Java and C++ make you think that the new ideas are like the old ones. Java is the most distressing thing to hit computing since MS-DOS.
Interpretation
The quote criticizes Java and C++ for their similarities to older programming paradigms and expresses frustration with Java's impact on computing.
Alan Kay's quote reflects his dissatisfaction with Java and C++ as languages that perpetuate outdated programming ideas instead of fostering true innovation. He sees Java as particularly troublesome, comparing its influence to that of MS-DOS, which he views as a negative turning point in the evolution of computing. Kay's assertion suggests that technological progress is hindered when new tools are merely repackaged versions of the old, failing to challenge developers to think differently or creatively.
In practice
In a tech conference discussing programming languages, this quote serves as a critique of outdated practices.
The Internet was done so well that most people think of it as a natural resource like the Pacific Ocean, rather than something that was man-made. When was the last time a technology with a scale like that was so error-free? The Web, in comparison, is a joke. The Web was done by amateurs.
Perspective is worth 80 IQ points.
The greatest single programming language ever designed
By the time I got to school, I had already read a couple hundred books. I knew in the first grade that they were lying to me because I had already been exposed to other points of view. School is basically about one point of view -- the one the teacher has or the textbooks have. They don't like the idea of having different points of view, so it was a battle. Of course I would pipe up with my five-year-old voice.
Simple things should be simple and complex things should be possible.
If you're not failing 90% of the time, then you're probably not working on sufficiently challenging problems.
The fuel cell is just a fundamentally inferior way of delivering electrical energy to an electric motor than batteries.
Just as Josef K, the protagonist of Kafka's 'The Trial,' awoke one day to discover that he had become part of some unfathomable legal carnival, we, too are frequently waking to discover that the rules of the digital game have once again profoundly changed.
The ability of businesses to monitor our behavior is already a fact of life, and it isn't going away. Of course we must protect our privacy rights. But if we're smart, we'll also use the data that is being collected to improve our own lives.
You can't defend. You can't prevent. The only thing you can do is detect and respond.
My goal wasn't to make a ton of money. It was to build good computers. I only started the company when I realized I could be an engineer forever.
It is poor civic hygiene to install technologies that could someday facilitate a police state.
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