April 2, 1999
Why can't Johnny program? Why is it that after thirty years
of trying and dozens of languages designed for them, most people
still cannot program computers? It's been estimated that fewer
than 1% of computer users program their computers, even those
who have taken a programming class. Is it that people don't want
to program computers? Or is it that the approach of computer
scientists toward programming hasn't worked? We will argue the
latter position. We will discuss why those approaches haven't
worked and, more importantly, why they can't work. Then we will
show what to do about it.
Stagecast Creator (TM) is a radically different approach to
programming. It is a new product that has just been released
(last month) by Stagecast Software. It is the culmination of
six years of research and development, first at Apple Computer
and the last two years at Stagecast. It is designed to enable
children and other nonprogramming adults to construct interactive
visual simulations. Much of the talk will be demonstrating Creator
and using it to illustrate why its approach to programmming works
when other haven't.
Why did we pick the domain of visual simulations for its programming?
Most importantly, simulations are a powerful teaching tool. They
can make abstract concepts concrete. We want to make it possible
for teachers and other educators to create simulations themselves,
without having to go through an intermediary. Secondly, children
love video games, almost all of which are interactive visual
simulations. Children think of Creator as a video game construction
kit. That's fine with us, since even the stupidest video game
becomes an educational experience when kids program it themselves
instead of just playing it.
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Allen Cypher, Instructional Design, is a coinventor of Creator.
Cypher worked for nine years as a senior scientist with Apple's
Advanced Technology Group. His main interest is End-User Programming
-- giving all computer users capabilities that have traditionally
belonged to programmers. Cypher is the editor of the book "Watch
What I Do: Programming by Demonstration", published in 1993
by MIT Press. Prior to his work at Apple, he was a consultant
at IntelliCorp and created expert systems for corporations such
as GM and Intel. Cypher holds a Ph.D. in Computer Science from
Yale University and a B.A. in Mathematics from Princeton University.
David Canfield Smith, User Experience Architect, is a coinventor
of Creator. The unifying goal of his life's work has been trying
to make computers accessible to all people. Prior to Stagecast,
Smith was a senior scientist in Apple Computer's Advanced Technology
Group where he worked on a variety of software projects for future
computers, including educational software with Alan Kay. Creator
is the culmination of that work. Prior to that, he was a member
of the Xerox Corporation's "Star" computer project
in Palo Alto, which became the ancestor of the Macintosh. Smith
was one of the principal designers of the Star user interface
-- inventing the concepts of icons (from his Ph.D. work), the
desktop metaphor, dialog boxes, and generic commands. Today all
major personal computers have adopted these ideas, and more than
100 million people use them every day. Smith possesses a Ph.D.
in Computer Science from Stanford University and a B.A. in Mathematics
from Oberlin College.
Larry Tesler, President, provides Stagecast with over 20 years
of executive and technical management experience in the computer
industry. Previously, Tesler served as Vice President and Chief
Scientist of Apple Computer, Inc., where he managed the AppleNet
product division and various advanced development groups. He
was the founding Vice President of Apple's Advanced Technology
Group (ATG). There, Tesler nurtured innovative technologies such
as MacApp, HyperCard, QuickTime, and AppleScript as well as education
research projects like the Apple Classrooms of Tomorrow (ACOT).
Tesler's prior technical career included seven years at Xerox
Palo Alto Research Center (PARC), primarily in its Learning Research
Group. He contributed a number of ideas and techniques that have
become common in graphical user interfaces. He holds a B.S. degree
from Stanford University. Tesler is a member of the Board of
Directors of Stagecast and a director of ARM Holdings PLC.
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