Hello:
This might be of interest to some of you; The history of the GUI (aka Graphical User Interface):
(click on image to open the full article)
Quote for the article, on Ars Technica:
[emphasis is mine]
This might be of interest to some of you; The history of the GUI (aka Graphical User Interface):
(click on image to open the full article)
Quote for the article, on Ars Technica:
In 1962, Douglas [Engelbart] published his ideas in a seminal essay entitled "Augmenting Human Intellect." In this paper, Douglas argued that digital computers could provide the quickest method to "increase the capability of a man to approach a complex problem situation, to gain comprehension to suit his particular needs, and to derive solutions to problems." He envisioned the computer not as a replacement for human intellect, but a tool for enhancing it. One of the first hypothetical examples he described for this technology was of an architect designing a building using something similar to modern graphical CAD software.
This was a huge leap in thinking for 1962. The only computers that existed at the time were giant mainframes, and typically users would interact with them using what was called "batch processing." A user would submit a program on a series of punch cards, the computer would run the program at some scheduled time, and then the results would be picked up hours or even days later. Even the idea of having users enter commands on a text-based terminal in real-time (called "time-sharing" in the jargon of the day) was considered radical back then.
[emphasis is mine]
