this Dynabook adapts to the needs & interests of young learners — not just reflecting back/surfacing information relevant to the child at the time...
but help them see foresee paths that sprout from it — presenting the right portals at the right time
Conversation
(Currently the closest parallel of this is social media algorithms that have become wickedly good at figuring out what you want to see in the moment but don’t really do the latter.)
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The Dynabook is a technology-enabled assistant & a guide that followed and fanned the flames of the natural curiosity of its users — a Virgil leading Dante on his quest.
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I find it fascinating how much detail he laid out for what this Dynabook could look like. In 1972 he imagined for it:
1) physical digital books, estimating costs for materials etc down to the $
2) linking literal online libraries to the device to assist kids' explorations
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from my 2020s perspective, it's jarring how he left out the internet in these detailed assumptions about both the Dynabook’s composition and content. after all the 1972 internet was still nascent...
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in theory the internet in its more mature, interconnected current state ought to be able to drive down the cost of such Dynabook’s composition and provide it with a plethora of richer content to be linked to (in vivid multimedia form too!)
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When I look around me today and think “what’s the closest thing we have to Alan Kay’s vision of the Dynabook today?”
the answer I stumble upon surprises me — Tiktok.
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There is probably no platform/technology out there that excels more in learning about the inner lives, the whims & desires of young people more accurately than Tiktok, almost unrivaled in its downstream ability to capture their attention.
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I definitely hesitate to say Tiktok should be considered doing a good job of “modeling the world of the child” (but maybe at least just a part of it) and it does this the fastest compared to any other technology/platform that has reached mass adoption
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Technically, the child can “train Tiktok’s algorithm” & align it to their tastes at the time, but Tiktok is not a great place for the child to “construct” their own world — it does not give them agency to the extent of what Kay envisions with the Dynabook
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Really enjoyed this thread, Connie—thank you! Sharing some notes in a similar vein in case they're of interest:
Replying to
fascinating! it's true the primer very much directs Nell's journey but i feel it's intended to be a grand tour of various "roles"she can assume (princess, warrior, programmer etc) & each role by nature comes with its own constraints & agencies (im reminded of this pt from Kay)
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i think hackworth's design is a bit more advanced than the kitschy "this is all just make-believe" kind of storytelling because the its driven by the arcs of archetypal folk tales (powerful on their own, since stories that stick around are the ones that contain powerful truths)
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