40th Anniversary Speeches

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On December 9, 2008 at Stanford University's Memorial Auditorium, SRI International commemorated the 40th anniversary of the world debut of personal and interactive computing by Dr. Douglas C. Engelbart and his SRI Augmentation Research Center (ARC).

On December 9, 1968, Engelbart and his team debuted the computer mouse, which controlled a networked computer system to demonstrate hypertext linking, real-time text editing, multiple windows with flexible view control, cathode display tubes, and shared-screen teleconferencing. This "mother of all demos", as it has since been dubbed, was presented live to a packed house at the Fall Joint Computer Conference in San Francisco, California.

Speakers at the 2008 event included original participants in the 1968 demo and presentations on Doug Engelbart's vision to use computing to augment society's collective intellect and ability to solve the complex issues of our time.

Click the images below to watch event sessions - see 40th anniversary event for details.

Curt Carlson
A Message from SRI International
Curtis R. Carlson, President and CEO, SRI International
(2:59; 7.4 MB streaming)

Robert Sproull Welcome
Robert Sproull, Vice President and Fellow, Sun Microsystems Laboratories
(4:17, 10.2MB streaming)

Charles House Introduction
Charles House
Executive Director, Media X at Stanford University
(6:08; 14.9MB streaming)

SRI's 1968 video
Highlights of the 1968 Demo
Selected footage from the "Mother of All Demos" video shown at the event
(25 minutes)

Panel discussion
Panel of 1968 Demo Participants: PART 1
Moderator Robert Sproull with SRI principals of the 1968 demo Don Andrews, William English, Bill Paxton, Jeff Rulifson, and a member of the 1968 audience, Andries van Dam
(30:04, 73.4MB streaming)

Panel part 2
Panel of 1968 Demo Participants: PART 2
Moderator Robert Sproull with SRI principals of the 1968 demo Don Andrews, William English, Bill Paxton, Jeff Rulifson, and a member of the 1968 audience, Andries van Dam
(30:32, 72.5MB streaming)

Robert Taylor and John Markoff
Goals and Impact of the Research
Robert W. Taylor, former Program Director, ARPA
and John Markoff, Senior Writer, The New York Times
(29:55; 73MB streaming video)

Daniel Borel
Surviving in a Global World
Daniel Borel
Co-founder and Board Member, Logitech
(13:17; 31.5MB streaming video)

Christina Engelbart
Driving Vision
Christina Engelbart
Executive Director,
Doug Engelbart Institute
Click here for her slide deck
(35:33; 89.7MB streaming video)

Alan Kay
Significance of the Vision
Alan Kay
President, Viewpoints Research Institute
(28:26; 68.1MB streaming video)

Robert Sproull with Christina Engelbart and Doug Engelbart
Closing Remarks
Robert Sproull
joined onstage by Christina Engelbart and Doug Engelbart
(5:07; 12.2MB streaming video)

 

See also 2