Douglas C. Engelbart

Paper Summary:

This paper explains that Engelbart foresaw many of the developments that would mark the computer age and invented many of the peripherals and necessary tools used today. The author states that Engelbart developed a way of analyzing work problems by using the work groups. The paper clarifies the development of his augmented human intelligence model by which computers and humans work together.

From the Paper:

"In 1959, he gained approval to pursue his own research and for the next two years formulated a theoretical framework for a new discipline, which would become the guiding force for his seminal work. The framework he created was based on the assumptions "that complexity and urgency are increasing exponentially, and that the product of the two will soon challenge our organizations and institutions to change in quantum leaps rather than incremental steps." This means that organizations will have to become increasingly faster and smarter at how they keep improving. Engelbart saw both organizational missions as depending on the same core capabilities, which he encapsulated in the term human intellect, and this view led to an analysis of what capabilities humans draw from, aside from what they are born with, to boost their intellect. He found a myriad of technical and non-technical elements involved, such as tools, media, language, customs, knowledge, skills, procedures, and so on."

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