Doug Engelbart's    Colloquium at Stanford

An In-Depth Look at "The Unfinished Revolution"

Andy DiPaolo: 2

Good afternoon. It is nice to see you all here this afternoon. My name is Andy DiPaolo, I'm the Senior Associate Dean of the School of Engineering and I'm also Director of something called the Stanford Center for Professional Development. You are sitting in one of those rooms now, and our colleagues, who are watching by a television on the web, are participating in that fashion. 2A

Let me tell you a little about who we are and what we do as we move forward to introduce Doug. The Center for Professional Development is part of the School of Engineering and it extends its curriculum and its short course offerings and professional development offerings to engineers, scientists, and professionals worldwide. So you are part of one of those events. For a number of years we have been using the internet to deliver these programs. It's also matched to a wide range of conventional delivery technologies: satellite, broadcast, television, videotape. So we've been pushing pretty hard on the net side of it. 2B

As you entered, some of you may have picked up some materials: a brochure which says Stanford Online, another one which indicates the kinds of programs and services that we offer, principally to people who are in the technology professions. Now, I'm just curious, how many people here are from an industrial base? Raise your hand. How many people here from university setting or educational setting? From a medical setting or pharmaceutical company? Independent consultant, covering the waterfront for anything. Well if you're not one of those I guess you are in the wrong room and you should look for something else. 2C

Voice: Non-profit association. 2D

A,D.: Thank you, a non-profit as well, excuse me, thank you. We're delighted to host Doug Engelbart. In fact Doug has worked with us on and off for the last few years and he has some, as you know, some wonderful things to share and we are absolutely pleased that he will be with us in the next ten weeks. This program is sponsored by two faculty members: one is Professor Jean-Claude Latombe, who is the chair of the computer science department, who unfortunately cannot be with us tonight. The second is Professor Terry Winograd, who's really a researcher, expert and author in human computer interaction. Some of you may know his text, bringing design to software.  2E

I've asked Terry to join us to introduce Doug and to get this program moving along. So again, thank you for being here, we appreciate your attendance and we look forward to a very strong and dynamic next ten weeks. Thanks very much. Terry. 2F
 

Terry Winograd: 3

Thank you Andy, Paul, and all the others from Stanford Center of Professional Development who have done a lot of good work, as you can see, to make this possible. In introducing someone like Doug, I have the luxury of being able to leave out all of the standard kinds of biographical and career details. The fact that you are here today is because you know about his past achievements and who he is and you, like the rest of us, are focused on what's next in the future. 3A

I'm pleased to be able to help co-sponsor this event. In a way it's a continuation of an event we had here a little over a year ago, sponsored by the Stanford Libraries called Engelbart's "Unfinished revolution," in which I also had the pleasure to be able to participate and talk about some of Doug's work. That was a kind of unprecedented event, so those of you who were there know that, and that suited Doug very well because he is an unique kind of person, even in an environment here in Silicon Valley that's full of daring thinkers and people who really try things and come up with new things. He stands out and it's because his vision is really not about technology, but about people and the ways that they use technology. Although he is probably best know in the world for his technical developments like the mouse, that's not what Doug has really ever cared about; he cares about only because it's a means towards what he does care about most, which is improving the way that people work and the way that they live. From the beginning of his work, which is now more than three decades ago, his focus has really been on, as he used the phrase, augmenting the potential for what people can do. He is a utopian in the best sense of that word, not an impractical dreamer, but somebody who really believes that it's possible to improve the way that people work, and there is a potential for doing things in new ways and doing things in better ways. 3B

As the title of this event and the previous event implies, the revolution is unfinished, and Doug as a good revolutionary knows that he can't finish it himself. That's not the way revolutions happen, and that's where this course got started. It's not your standard kind of course where someone gets up and presents a body of material that's all been worked out and here's what you need to know. Instead it's an invitation. It's an invitation from somebody with years of valuable experience and knowledge and understanding who is know seeking new knowledge, is still looking for the new possibilities. It's an invitation to learn, but, even more than that, it's an invitation for you, for all of us to think, and even more than that an invitation to do, to help in the lifelong, Doug's lifelong effort to bring technology and people together in the interest of augmenting our abilities and improving our lives, and that's why we are here and that's why I welcome Doug Engelbart. 3C

[  principal lecture]

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