Dynabook, The Complete Story

Alan Kay, computer researcher and inventor, recounts the history of Dynabook, an early attempt to create a portable computing system. He begins talking about his influences, including Vannevar Bush’s MEMEX, the writings of Robert Heinlein, Douglas Engelbart, the MIT LINC project, J.C.R. Licklider’s work for ARPA, and the Burroughs 220 computer. He shows several film segments, including pieces of Ivan Sutherland’s Sketchpad film, work at the Rand Corporation, and a demonstration of the Smalltalk programming environment, and Dynabook concepts from 1973. Kay recalls his time at the University of Utah under Dave Evans and Bob Barton. An extended segment of an animation program is shown, demonstrating the kinds of programs children were creating with Smalltalk. Kay concludes by describing the NoteTaker portable computer.