Interaction Design History

1. Douglas Engelbart and the Means to an End

   ENIAC, the world’s first programmable digital computer, was completed in 1944. Today, more people have access to mobile phones than have access to toilets. There are more mobile internet users in the developing world than in the developed world. It took just seventy years to get from a device the size of a two-story building to a device that fits in your pocket.

   A List Apart, July 25, 2013

2. Douglas Engelbart and the Means to an End

   A List Apart, July 25, 2013

3. Selling the computer revolution

   I’m not ashamed of my fetish for mainframes and you shouldn’t be either.

   By Computer History Museum

4. Ken Olsen on Snopes.com

   In 1977, Ken Olsen, the founder and CEO of Digital Equipment Corporation, said, ”There is no reason for any individual to have a computer in his home.”

   Snopes.com

5. A look back at Digital Equipment Corp.

   Digital Equipment Corp. was founded by MIT engineers Ken Olsen, seen here, and Harlan Anderson in 1957, with $70,000 in venture funding. Here's a look back at the history of the company.

   Boston.com

6. Great Brains (Part 1)

   A comprehensive documentary about the history of computing, jointly produced by WGBH and the BBC and digitized by Andy Baio. "Great Brains" (Part 1) begins with an overview of what I'd call pre-history through ENIAC and Turing.

   The Machine That Changed the World

7. Inventing The Future (Part 2)

   A comprehensive documentary about the history of computing, jointly produced by WGBH and the BBC and digitized by Andy Baio. "Inventing The Future" (Part 2) covers the early computer industry, from Eckert-Mauchley, UNIVAC, and IBM and the growth of Silicon Valley.

   The Machine That Changed The World

8. The Paperback Computer (Part 3)

   A comprehensive documentary about the history of computing, jointly produced by WGBH and the BBC and digitized by Andy Baio. The Paperback Computer (Part 3) covers the development of the personal computer and user interfaces, from Doug Engelbart and Xerox PARC to the Apple and IBM PCs.

   The Machine That Changed The World

9. The Thinking Machine (Part 4)

   A comprehensive documentary about the history of computing, jointly produced by WGBH and the BBC and digitized by Andy Baio. The Thinking Machine (Part 4) covers the history of artificial intelligence, from Minsky to neural networks.

   The Machine That Changed The World

10. The World at Your Fingertips (Part 5)

    A comprehensive documentary about the history of computing, jointly produced by WGBH and the BBC and digitized by Andy Baio. The World at Your Fingertips (Part 5) covers computer networks, including the Internet, and their global impact on communication and privacy.

    The Machine That Changed The World

11. When Computers Were Human

    What did it mean to be a human computer? Who were the first ones? Before Palm Pilots and iPods, PCs and laptops, the term "computer" referred to people who did scientific calculations by hand. In his book When Computers Were Human, David Alan Grier, editor of IEEE Annals of History of Computing, offers the first in-depth account of these workers, who were neither calculating geniuses nor idiot savants but knowledgeable people who, in other circumstances, might have become scientists in their own right.

    By Computer History Museum

12. The Godfather

    The Manhattan Project, Silicon Valley, The World Wide Web. Wherever you look in the information age, Vannevar Bush was there first.

    By G. Pascal Zachary , Wired, May 11, 2004

13. As We May Think

    Now, says Dr. Bush, instruments are at hand which, if properly developed, will give man access to and command over the inherited knowledge of the ages. The perfection of these pacific instruments should be the first objective of our scientists as they emerge from their war work. Like Emerson's famous address of 1837 on "The American Scholar," this paper by Dr. Bush calls for a new relationship between thinking man and the sum of our knowledge.

    By Vannevar Bush, The Atlantic, July 1, 1945

14. Man-Computer Symbiosis

    Man-computer symbiosis is an expected development in cooperative interaction between men and electronic computers. It will involve very close coupling between the human and the electronic members of the partnership.

    By J. C. R. Licklider, IRE Transactions on Human Factors in Electronics, March 1, 1960

15. Augmenting Human Intellect: A Conceptual Framework

    By "augmenting human intellect" we mean increasing 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.

    By Douglas Engelbart, October 1, 1962

16. The Click Heard Round The World

    An obscure scientist from Stanford Research Institute stood before a hushed San Francisco crowd and blew every mind in the room. His 90-minute demo rolled out virtually all that would come to define modern computing: videoconferencing, hyperlinks, networked collaboration, digital text editing, and something called a "mouse." Doug Engelbart tells writer Ken Jordan what it felt like to launch the point-and-click revolution 15 years before the Mac.

    By Douglas Engelbart, Wired, December 1, 2001

17. The Mother of All Demos

    The Mother of All Demos is a name given retrospectively to Douglas Engelbart's December 9, 1968, demonstration of experimental computer technologies that are now commonplace. The live demonstration featured the introduction of the computer mouse, video conferencing, teleconferencing, hypertext, word processing, hypermedia, object addressing and dynamic file linking, bootstrapping, and a collaborative real-time editor.

    By Douglas Engelbart, December 9, 1968

18. The Computers of Tomorrow

    Thousands of computers have been applied successfully in various industries. How much more widespread will their use become?

    By Martin Greenberger, The Atlantic, May 1, 1964

19. In the Beginning was the Command Line

    A commentary on why the proprietary operating systems business is unlikely to remain profitable in the future because of competition from free software. It also analyzes the corporate/collective culture of the Microsoft, Apple, and free software communities.

    By Neal Stephenson

20. Living With a Computer

    What it was like to move from using a typewriter to using a computer in the early days of word processing.

    By James Fallows, The Atlantic, July 1, 1982

21. The Real History of the GUI

    How exactly did we get from esoteric UNIX, CP/M, and DOS commands on green screens to the system of icons, taskbars, and other objects that our computers use to display and access information?

    By Michael Tuck, August 13, 2001

22. History of the Internet, Internet for Historians (and just about everyone else)

    The origins and growth of the internet, the web, email, and search.

    By Richard T. Griffiths, October 4, 2011

23. A Brief History of Human Computer Interaction Technology

    This article summarizes the historical development of major advances in human-computer interaction technology, emphasizing the pivotal role of university research in the advancement of the field.

    By Brad A. Myers, ACM interactions, March 1, 1998

24. Interaction Design History in a Teeny Little Nutshell

    An overview of the history of interaction design, and what set me off on the path of doing more research.

    By Marc Rettig, April 2, 2004

25. IxD History Timeline

    Timeline of major events across a variety of domains, including interaction design, printing, and games.

    By Erin Malone