, and the Xerox PARC LRG gang, as well as influences from SKETCHPAD, JOSS, LISP, and SIMULA.
Source: Hacker News · Summarized by HeadlinesBriefing