Bret Victor
Interface designer and researcher, known for the talks Inventing on Principle and Media for Thinking the Unthinkable and for essays on dynamic representations of ideas. Founder of Dynamicland, where he is building a communal computer.
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What they believe
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Touchscreens are pictures under glass, a transitional technology; calling them the future of interaction is like calling black-and-white the future of photography.
To me, claiming that Pictures Under Glass is the future of interaction is like claiming that black-and-white is the future of photography. It's obviously a transitional technology. And the sooner we transition, the better.
worrydream.comSaid 8 Nov 2011This on korrents
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For most software, interactivity is a curse for users and a crutch for designers.
For a majority subset of software, called “information software,” I argue that interactivity is actually a curse for users and a crutch for designers, and users’ goals can be better satisfied through other means.
worrydream.comSaid 15 Mar 2006This on korrents
The bold line is korrents’ wording; the quote is theirs. These 2: what they wrote before what they said aloud, one per source, newest first.
Beliefs
Korrents What they believe 6 beliefs — each backed by an exact quote.
Each is a — compiled by korrents.com, not by them: the one-line wordings are korrents', the quotes are theirs.
Recent
Touchscreens are pictures under glass, a transitional technology; calling them the future of interaction is like calling black-and-white the future of photography.
To me, claiming that Pictures Under Glass is the future of interaction is like claiming that black-and-white is the future of photography. It's obviously a transitional technology. And the sooner we transition, the better.
A Brief Rant on the Future of Interaction Design Said 8 Nov 2011
Hands feel things and hands manipulate things, and most visions of future interfaces ignore both.
Hands do two things. They are two utterly amazing things, and you rely on them every moment of the day, and most Future Interaction Concepts completely ignore both of them.
A Brief Rant on the Future of Interaction Design Said 8 Nov 2011
The future of interaction is a choice, not something that happens to us: people choose which visions to pursue and which research to fund.
The most important thing to realize about the future is that it's a choice. People choose which visions to pursue, people choose which research gets funded, people choose how they will spend their careers.
A Brief Rant on the Future of Interaction Design Said 8 Nov 2011
Show 3 more
With an entire body at our command, the future of interaction should not be a single finger.
With an entire body at your command, do you seriously think the Future Of Interaction should be a single finger?
A Brief Rant on the Future of Interaction Design Said 8 Nov 2011
For most software, interactivity is a curse for users and a crutch for designers.
For a majority subset of software, called “information software,” I argue that interactivity is actually a curse for users and a crutch for designers, and users’ goals can be better satisfied through other means.
Magic Ink: Information Software and the Graphical Interface Said 15 Mar 2006
Information software design is graphic design: a software designer who decides what the user will see is doing graphic design whether she realizes it or not.
When the software designer defines the visual representation of her program, when she describes the pictures that the user will interpret, she is doing graphic design, whether she realizes this or not.
Magic Ink: Information Software and the Graphical Interface Said 15 Mar 2006
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Recommends rcmnd
rcmnd What they recommend 36 things — each backed by an exact quote.
Compiled by rcmnd.app, not by them: the quotes are theirs, and each links to the post it was copied from.
Recent
Loved RhymeZone
Loved Lost Garden
Essays on creative and analytical approaches to game design.
worrydream.com 6 Nov 2024
Loved Dijkstra archive
Collected writings of one of the founders of computer science.
worrydream.com 6 Nov 2024
Show 33 more
Loved CiteSeer
Loved Lambda the Ultimate
Everything I know about programming language theory, I owe to this site.
worrydream.com 6 Nov 2024
Loved OpenLaszlo
Loved Haskell
The programming language for the 21st century.
worrydream.com 6 Nov 2024
Loved Lua
Loved Harmonic Experience
Loved The Mother Tongue
Loved A People's History of the United States
The winners write the history books.
worrydream.com 6 Nov 2024
What others say about A People's History of the United States →
Loved Amusing Ourselves to Death
Loved The Structure of Scientific Revolutions
This is how the world changes: with a bang, not a whimper.
worrydream.com 6 Nov 2024
What others say about The Structure of Scientific Revolutions →
Loved Technopoly
Technological dependence, and the amorality of progress.
worrydream.com 6 Nov 2024
Loved Mindstorms
This is how humans were meant to learn.
worrydream.com 6 Nov 2024
Loved Folklore
Anecdotes about the creation of the original Macintosh.
worrydream.com 6 Nov 2024
Loved And Suddenly the Inventor Appeared
A delightfully insane introduction to systematic invention.
worrydream.com 6 Nov 2024
Loved The Art of Doing Science and Engineering
How to do great work.
worrydream.com 6 Nov 2024
What others say about The Art of Doing Science and Engineering →
Loved Godel, Escher, Bach
The formal systems, they are everywhere.
worrydream.com 6 Nov 2024
Loved Nonlinear Dynamics and Chaos
Pictures, examples, geometric intuition.
worrydream.com 6 Nov 2024
Loved Reforming the Mathematical Language of Physics
The geometric structure of abstract nonsense.
worrydream.com 6 Nov 2024
What others say about Reforming the Mathematical Language of Physics →
Loved The Design and Evolution of C++
Biography of a language.
worrydream.com 6 Nov 2024
Loved Hacker's Delight
A treasure of bit-manipulation algorithms.
worrydream.com 6 Nov 2024
Loved The Little Schemer
One of the most unique and effective pedagogic books ever written.
worrydream.com 6 Nov 2024
Loved Structure and Interpretation of Computer Programs
The essence of software engineering.
worrydream.com 6 Nov 2024
What others say about Structure and Interpretation of Computer Programs →
Loved A Theory of Fun
Why learning is fun, and fun is learning.
worrydream.com 6 Nov 2024
Loved Rules of Play
A comprehensive and insightful analysis of interactive design.
worrydream.com 6 Nov 2024
Loved The Humane Interface
Another classic analytic look at interface design.
worrydream.com 6 Nov 2024
Loved Cradle to Cradle
Manufacturing is compatible with global ecology.
worrydream.com 6 Nov 2024
Loved Designing for People
Memoirs of one of the founders of industrial design.
worrydream.com 6 Nov 2024
Loved The Design of Everyday Things
Design as cognitive science.
worrydream.com 6 Nov 2024
Loved Understanding Comics
The pedagogical potential of the comic form is vast and mostly untapped.
worrydream.com 6 Nov 2024
Loved Logic & Design in Art, Science, & Mathematics
A bizarre and fascinating tour de force of analytic design.
worrydream.com 6 Nov 2024
What others say about Logic & Design in Art, Science, & Mathematics →
Loved The Elements of Graphing Data
How to present data, and the why of the how.
worrydream.com 6 Nov 2024
Loved A History of Graphic Design
History is the best distinguisher of fashion from fundamentals.
worrydream.com 6 Nov 2024
Loved The Visual Display of Quantitative Information
The bibles of information design.
worrydream.com 6 Nov 2024
What others say about The Visual Display of Quantitative Information →
Where they publish
Site worrydream.com His site: essays, talks and the Links reading list.
Link verified 4 Sept 2026.
Bluesky @worrydream.com His Bluesky account; the handle is his own domain.
Recent
- Archive of archives. 29 Jun 2025 worrydream.com
- Computational Public Space. A talk about a values-driven approach to integrating computation into cities. (40 min) 15 May 2025 youtube.com
- 15-minute summary of our presentation "Improvising cellular playgrounds in Realtalk". 25 Nov 2024 youtube.com
Show 1 more
Link verified 4 Sept 2026. Recent items update automatically from the channel.
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