Computing pioneer Alan Kay calls Apple's iPad user interface 'poor'
Apple's iPad and iPhone may be continually reshaping the way we interact with computers, but at least one computing pioneer believes the company has diverged from the vision of technology that nurtured Apple in its earlier days.
Alan Curtis Kay is recognized as one of the few people behind the concepts that have defined much of personal computing over the past three decades. A former Apple Fellow, Disney Imagineering Fellow, and Xerox PARC Labs associate, Kay also developed the vision for the Dynabook, an iPad precursor of sorts that would have been a portable suite of hardware, software, programming tools, and services. The Dynabook was meant as a tool to instruct children in digital creativity, and while the iPad bears some resemblance to it, Kay told Time's Techland that Apple's bestselling tablet in some ways betrays the vision he and others had.
Asked if the Dynabook has not, in fact, been realized in the form of the notebook computer, tablet, and smartphone, Kay said he believes those devices largely miss the point. Apple's iPad ? and the wider computing environment, by extension ? falls short of the Dynabook's ideal, Kay says, since it lacks the capacity to enable "symmetric authoring and consuming."
Kay continued, calling Apple's restrictions on content creation and sharing on the iPad "mostly bogus," and saying that any potential security issues were the result of flaws in the OS. He also expressed disappointment in the progression of the human-computer interface since the development of the Graphical User Interface.
"The current day UIs derived from the PARC-GUI have many flaws," Kay said, "including those that were in the PARC-GUI in the first place... even though multitouch is a good idea (pioneered by Nicholas Negroponte's ARCH-MAC group in the late '70s), much of the iPad UI is very poor in a myriad of ways."
Kay noted that the presence of late Apple CEO Steve Jobs had been a double-edged sword for the company.
"One way to think of all of these organizations," Kay said, "is to realize that if they require a charismatic leader who will shoot people in the knees when needed, then the corporate organization and process is a failure. It means no group can come up with a good decision and make it stick just because it is a good idea."
Kay's harsh words weren't reserved just for Apple. The computing pioneer took issue with the larger computing industry in general, in particular the ways computers are integrated into education.
"The education establishment in the U.S. has generally treated the computer as sort of like a typewriter," Kay said. "I've used the analogy of what would happen if you put a piano in every classroom. If there is no other context, you will get a "chopsticks" culture, and maybe even pop culture... 'the music is not in the piano.'"
Alan Curtis Kay is recognized as one of the few people behind the concepts that have defined much of personal computing over the past three decades. A former Apple Fellow, Disney Imagineering Fellow, and Xerox PARC Labs associate, Kay also developed the vision for the Dynabook, an iPad precursor of sorts that would have been a portable suite of hardware, software, programming tools, and services. The Dynabook was meant as a tool to instruct children in digital creativity, and while the iPad bears some resemblance to it, Kay told Time's Techland that Apple's bestselling tablet in some ways betrays the vision he and others had.
Asked if the Dynabook has not, in fact, been realized in the form of the notebook computer, tablet, and smartphone, Kay said he believes those devices largely miss the point. Apple's iPad ? and the wider computing environment, by extension ? falls short of the Dynabook's ideal, Kay says, since it lacks the capacity to enable "symmetric authoring and consuming."
Kay continued, calling Apple's restrictions on content creation and sharing on the iPad "mostly bogus," and saying that any potential security issues were the result of flaws in the OS. He also expressed disappointment in the progression of the human-computer interface since the development of the Graphical User Interface.
"The current day UIs derived from the PARC-GUI have many flaws," Kay said, "including those that were in the PARC-GUI in the first place... even though multitouch is a good idea (pioneered by Nicholas Negroponte's ARCH-MAC group in the late '70s), much of the iPad UI is very poor in a myriad of ways."
Kay noted that the presence of late Apple CEO Steve Jobs had been a double-edged sword for the company.
"One way to think of all of these organizations," Kay said, "is to realize that if they require a charismatic leader who will shoot people in the knees when needed, then the corporate organization and process is a failure. It means no group can come up with a good decision and make it stick just because it is a good idea."
Kay's harsh words weren't reserved just for Apple. The computing pioneer took issue with the larger computing industry in general, in particular the ways computers are integrated into education.
"The education establishment in the U.S. has generally treated the computer as sort of like a typewriter," Kay said. "I've used the analogy of what would happen if you put a piano in every classroom. If there is no other context, you will get a "chopsticks" culture, and maybe even pop culture... 'the music is not in the piano.'"
Comments
Don't like where tablet computing is headed? Build your own.
His criticisms might carry more weight if they were more specific than, "a myriad of ways."
Since he obviously can't change people, he tries to change the technology that works just fine for all those people. Wrong approach - he has put himself in a corner where he is no longer relevant.
Every company I go to fix the IT admin's network design/build I hear of founders or inventors like this.
Comes up with an idea that lays down groundwork for the birth of new company.
Then younger/underling employees take their idea and transform it into a an amazingly fresh and inventive product and a huge profit center.
Then the org creator ALWAYS comes back and say's something to the effect that "it is not that great because that was not my vision".
Like Apple doesn't *realize* unlocking the iPads full potential would be great.. Duh.
Gee, I just don't think they or any other company for that matter is ready just yet to nuke it's laptop or even desktop computers.
Sir -- sometimes there are reasons for limitations - whether we like them, or think they aren't innovative enough... Clue.
Quote:
Originally Posted by AppleInsider
A former Apple Fellow,
How do you become a former Apple Fellow. Is the award taken away?
Quote:
Originally Posted by kyle172
So this poor design is why they are selling so many iPad's?
That's not the best counter-argument.
I'm all for him criticising the iPad, but I'd like to see what he'd change, specifically.
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Originally Posted by bigdaddyp
Wahh! I designed a mock up 20 years ago and you damn greedy companies failed to live up to my vision.
Don't like where tablet computing is headed? Build your own.
Quit being so defensive of Apple. It's a horrible trait and ruins interesting discussion.
Quote:
Originally Posted by MacVicta
He wouldn't have had the balls to say that if Steve was still alive.
I think you're wrong.
Apple did that and they idealized the UI for the display. Clearly there is a lot more that can be done but it's considerably more than anyone else has done in this space. I think his "myriad of ways" and "disappointment in the progression of the human-computer interface" comments are less than helpful and don't see why he couldn't have detailed some ideas if he has them.
That isn't a good argument because Windows and netbooks are or were, respectively, selling so many.
Quote:
Originally Posted by SolipsismX
I think his "myriad of ways" and "disappointment in the progression of the human-computer interface" comments are less than helpful and don't see why he couldn't have details some ideas if he has them.
Well said.
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Quote:
Kay told Time's Techland that Apple's bestselling tablet in some ways betrays the vision he and others had.
... and sometimes visions have to change and grow. That was your vision and it may not be Jonny Ive's vision or Jobs' vision.
And I hate all this BS that now that Jobs isn't at the company, no-one is driving the company. They're making that assumption without any proof. What proof do you have of that. In my view it's just scare mongering.