User Interface History

User Interface History
Special Interest Group CHI 2008
Anker Helms Jørgensen
IT University of Copenhagen
April 10, 2008
CHI 2008
Brad Myers
Carnegie-Mellon University
1
Background and motivation
•
Increasing interest lately
– Wednesday: 25 years celebration of the
Card, Moran, Newell book
– Tuesday: Gilbert Cockton revisited the
Gould & Lewis 1983/85 paper
– Interactions a history column
– HCI Remix and Moggridge book
•
Pioneers pass away
Hollerith
tabulator
– Oral History - but not lost: written sources
April 10, 2008
CHI 2008
2
Why history ?
Target audience at Grudin's course at 2.30 pm:
"Anyone who thinks that the best preparation for where we are
headed is to understand the road we have travelled"
•
”Cultures are like individuals: they take on meaning in terms of
time passing. Memories of the past are the lodestars of our
thoughts, collective and individual.” (Black & MacRaild)
Manual card punch
•
April 10, 2008
CHI 2008
3
Aims of the SIG
•
This SIG will investigate the possibilities of launching a
concerted effort towards creating a History of UIs and HCI
– concerted and inertia vs piecemeal and scattered
•
This SIG will gauge the interest, motivation and commitment
towards UI/HCI History in the CHI community, aiming at
Analog computer 1950
– subsequent action, special journal issue, mailing list, ......
– not just inspirational, colourful discussion, ....
April 10, 2008
CHI 2008
4
Who are you and we ?
Who are you ?
1. Pioneers
2. CHI person knowledgeable in UI/HCI History
3.
-
-
generally interested in UI/HCI History
4. Historian of Computing or Technology
5. Degree in History
Who are we ?
April 10, 2008
Sage Console
6. Other
CHI 2008
5
Schedule
•
Introduction by organizers (20 mins)
•
Participant's round - in groups ? (30 mins)
•
Joint discussion (20 mins)
•
Wrap-up and next steps (20 mins)
Plugboard
Programmong
– special journal issue
– panel at CHI 2009
April 10, 2008
CHI 2008
6
A note on UI / HCI History
•
HCI: an academic field
– Bonnie John - Wednesday:
"Twenty-five years ago the Card, Moran, Newell
book 'The Psychology of Human-Computer
Interaction' named our field"
– Grudin (2008): A Moving Target: The evolution
of HCI. (HF, AI, MIS, CSCW, ...)
•
UIs: physical artefacts and concepts
–
–
–
–
•
have always been around
I/O devices - I/O organs
Bush: input and output shafts
Myers (1998): A brief history of
human-computer interaction technology.
Closely interacting and intertwined
April 10, 2008
CHI 2008
Bush's Differential Analyzer
7
Where are we - look around ?
•
Nearest neighbour
David Meister (1999)
The History of Human Factors
and Ergonomics
•
History of Computing: 50+ books
– general accounts
– specialized topics
•
Where are we ?
PDP 1 - Space War
April 10, 2008
CHI 2008
8
Where are we?
•
History of UI/HCI at large: a small number of papers
(1986, 1990, 1995, 1998, ...)
•
History of particular aspects: a fair number of papers
and books
–
–
–
–
•
History of Personal Workstations (Goldberg)
Xerox PARC & developments: Dynabook, Alto, Star, ...
Macintosh, Jobs, ....
Visionaries:
Bush, Licklider, Engelbart
What do they address?
Largely the development
of the GUI paradigm and
the visionaries behind
April 10, 2008
CHI 2008
9
The computer & UI as medium
•
As the computer has turned into a medium, the UI (GUI) has
become an aesthetic and cultural phenomenon
•
Scholars in media & cultural studies have addressed this,
often in a historical perspective
–
–
–
–
•
Steven Johnson (1997)
Lev Manovich (2000)
Susan Barnes (2007)
Søren Pold (2007)
Neal Stephenson (1999):
In the Beginning … was the Command Line.
Teletype
Johnson 1997
April 10, 2008
CHI 2008
10
Commonalities in our writings ?
•
A quick survey of four papers on UI/HCI History at large
– Myers (1998): A brief history of human-computer interaction
technology. Interactions.
– Pew (2003): Evolution of Human-Computer Interaction: From Memex
to Bluetooth and beyond. In Jacko and Sears: Handbook for HumanComputer Interaction in Interactive Systems.
– Grudin (2005): Three faces of Human-Computer Interaction. Annals of
the History of Computing.
– Baecker (2008): Themes in the early history of HCI - some
unanswered questions. Interactions.
All authors are HCI people, but in somewhat different subfields
IBM 360
•
April 10, 2008
CHI 2008
11
Commonalities ?
•
Statistical History:
Frequency of literature cited
•
Three papers cited in all four
- Bush 1945: As We May Think
- Sutherland 1963: Sketchpad
- Kay 1969: Reactive Engine
•
April 10, 2008
These are the current "pillars"
upon which we stand - based on
this very limited sample
CHI 2008
12
How has it come about ?
•
People in the field write their history or
the history of their field
•
Just what happened in History of Computing
– Herman Goldstine (1972)
– Maurice Wilkes (1985)
– Lundstrom (1987)
•
IEEE Annals of the History of Computing (1978)
– initally dominated by pioneers
– 5-10 years later historians joined in
(Holmevik 1994)
April 10, 2008
CHI 2008
13
A broader view
•
Historians' perspective
– internalism: technology in its own right
– history from above:
great deeds of great men
– technology determinism
– whiggism: addressing the prevailing
paradigm - alternatives ?
•
Engelbart's Chord keyboard
The GUI paradigm is truly a substantial
and impressive achievement - but there
are numerous other relevant aspects:
– IBM 360: 3270 protocol
– terminology and etymology
– response time
3270 screen
April 10, 2008
CHI 2008
14
Response time: Herbert Simon (1966)
•
Time sharing was gaining foothold ...
– promises: bringing computer power closer to the user
– pitfalls: highly variable and loooong response times
•
Reflections on time sharing from a user’s point of view
•
Simon proposed the user be given two options in time-sharing
GIER console
– operating in conversational mode with "immediate" feedback
– operating with a 10-20 minutes turn-around time, allowing
users to engage in and complete other tasks
April 10, 2008
CHI 2008
15
Finally, historians don't (generally) chase 'firsts', but ....
•
The earliest comment on user "interfaces" I have found, well
before computers were sold commercially
•
Franz Alt (1951): Evaluation of Automatic Computing
Machines. Product Engineering.
Johnniac
'The input and output organs have received
less attention from designers than any other
machine element. Consequently they are
in a rudimentary stage.'
April 10, 2008
CHI 2008
16
Schedule
•
Introduction by organizers (20 mins)
•
Participant's round - in groups ? (30 mins)
–
–
–
–
–
Why am I here ?
My own experience ?
My own possible contribution ?
My ideas for further efforts ?
Chair
• make sure that everyone contributes
• open up and converge
• focus on key points for joint discussion
•
Joint discussion (20 mins)
•
Wrap-up and next steps (20 mins)
April 10, 2008
CHI 2008
Xerox mouse
17
Possible next steps
A special issue of a journal
•
An edited book
•
A workshop or small conference
•
A plan for a SIG, panel or paper
session at CHI 2009
•
Newsletter, mailing list, blog
•
http://uihistory.wordpress.com
•
........
Plans:
ambitious
and
realistic
IBM 1620
•
April 10, 2008
CHI 2008
18
Aims of the SIG
•
This SIG will investigate the possibilities of launching a
concerted effort towards creating a History of UIs and HCI
– concerted and inertia vs piecemeal and scattered
•
This SIG will gauge the interest, motivation and commitment
towards UI/HCI History in the CHI community, aiming at
Analog computer 1950
– subsequent action, special journal issue, ......
– not (just) inspirational, colourful discussion, ....
April 10, 2008
CHI 2008
19
Next steps
•
Circulate paper: write name and email
•
Leave your business card
•
Blog: http://uihistory.wordpress.com
April 10, 2008
CHI 2008
20