Most software today is very much like an Egyptian pyramid with millions of bricks piled on top of each other, with no structural integrity, but just done by brute force and thousands of slaves.
Interpretation
This quote compares modern software development to the construction of an Egyptian pyramid, highlighting issues of complexity and lack of foundational planning.
Alan Kay's quote uses the metaphor of an Egyptian pyramid to convey a criticism of contemporary software development practices. He suggests that much of today's software is built without proper structural integrity or thoughtful design, relying instead on a massive accumulation of code akin to the bricks of a pyramid that were laid with brute force. This implies that the effectiveness and longevity of such software is questionable, as it may not stand the test of time without a solid foundation.
In practice
Discussing software architecture at a tech conference.
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.
When I looked at the addictive qualities of video games and how they captivate people's attention, I decided to try the same technology for enhancing well-being.
I am hoping, though, that many of them have kids, who, when they have a moment to take a break from their iPods, Internet, or Google, will explain to their parents running the country just how the world is being flattened.
If we don't take an approach that looks holistically at the form a video-game platform should take in the future, then we're not able to sustain Nintendo 10 years down the road.
The minimum we should hope for with any display technology is that it should do no harm.
Tomorrow there will be no division to Europe and Asia. These are old concepts that would remain only on maps. Everything will be united. Companies will be united. It is a process of structures growing due to the technological progress.
Nintendo is a company of Kyoto craftsmen, and what we don't want to do is, if we know we can make something better, we don't want to leave that behind.
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