i'm working in no-code education. to form an opinion on the future of this field, its important for me to understand computing from first principles. however, my learning trajectory has been all over the place. two years ago, i took a "digital revolution" course at nyu that had a lot of super interesting readings (syllabus). the one that stuck out most for me was the 1945 essay "as we may think" by vannevar bush. from what i recollect, the predictions that bush outlined served as a thought framework for modern web hypertext. he described the "memex" — a device in which an individual stores all his books, records, and communications, and which is mechanized so that it may be consulted with exceeding speed and flexibility (image attached). essentially as system of storing, manipulating and retrieving records to supplement memory. it would work like the human mind, or bush’s integration of it, in that it would let the user create “trails” by linking separate microfilm records together by association. these trails would stay in place until further adjustment and could be shared between owners of memexi. while projection and keyboard elements of the physical description sound a lot like a desktop computer, technologists throughout the decades have focused much more on the proposed functionality of the machine and how it served as a foundational framework for hypertext. so anyway my weekend discussion prompt is: what research, literature, videos (or any content) has been influential to forming your thoughts on computing? what would you consider essential reading?

My friend Mek (https://michaelkarpeles.com) has been slowly building up a personal memex. I actually got a demo of it just last week: https://graph.global

Mindstorms: Children, Computers, And Powerful Ideas by Seymour Papert A Small Matter of Programming: Perspectives on End User Computing by Bonnie A. Nardi

Oh, I totally misunderstood (blind-read) the prompt. Top 2: * Christopher Alexander, "Notes on the Synthesis of Form" * Peter Naur, "Programming as theory building" There's a more complete list of my lifetime influences in the bibliography of http://akkartik.name/akkartik-convivial-20200315.pdf. They're also at the bottom of https://github.com/akkartik/mu with links to the papers.

Computer Lib / Dream Machines by Ted Nelson is where I learned about the Memex, and it had a profound influence on my thinking about how computers should work. (Nelson invented the word "hypertext", and the world wide web is directly based on his work.)

I checked out that syllabus and it’s an interesting sample. I’m unfamiliar with most of those readings... Anyways, what I would recommend: The Dream Machine by Richard Waldrop is a good overview of the history of computers and the internet. Every Bret Victor talk is worth watching. “Media for thinking the unthinkable” is a great place to start. Alan Kay has lots of interesting philosophy to share. “Normal considered harmful” is a good one. “Local-first software” by Ink & Switch and “Preventing the collapse of civilization” by Jonathan Blow. Both of these made me rethink the way we make software. “Simple made easy” by Rich Hickey is an amazing piece of technical philosophy. “Stephen Wolframs Introduction to the Wolfram Language” is a live demo of one of the most impressive software systems ever. “Magic Ink” by Bret Victor did an amazing job at reframing what UI design is all about and explains how it’s mostly just infographic design with interaction as a last-resort. “The first secret of great design” by Tony Fadell is another interesting talk. Not software-specific but he designed the iPod and the iPhone so it’s all relevant. Much of this stuff is on my website: https://www.notion.so/Inspiration-2194b2020e7142eeb2a4df2f308dfa7b

My list is basically: • worrydream.com

Have you played Factorio? It’s so fun and it’s basically programming!

Yes! It's even listed here in my visual programming codex: https://github.com/ivanreese/visual-programming-codex/blob/master/inspirations.md

Hahaha nice!

"The Next 700 Programming Languages" by Peter Landin is one of the foundational texts for the design of my new programming language. I consider this the original manifesto for functional programming. "Simple Made Easy" has already been mentioned. "Notation as a Tool of Thought" by Kenneth Iverson.

I pick up this tweet now and then and look at it: https://twitter.com/prathyvsh/status/1238848229212598274 Also @Ivan Reese's Hest development thread.

I don't want to deviate the topic too much, but have a look at "video game historian" on YouTube. It's amazing how work, history, and context there is behind some things. Apparently Tetris played a major role in bridging connections between the US and Russia in the wake of the cold war.