Beyond the Mouse: Douglas Engelbart‘s Visionary NLS System
“As we face the complex challenges of the 21st century, from climate change to social inequality to global health crises, the need for tools and frameworks that can help us work together to solve problems is more pressing than ever. Engelbart‘s vision of augmenting human intellect offers a compelling roadmap for how we might use technology to tap into our collective wisdom and creativity.”
55 years ago, the ‘Mother of All Demos’ foresaw modern computing
55 years ago, the ‘Mother of All Demos’ foresaw modern computing
“On Dec. 9, 1968, Oregon-born engineer and inventor Douglas Engelbart hosted a computer demonstration so groundbreaking it is known today as the “Mother of All Demos. [...] Early in his career, Engelbart decided that his life’s work would focus on solving humanity’s problems. He recognized that computers could not only help with that work, but also accelerate it. [...] He envisioned computers as communication tools that could help people learn, collaborate and tackle complex problems.”
Douglas Engelbart facts for kids
Douglas Engelbart facts for kids
“Early in his career he decided (1) he would focus his career on making the world a better place; (2) any serious effort [in this pursuit would require harnessing] the collective human intellect of all involved; (3)
if you could dramatically improve how we do that, you'd be boosting every effort on the planet to solve important problems – the sooner the better; (4) computers could be the vehicle for dramatically improving this capability.”
Related Articles: Computer mouse Facts for Kids | History of personal computers facts for kids | the Mother of All Demos | Keyboard facts for kids | Turing Award facts for kids |
Late Great Engineers: Douglas Engelbart – personalising the computer
Late Great Engineers: Douglas Engelbart - personalising the computer
“American engineer Douglas Engelbart is usually described as the inventor of the computer mouse. But there’s so much more to his pioneering career than a simple pointing device.”
A Machine for Thinking: How Douglas Engelbart Predicted the Future of Computing
A Machine for Thinking: How Douglas Engelbart Predicted the Future of Computing
“More than 50 years ago, Douglas Engelbart gave the "Mother of All Demos" that transformed software forever. The computer world has been catching up with his vision ever since.” See Also: About the Hidden Heroes Series
The Public Debut of a Dream
The Public Debut of a Dream
“Doug Engelbart’s “Augmenting Human Intellect: A Conceptual Framework” 60 Years On: In October, 1962, Dr. Douglas C. Engelbart published a document that synthesized over a decade of research and careful thought, a document that would illuminate the work he would do for the rest of his career. 'Augmenting Human Intellect' is both a research report and a visionary manifesto for how computers and human beings could co-evolve to foster the highest levels of human flourishing. Engelbart sought to empower humanity’s capabilities to address its most complex problems, and he saw networked computing as an essential part of that capability...”
Doug Engelbart, edge notched cards, and early links
Doug Engelbart, edge notched cards, and early links
From HUMAN '22: Proceedings of the 5th Workshop on Human Factors in Hypertext, June 2022. EXCERPT: "This October will be the 60th anniversary of the publication of Doug Engelbart's Augmenting Human Intellect. The eventual product of this research, NLS, was a highly influential computerized hypertext system. However, the path towards augmentation started outside the traditional digital realm. Within Augmenting Human Intellect Engelbart describes how he kept a series of linked notes using edge notched cards...”
See Keynote Abstract | Conference Program
Why The Metaverse Must Be Deeply Human-Centric
Why The Metaverse Must Be Deeply Human-Centric
Key Takeaways From 13th annual Augmented World Expo (AWE)- including “Most people involved in creating the foundations of XR are motivated by a perspective that at its core is humane and driven to help others, not just further the interests of those who design the systems [...] citing UX pioneer Doug Engelbart’s vision of computers that steer human experiences toward 'how the world should work.'”
How the Graphical User Interface Was Invented
How the Graphical User Interface Was Invented
“Three decades of UI research came together in the mice, windows, and icons used today”
Meta’s sci-fi haptic glove prototype
Meta’s sci-fi haptic glove prototype lets you feel VR objects using air pockets
A new sci-fi interface for the metaverse - "Doug Engelbart and Xerox PARC are the only time that fundamentally the way we interact with the digital world has ever changed,” Abrash says — referring to [inventions] that helped set the course of modern personal computing.”
“The Rise of Social Media” — Ponderings from a 3-Credit Course A Q&A with Gardner Campbell
"The Rise of Social Media" — Ponderings from a 3-Credit Course A Q&A with Gardner Campbell
Exploring the history, trends, and perhaps even the future of what we now call social media. [...] You don't have to look far to see how early ideas of computing from Vannevar Bush in the 1940s led to what Doug Engelbart tried to do in his famous 1968 demo and throughout his career with the augmenting intellect conceptual framework, and how both of those led to Tim Berners-Lee as he was thinking about design principles of the Web...
How Humans Think When They Think As Part of a Group
How Humans Think When They Think As Part of a Group
“The fancy word for it is "entitativity," and it’s produced when people act and feel together in close proximity. We need it more, but we’re getting it less.” Not an Engelbart article, but it's right up our alley.
How to Think Outside Your Brain
How to Think Outside Your Brain
“Our culture insists that the brain is the sole locus of thinking. Ms. Paul challenges us to rethink what we think about thinking. Our bodies, our social networks and our surroundings, she argues, are “extra-neural” inputs that have a profound influence on cognition."
This article is a prelude to her new book The Extended Mind. Her work aligns brilliantly with Doug Engelbart's concepts of augmented intellect and collective IQ.
Related Articles Appearing In: Washington Post | Author's Website
Bill Paxton: An Accidental Astrophysicist
Engelbart Alumnus Bill Paxton: An Accidental Astrophysicist
“The American Astronomical Society honors [Engelbart alumnus Bill Paxton] an unlikely astrophysics leader from UC Santa Barbara” ... "While working at the Stanford Research Institute in 1968, he participated in what was later dubbed The Mother of All Demos, during which researcher Douglas Engelbart previewed many features that would become staples of personal computing."
Watch Paxton with Engelbart in 1968 Demo | More about the Demo
We need a humanitarian vision for AI and robotics
We need a humanitarian vision for AI and robotics
“Back in 1962, Doug Engelbart hypothesized that the future of our race lay not in replacing humans but in augmenting them...”
Augmenting the Learning Dialogue Online
Augmenting the Learning Dialogue Online
A Q&A with Gardner Campbell “We've heard a lot lately about moving the remote learning experience farther away from a training model and closer to a collaborative learning model in which students participate together in the co-creation or discovery of knowledge.
As far back as the 1960s, alongside the work of Doug Engelbart, people have dreamed about ways to augment the knowledge worker, the researcher, the scholar, the faculty, and the student... Today, a conversation about how to do that ”
Why it’s a mistake to bet against Silicon Valley
Why it’s a mistake to bet against Silicon Valley
“The latest wave of tech companies quitting California may have mistaken what makes it a center of innovation. [...] like Doug Engelbart's hypertext and mouse, Alan Kay's Dynabook”
Douglas Engelbart, the Man Who Taught Us to Talk to Machines
Douglas Engelbart, the Man Who Taught Us to Talk to Machines
“his self-confessed life’s goal: nothing less than to harness the full power of the human intellect to solve the world’s great problems and make it a better place”
The Click Heard around the World
The Click Heard around the World
“On December 9, 1968, Douglas Engelbart of the Stanford Research Institute hosted a session at the Joint Computer Conference in San Francisco in which he used the first computer mouse to sweep through a demonstration that became the blueprint for modern computing.”
Related Articles: Tech Suport | How design factored into “the mother of all tech demos”
Good News in History, November 17
Good News in History, November 17
50 years ago today, a patent on the first computer mouse was presented to engineer, inventor, computer pioneer Douglas Engelbart. Using his own strategy to accelerate the rate of innovation, his advancements came decades before the personal computer revolution
William English, Who Helped Build the Computer Mouse, Dies at 91
William English, Who Helped Build the Computer Mouse, Dies at 91
“He was one of the computing pioneers who “showed what a computer interface could — and should — look like,” a colleague said.”
A Case for Cooperation Between Machines and Humans
A Case for Cooperation Between Machines and Humans
“A computer scientist argues that the quest for fully automated robots is misguided, perhaps even dangerous. [...] The distinction first appeared in two computer science laboratories that were created in 1962 near Stanford University. John McCarthy, [who] coined the term 'artificial intelligence,' [and] Douglas Engelbart, [who] coined the term 'intelligence augmentation,' or I.A.”
AI visionary Genevieve Bell named first Engelbart Distinguished Fellow
AI visionary named first Engelbart Distinguished Fellow
“The Australian National University's Distinguished Professor Genevieve Bell has been named the world's inaugural Engelbart Distinguished Fellow by SRI International for her trailblazing work on technology, artificial intelligence and culture.”
Also reported in: ComputerWorld | iTWire | PRNewswire | Mirage News
Revisiting Engelbart’s ‘Collective IQ’ in the Era of AI
Revisiting Engelbart’s ‘Collective IQ’ in the Era of AI
“This PC pioneer believed technology was a tool to augment human intelligence — not replace it”
How? – When “what will it take?” seems beyond possible
How? - When “what will it take?” seems beyond possible
“When “what will it take?” seems beyond possible, we need to study how *Immense Challenges* have been successfully dealt with in the past. [...] Need higher levels of qualitatively different thinking than the thinking that caused the challenges, including how to set up and nourish the communities of top people [pursuing the solutions]." *Immense Challenges* call for cosmic vision and collective synergy.
This essay written for the Ellen MacArthur Foundation Summit to accompany Alan's session VIDEO: Scale Up the Circular Economy - with Alan Kay
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